In today’s news: Man City close the gap at the top of the WSL, Jamie Chadwick’s future is decided by Williams, and history is made at Madison Square Garden.
Sam Mewis stars as Man City close gap on leaders Chelsea
Manchester City thrashed Birmingham 4-0 to move within two points of league leaders Chelsea at the top of the Women’s Super League.
U.S. striker Sam Mewis scored twice, while Lauren Hemp and Caroline Weir added further goals as City registered their eighth consecutive WSL win.
Meanwhile, Arsenal scored four second-half goals to beat Aston Villa and reaffirm their ambitions for a Champions League spot this season.
Captain Jordan Nobbs, who returned to the side following a quad strain, scored on her return, while Vivienne Miedema netted her 13th goal of the season to move two clear of Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr at the top of the WSL scoring charts.
Arsenal remain fourth in the table but are now just six points behind Manchester United in third place, with a game in hand. In the weekend’s other fixture, Jill Scott scored the winner for Everton as they beat Tottenham 3-2 to consolidate fifth position in the table.
Scott, who won her 150th cap for England last Tuesday, headed in from a corner as Everton won for just the second time in 10 games.
Professional women’s hockey played at Madison Square Garden for the first time
Professional women’s hockey took centre stage at Madison Square Garden for the first time on Sunday evening, as New Hampshire defeated Minnesota 4-3 on the second night of the 2021 Dream Gap Tour.
The game represented a continuation of the players’ objective to raise the visibility of women’s hockey after many players broke away from the National Women’s Hockey league in 2019 as they attempted to bring about a more financially stable league.
The two teams had faced off the night before last as well, with Minnesota winning 5-2 ,but it was New Hampshire who came away the narrow victors in New York, as U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning forward Brianna Decker scored twice.
Tennis Hall-of-Famer Billie Jean King was also in attendance and welcomed both teams to the ice on the evening before the start of Women’s Empowerment Month.
Nelly Korda claims fourth LPGA Tour title
World number four Nelly Korda won her fourth LPGA Tour title with a three-shot victory at the Gainbridge Championship in Florida.
Korda shot a three-under-par 69 in her final round to finish on -16 overall, three shots clear of fellow American Lexi Thompson and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
Annika Sorenstam, who was playing in her first tournament on the LPGA Tour in 13 years, carded five bogeys — including one in her final round — to finish on 13 over par.
Georgia Hall, winner of the Women’s British Open in 2018, was the top performer for Britain, ending with a one-under-par 71 to finish tied 21st on the leaderboard.
Jamie Chadwick to continue as Williams’ development driver in 2021
British racing star Jamie Chadwick has been retained by the Williams Formula One racing team as a development driver for a third season.
The 22-year-old, who hopes to race in F1 someday, won the inaugural women-only W Series in 2019 and will try to retain her title this season after the Coronavirus pandemic forced last year’s campaign to be cancelled.
Chadwick’s new deal with Williams will see her increase her programme in the simulator, and be fully immersed at trackside for grand prixs.
She will also compete in the new all-electric off-road championship, Extreme E, which gets underway next month in Saudi Arabia.
Thunder continue unbeaten start with victory over Stars
Manchester Thunder continued their unbeaten start to the Netball Superleague as they thrashed the Severn Stars 60-21, thanks to an impressive performance by Joyce Mvula.
Having beaten the London Pulse by 27 goals in their previous outing, the Thunder were no less impressive against the Stars, who were punished for their mistakes and are still yet to register a victory this season.
Manchester, meanwhile, are one of only two teams alongside Bath to remain unbeaten this season and sit level on 9 points with Bath as well as the Loughborough Lightning and the Strathclyde Sirens at the top of the table.
Both the Lightning and the Sirens also registered wins yesterday, beating Leeds Rhinos and London Pulse respectively.
Loughborough scored 70 goals — the most of any team so far this season — as an injury-hampered Rhinos side offered little resistance, eventually falling to a 29-goal defeat.
Strathclyde’s win over London Pulse was much tighter, but the Sirens eventually ran out 35-30 victors, inflicting a third straight defeat on the Pulse, who remain joint-bottom as things stand.