Sports in Brief: Netherlands routs Italy, 3-0, in soccer

The Netherlands handed Italy its worst loss ever in the European Championships, a 3-0 rout in Bern, Switzerland, that left the World Cup soccer champions in danger of elimination in the first round.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder scored in the first half, and standout defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst added the third goal on a counterattack in the 79th minute.

Romania tied injury-depleted France, 0-0, in Zurich. The French were without captain Patrick Vieira and leading scorer Thierry Henry.

Horse racing

Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. says he feels "like a loser" after Big Brown's stunning last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, and he was still searching for answers about what went wrong.

"I feel like a loser right now and I don't know why," Dutrow told the Daily Racing Form. "Usually when I get beat I can handle it the right way, and I've handled this the right way, but I just feel like something's not right."

Dutrow said he's been unable to find anything physically wrong with Big Brown. He said the quarter crack on the colt's left front hoof was fine.

Hockey

The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Maxim Lapierre to a two-year, $1.375 million contract. The 23-year-old had 18 points in 53 games last season for Montreal. He'll make $575,000 the first year and $800,000 in 2009-10.

Colleges

Northwestern named Joe McKeown head women's basketball coach. The Father Judge High graduate had spent 19 seasons at George Washington.

University of Oregon wrestlers have gone to court to prevent the school from dropping the sport to make room for a baseball team.

The suit filed Friday in Marion County Circuit Court in Salem contends the plan to eliminate wrestling would violate state law and the Oregon Constitution.