UMaine women’s soccer schedule features five home games
ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine women’s soccer team will host five regular season home games as well as a contest in Saco in the upcoming season as it looks to improve on its America East semifinal finish a year ago.
“Our 2016 schedule is balanced,” Maine coach Scott Atherley said in a news release Friday announcing the schedule.
“Most of our non-conference opponents are quite familiar to us and each will present unique challenges as we ready ourselves for conference play. With half our rosters comprised of new players, we managed to avoid playing midweek games,” Atherley added. “We also built in a small break between our non-conference and America East games. I anticipate we will welcome having the opportunity to reflect, revisit and regenerate as we head into the home stretch of our season. I am really looking forward to watching our team grow and develop over the course of the season.”
Atherley’s squad returns 12 letterwinners and welcomes 12 newcomers to a team which finished 9-8-2 overall and 4-3-1 in America East play, good for fifth place. Maine returns two of its top three scorers in America East Rookie of the Year Vivien Bell (3 goals, 5 assists) and America East All-Rookie selection Anetra Byfield (4 goals).
The Black Bears finished 2015 with a 7-1-1 on their home turf.
Cavaliers owe $54M in luxury taxes
The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly owe an NBA-high $54 million in luxury taxes for their championship season.
According to ESPN league sources, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will be required to send in a check to the NBA before the end of the month.
ESPN reported that the league established a $94.1 million salary cap for the 2016-17 campaign on Saturday and also confirmed that seven teams went over the $84.7 million tax threshold for the 2015-16 season.
The Cavs had a payroll of about $160 million for 2015-16, according to Cleveland.com. The new luxury tax level for next season is a reported $111 million.
The Los Angeles Clippers owe $19.9 million in luxury tax, followed by the Golden State Warriors ($14.8 million) and Oklahoma City Thunder ($14.5 million), according to ESPN. The league’s other three tax teams are the San Antonio Spurs ($4.9 million), Houston Rockets ($4.9 million) and Chicago Bulls ($4.2 million).
The Cavs’ current payroll is about $105 million, assuming star LeBron James signs another one-year contract with a player option for 2016-17, according to Cleveland.com.
FSU gives AD Wilcox two-year extension
Florida State announced athletics director Stan Wilcox has been given a two-year extension that puts him under contract through 2020. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Wilcox earned $510,000 annually in his original contract that was due to expire in 2018.
“We are fortunate to have Stan Wilcox, and this contract extension and promotion to vice president reflects our support and appreciation of the job he and his staff have done and our excitement about the future of Florida State athletics,” FSU president John Thrasher said in a statement.
Wilcox, who will add the title of vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, took over as athletics director in 2013. During that time, Florida State has won a national title and two ACC titles in football and a national title in women’s soccer, with several other programs enjoying postseason success as well, including a national championship match appearance this year by the women’s beach volleyball team.