Sports Digest

May 8, 2008

Paul Maurice was fired as coach of the Maple Leafs yesterday after Toronto failed to make the playoffs during his two years. The dismissal was the first big move in what is expected to be an active offseason for the team.

The Maple Leafs finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 36-35-11 record and missed a playoff spot by 11 points.

Maurice had one year left on his contract.

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• College lacrosse // Junior attacker Emily Norris (Dulaney) scored the game-winner with 3:45 left in the game, leading St. Mary's (15-5) to a 16-15 win over Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham (16-3) in the first round of the Division III women's tournament.

• Olympics // The Olympic flame has reached the peak of Mount Everest. Live television footage showed a Chinese mountaineering team holding up a specially designed torch along with Chinese and Olympic flags on the top of the world's tallest mountain. The 19-member team broke camp about four hours before dawn today and reached the 29,035-foot peak midmorning.

• Tennis // Rafael Nadal lost for only the second time in his past 105 matches on clay, falling to Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5, 6-1, in the second round of the Rome Masters. Nadal's last loss on clay came against No. 1 Roger Federer in the Hamburg Masters last May.

• College basketball // Dawn Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, will leave Temple to become the women's coach at South Carolina. She will replace Susan Walvius, who resigned after 11 seasons with the Gamecocks. ... George Washington dismissed junior forward Cheyenne Moore and freshman guard Miles Beatty. ... Georgetown sophomore guard Jeremiah Rivers will transfer to another school, making him the second player to leave coach John Thompson III's team since the end of the season. Rivers is the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

• Horse racing // The New York Racing Association is considering replacing dirt with synthetic surfaces at its three tracks, including historic Saratoga Race Course. The conversion at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct would cost up to $50 million if training tracks at Belmont and Saratoga are included.

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