Monarchs

Manchester's Teddy Purcell collected a goal and three assists last night as the Monarchs beat the Phantoms, 6-2, in an AHL game at the Wachovia Spectrum. The Monarchs bolted to a 4-2 lead in the first period. Manchester (18-16-4) took a 2-0 lead before Triston Grant scored at 9 minutes, 41 seconds of the period for the Phantoms (27-12-1). The Monarchs scored again before Alexandre Picard's goal made it 3-2. The Monarchs scored two more goals in the second period. The Phantoms' Brian Boucher gave up five goals and made 12 saves before he was replaced by Scott Munroe.

Sacramento's Yolanda Griffith did what Charlotte's last six opponents could not - beat the Sting on the boards. "Tonight we saw a different team. They really crashed the boards. It wasn't a pretty game," Charlotte guard Dawn Staley said last night after the visiting Monarchs' 68-62 win. The Sting, who had their franchise-best six-game winning streak snapped, were outrebounded, 33-21. Griffith scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. "Tonight, we were not all that great offensively, but the effort was outstanding.

Lindsay Whalen scored 27 points and Nykesha Sales grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds to lead the Connecticut Sun to a 75-67 victory over the Detroit Shock and a two-game sweep of a first-round playoff series last night. The Sun, who will start the WNBA's Eastern Conference finals against Indiana on Thursday, beat the No. 1 rebounding team in the league at its own game, winning the battle of the boards by 47-42. Taj McWilliams-Franklin collected 16 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut.

Yolanda Griffith scored 16 points to lead Sacramento to a 70-63 victory yesterday over host Phoenix, giving the Monarchs a half-game lead over the Mercury in the race for third place in the Western Conference. Sacramento (18-10) has won three consecutive games and five of its last six. The loss snapped a three-game Phoenix win streak. Jennifer Gillom led Phoenix (17-10) with 23 points. In other games: SOL 64, STORM 51 At Seattle, Sheri Sam's 17 points and seven rebounds helped Miami deal the Storm its third consecutive loss.

The Gwynedd-Mercy Academy girls' soccer team has been outscored, 15-1, in its first three games. That fact has done little to dampen the enthusiasm or commitment of Caitlin Ryan. The senior winger believes the Monarchs, once they get a few more games under their belts, will show significant improvement. "We're a pretty young team, so this was kind of expected," Ryan said. "I think we'll do better as the season goes along. We've done some positive things in the games we've played so far this year.

Rachel Sheehy and Taylor Thompson put the best in the phrase best friends. They are nearly inseparable and have become accustomed to completing each other's thoughts. Thompson normally starts something, and here comes Sheehy to finish it. That's exactly what happened yesterday, as Downingtown East defeated Gwynedd-Mercy Academy, 2-1, in a girls' soccer match in Exton. With her team trailing, Thompson scored on an assist from Sheehy in the 27th minute to knot the score.

A strong group of seniors has helped Gywnedd-Mercy get off to a 5-4-2 overall start and a 3-1-2 league record. The Monarchs topped New Hope-Solebury Tuesday on senior tri-captain Lorma Capili's first goal of the year. "Lorma has been the key to the success of our offense," Monarchs coach Meg Hutchinson said. "She hasn't had many goals, but she has been instrumental in setting up our scoring situations. Most times, she's the one bringing the ball up the right side. " Capili serves as tri-captain along with fellow seniors Katie Arbogast and Alison Walsh.

All streaks must end, but for the Villa Joseph Marie girls' basketball team, the end to this one was painful. A school record 14-game winning streak and, probably, the school's first Bicentennial League title slipped away in one ugly performance Thursday night. Gwynedd-Mercy beat the Jems, 37-29, to pull into a first-place tie. While a nearly flawless effort by the host Monarchs (17-3, 11-1) shouldn't be overlooked, it was the Jems' (15-3, 11-1) inability to score that decided the game.

Before Gwynedd-Mercy Academy could worry about defending its PIAA District 1 Class AA title or challenging for a state crown, it had to find a coach. Kate Tobias, who guided the Monarchs to the state championship in 2000 and runner-up status last season, resigned after a two-year run because of time commitments. Gwynedd-Mercy won two district titles under Tobias, who succeeded the highly successful Jim Francouer before the 1999-2000 season. Enter Jolene Bray, whose daughter Brittany is a junior diver for the Monarchs.

N. Korea makes a sexist insult SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's first public, senior-level mention of South Korea's first female president ended up being a sexist jab. The body that controls North Korea's military complained Wednesday about the "venomous swish" of her skirt. But despite that swipe, and rhetoric from Pyongyang threatening nuclear war, President Park Geun-hye is sticking by her campaign vow to reach out to North Korea's young leader. On Wednesday, an unidentified spokesman for the North Korean National Defense Commission's armed forces ministry repeated earlier threats while decrying South Korea's own recent rhetoric, including a warning from Seoul that North Korea's government will "evaporate from the face of the Earth" if it ever uses a nuclear weapon.

Top-seeded Villa Maria took advantage of a strong second quarter at home on Friday night in the District 1 Class AAA girls' basketball quarterfinals to put away Gwynedd-Mercy, 45-35. With the score 10-10 after one period, the Hurricanes outscored the ninth-seeded Monarchs, 10-3, in the second to get ahead for good. With just five players scoring for the Hurricanes, Molly Namiotka and Lisa Mirarchi carried the load. Namiotka and Mirarchi scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, and combined for all but 12 of Villa Maria's points.

Senior captain Taylor Caparo hasn't been the biggest scoring threat or even played on the offensive end consistently this season. But Friday, she scored four goals to help second-seeded Gwynedd-Mercy shut out No. 3 Marple Newtown, 4-0, at Gwynedd-Mercy College in the District 1 Class AA girls' soccer semifinals. A possible rematch from last season's AA district final looms Monday if top-seeded Villa Joseph Marie can get by Phoenixville in Saturday's semifinal. The Monarchs lost a heartbreaker to the Jems last season, falling by 2-1 in overtime.

NORFOLK, Va. - Trailing 14-0 barely five minutes into the game against an unbeaten and explosive Old Dominion passing attack, Villanova blanked the Monarchs from then on while scoring five touchdowns to rout Old Dominion, 38-14, Saturday in a Colonial Athletic Association game. The Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) surrendered two early touchdowns to Old Dominion (5-1, 2-1). It took the Monarchs four plays and 67 seconds to score on Taylor Heinicke's 17-yard pass to Nick Mayers. It was 14-0 after he hit Kirk Spellman for a 47-yard touchdown.

Gwynedd-Mercy's 3-1 victory Friday over Mount St. Joseph in field hockey was somewhat bittersweet for Gwynedd coach Sue Persichetti. The first-year head coach has run summer field hockey camps for middle schoolers the past several years and has been influential in the development of both Mount and Gwynedd players. "When I play against this team, it's a weird feeling," Persichetti said, "because half of them I begged to come here [instead of Mount]. " But it didn't matter Friday on Persichetti's new home turf, as the Monarchs (3-3-2 overall, 1-1-2 Catholic Academies)

Gwynedd-Mercy's 3-1 victory over Mount St. Joseph in field hockey Friday was bittersweet for Gwynedd coach Sue Persichetti. The first-year head coach has run summer field hockey camps for middle schoolers the last several years and has been influential in the development of both Mount and Gwynedd players. "When I play against this team, it's a weird feeling," Persichetti said, "because half of them I begged to come here [instead of Mount]. " But it didn't matter Friday on Persichetti's new home turf as the Monarchs (3-3-2 overall, 1-1-2 Catholic Academies)

Investigations into the cause of bacterial infections that killed one woman and hospitalized two others after liposuction procedures in Maryland have spilled into Pennsylvania and Delaware, with authorities Friday advising customers of Monarch Med Spas that they might have been exposed. Maryland health officials shut down the cosmetic-surgery center in Timonium, north of Baltimore, on Wednesday after an inspection raised concerns about infection-control procedures. Monarch's other four centers are in Philadelphia, King of Prussia, Harrisburg, and Greenville, Del. The Pennsylvania and Delaware health departments urged people who underwent procedures and have fever, infection, or prolonged redness of the wound site to contact their health providers.

So late Wednesday night, the trip ended. The Monarchs came home to Philadelphia. What a trip it was. Forget all the cultural experiences and think about just the baseball for a moment. The Anderson Monarchs baseball team, 15 10- and 11-year-olds from South Philadelphia, saw eight Major League Baseball games on their 4,000-mile barnstorming trip around the country. And in the eight pro games the Monarchs watched, the home team went undefeated. More teams are going to want the Monarchs to visit.

The Anderson Monarchs ended their 19-day baseball barnstorming tour late Wednesday night when they finally returned to Philadelphia. On Tuesday night, however, the party was still in full swing as the 16 10- and 11-year-old ballplayers from South Philadelphia took in the Washington Nationals-New York Mets game at Nationals Park. The kids got to see a pinch-hit home run by the Mets' Jordany Valdespin and the Nationals win the game in the bottom of the 10th on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

First stop Saturday was Yankee Stadium. They stood right on the field behind home plate and watched the White Sox taking batting practice. But when you grow up in a world of SportsCenter , being there isn't what it used to be. "I thought it was bigger," said Tamir Brooks, 11. These 15 boys and one girl - the Anderson Monarchs, an almost entirely African American baseball team of 10- and 11-year-olds - were on Day 2 of their 22-day, 4,000-mile...