Digest: Ex-Terps assistant Eric Golz named women's soccer coach at Dayton

Eric Golz, a former Maryland assistant, was named coach of the Dayton women's soccer team.

"This is truly a special day for my wife, Kailey, and I," said Golz. "We are both from Ohio and we met while working at the University of Dayton, it has long been our dream to return to UD, and today some dreams are coming true."

Golz, a former assistant with the Flyers, becomes the fourth coach in the history of the program, taking over for Mike Tucker, who retired after leading Dayton for 22 seasons.

Golz, who spent the past two seasons as coach at Illinois State, spent three seasons as an assistant at Maryland from 2012 to 2014, where he helped lead a Terps defense that gave up the program's fewest goals in the past seven years during the 2014 season. Golz was also the team's recruiting coordinator, putting together three straight top-25 classes.

Major League Soccer: The Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer signed defender Alex Crognale (Maryland) to a homegrown player contract, the team announced. A four-year player for the Terps, the 6-foot-5 defender was named an All-American and Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Before attending Maryland, Crognale was a member of the Crew's academy from 2010 to 2013. With the Terps, he made 73 appearances and scored 11 goals. Crognale, who would have been eligible for the MLS SuperDraft had he not signed, is reunited with former Maryland goalkeeper Zach Steffen, who played at the university for two seasons before signing with Freiberg in Germany. Steffen signed with the Crew earlier this year.

- D.C. United acquired Costa Rican forward Jose Guillermo Ortiz from CS Herediano of the Primera División de Costa Rica on loan with an option to buy at the end of the 2017 season. Ortiz, 24, had a breakout year in 2016 with Liga Deportiva Alajuelense; in addition to scoring 15 goals, he was the leading scorer in the Verano tournament. In four seasons with LD Alajuelense, he scored 28 goals and recorded five assists while playing as a center forward, winger and withdrawn striker. Ortiz is expected to join the team in late January.

Major Arena Soccer League: Blast forward Tony Donatelli was selected to the MASL Team of the Week.

Et cetera

Phelps named 'Greatest Olympian of All Time' by Sports Illustrated

For the 12th time in his historic swimming career, Baltimore native Michael Phelps appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated, a year-in-review edition released Tuesday with the headline "Greatest Olympian of All Time." Phelps is wearing his 23 gold medals at once for the first time. In the accompanying article by Tim Layden, the longtime Rodgers Forge resident again indicated that an Olympic return is unlikely, saying, "If I do get the desire to come back, great. Right now, I just don't see it." Last week at the Edgewood branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, Phelps reiterated that his Olympic career was "probably" over, even breaking into laughter after one boy raised his hand and wished him well should he decide to "unretire" for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. He also told the kids he would "probably" never swim competitively again. He recalled telling his mother, Debbie, after his last race in Rio de Janeiro, "This is it. I'm done. I came back for one more." His wife, though, left some wiggle room. In the SI article, Nicole Phelps says ,"It's been fun to watch him get back into the pool, and he and Schmitty [Allison Schmitt] are pushing each other. He's in the right place now, but it will be interesting to see him in four years. Actually, I give it eight years, and then Boomer is like, 'Come on, Dad, let's see it one more time.'" Los Angeles is a candidate to host the 2024 Olympics, when Phelps would be 39. "Anyway, I see that being the only thing that could bring him back — to swim for Boomer," she said.

NBA: The Washington Wizards will be without center Ian Mahinmi for at least another six weeks. The Wizards announced that Mahinmi, who has remained in Washington during the team's three-game road trip, will undergo platelet-rich plasma treatment on both his ailing knees, extending his time out of action. The treatment will take place at the Andrews Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Pensacola, Fla. Mahinmi has logged just more than 14 minutes since joining the Wizards, all coming in a Nov. 26 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He made one free throw in the game for his only point of the season. The 30-year-old signed with the Wizards during free agency for four years and $64 million. He had surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his left knee in October but then developed soreness in the right knee after completing six weeks of rehabilitation from the procedure.

- Bryan Flaherty and Candace Buckner, The Washington Post

Baseball: The Boston Red Sox signed two former Orioles, outfielder Junior Lake and left-hander Edgar Olmos, to minor league deals with invitations to spring training camp. Lake, 26, played for three teams in the past two years and appeared in 22 games for the Toronto Blue Jays this past season, batting .200. Olmos, whom the Orioles acquired from the Chicago Cubs in March for a player to be named later, posted a 2.88 ERA in 42 relief appearances (68 2/3 innings) for Triple-A Norfolk in 2016.

NFL: Inside linebacker Arthur Brown, a former second-round pick by the Ravens, was released by the New York Jets on Monday. Brown, who was also cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars, made three tackles on special teams in 14 games this season.

Speed skating: Thomas Hong, a Maryland student who lives in Laurel and graduated from Atholton, was named to the United States' World Junior Short Track Championships team that will compete in Innsbruck, Austria from Jan. 27 to 29. Hong, a current member of the International Skating Union World Cup Fall team, won bronze in the 5000-meter relay at the World Cup in Gangneung, South Korea. He is also a four-time World Junior Championships team member.

Men's college basketball: Salisbury senior forward Wyatt Smith (John Carroll) was named Capital Athletic Player of the Week.

College football: Johns Hopkins is ranked ninth by the American Football Coaches Association and 11th by D3football.com in the final Division III polls.

College lacrosse: The Loyola Maryland men's team's road game against Bucknell on March 25 and the women's team's home game against Colgate on April 1 will be broadcast by the American Sports Network.