Four-time Olympian Alina Muller of Switzerland is leaving behind her college and pro hockey career in Boston by signing a three-year contract Saturday with the PWHL’s expansion team in Hamilton, Ontario.
Muller will be joined in Hamilton by Montreal defender and rookie of the year finalist Nicole Gosling, who also signed a three-year standard agreement during Phase 2 of the PWHL's expansion signing process.
San Jose made a splash by signing New York forward Kristin O’Neill to a two-year Foundational Offer, guaranteeing the 28-year-old Canadian Olympian at least $100,000 per season. O’Neill made $86,872 last year, and is reunited with former Team Canada coach Troy Ryan, who doubles as San Jose’s coach and GM.
Each of the four expansion franchises are allowed one foundational signing, with Daryl Watts landing a four-year deal in Detroit on Friday.
Earlier in the day, San Jose also signed New York forward Anne Cherkowski to a two-year contract.
Meantime, Las Vegas made it's first two additions, by signing Minnesota defenders Kendall Cooper and Mae Batherson to two-year contracts.
Hamilton, San Jose, and Detroit have signed four of Phase 2's allotted five players. Also, New York, Seattle and now Minnesota have lost the maximum three players during this three-day phase closing on Monday.
The 28-year-old Muller has spent her adult life in Boston following a five-year college career at Northeastern and the past three seasons with the Fleet. Selected third overall by Boston in the league’s inaugural 2023 draft, Muller was the PWHL's first non-North American player selected.
Her 56 PWHL career points (16 goals, 40 assists) lead all Fleet and non-North American players.
Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer grew emotional Thursday when discussing the possibility of losing Muller. With the eight existing teams allowed to protect only three players each, Marmer said she was left with little choice in filling those spots with captain Megan Keller, rookie of the year finalist Haley Winn and goalie of the year finalist Aerin Frankel ahead of Muller.
Muller has also shined on the international stage in having scored Switzerland’s two Olympic bonze medal-clinching goals, including the overtime-winner over Sweden at the Milan Cortina Games in February.
Gosling is coming off a Walter Cup championship season in Montreal. She was selected fourth overall in the draft last year, and tied for first among rookie defenders with 19 points (three goals, 16 assists).
The 24-year-old Gosling also gets an opportunity to move closer to her hometown of London, Ontario.
O'Neill is now on her third PWHL team after spending her first two seasons in Montreal. She ranked fourth in the league last season with 272 faceoff wins while scoring four goals and an assist in 30 games. Overall, O'Neill has nine goals and 10 assists in 83 career games.
O’Neill is from Oakville, Ontario, and played collegiately at Cornell.
Batherson spent two seasons with Minnesota, including winning a Walter Cup championship as a rookie. The 25-year-old from Nova Scotia finished this past year with three goals and 15 points — a 12-point jump from her first season.
Cooper, selected sixth in last year's draft out of Quinnipiac, finished tied for second among PWHL rookies with 19 points (two goals, 17 assists). The 24-year-old is from Oakville, and set a league record for defenders with a six-game points streak.
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
FILE - Toronto Sceptres goaltender Raygan Kirk saves a shot from Montreal Victoire's Kristen O'Neill during the first period of a PWHL hockey game in Toronto, Dec. 21, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
England wrapped up a 115-run victory over New Zealand before lunch on Day 4 of the first cricket test at Lord’s on Sunday, marking a positive start to its “Bazball” reset after the Ashes humiliation Down Under.
Resuming on 55-5 and requiring 254 for an unlikely win, New Zealand lost its remaining five wickets inside the first two hours of play and was dismissed for 138.
England pacer Gus Atkinson finished with team-best figures of 5-30 on a challenging, bowler-friendly surface at the home of cricket that saw 24 batters out bowled or lbw.
It was fitting that the match ended with the middle stump flattened after Atkinson clean-bowled Kiwi tail-ender Matt Henry. That left Glenn Phillips stranded at the other end on 44 not out, making him New Zealand's top scorer of a disappointing test for the tourists.
“You've got to play what's in front of you, you've got to identify the conditions as a team and understand what you think is the best way for you to go out there and win,” England captain Ben Stokes said of the conditions in a match that lasted just 166 overs.
“And we did that better than New Zealand this week.”
This first test series of the summer has been regarded as a fresh start for England and its under-pressure leadership after a 4-1 loss to Australia during an Ashes tour featuring reports of excessive drinking and when England was accused of slack preparation and a wrong tactical approach.
The headline selections early in this second iteration of “Bazball” under coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes were opener Emilio Gay and seam bowler Ollie Robinson — and both delivered.
With a second-innings 57, Gay had the highest individual score from either team on his test debut.
Robinson, recalled for the first time since 2024 when he was dropped over misgivings about his fitness and attitude, took seven wickets in total (5-39 and 2-38) — three of them coming in his magical first over — and was named man of the match.
“He said before he bowled in that first innings that he was more nervous than he was on his debut,” McCullum said of Robinson. “His natural length was going to be successful on this surface ... he needed relentlessness and accuracy and being able to get the ball to seam. With his height and skills, he was always going to be a handful.”
What was already a tough position for New Zealand got even harder when Tom Blundell was trapped lbw by Josh Tongue in the seventh over of the day.
That left the tourists on 58-6 but a 53-run partnership between opener Devon Conway and Phillips gave them a fighting chance of a remarkable comeback.
Then Conway, surprised by the bounce of a delivery from Stokes, sent a leading edge to gully for the first of four dismissals in seven overs, ensuring New Zealand didn't even make it to lunch.
Given the state of the pitch, perhaps little should be gleaned from the second shortest completed test of the record 150 to take place at Lord’s. That was New Zealand captain Tom Latham's thought process, anyway.
“It's a surface that we weren’t expecting,” Latham said. “I don't think anybody expected a surface like that.”
“I think it's important we don't delve too much into this game. We understand we'll go to The Oval and conditions will be a lot better than they have been here.”
The second test of the three-match series is across London at The Oval, starting June 17.
Atkinson continued his love affair with the home of cricket, where he made his test debut two years ago and took 12 wickets in a win over West Indies to get on the Lord's storied honors boards.
Later that summer, he struck his maiden test century — against Sri Lanka — at Lord's, as well as getting another five-fer.
He was at it again Sunday, removing New Zealand's final three batters — Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry — to get back on the honors board located inside the dressing rooms at the famous ground.
It was his fifth five-wicket haul in tests — and four of them have been at Lord’s.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
England's Gus Atkinson holds the ball as he leaves the field after bowling out New Zealand's Matt Henry to win the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
England's Gus Atkinson, left, celebrates with captain Ben Stokes after bowling out New Zealand's Matt Henry to win the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
New Zealand's Nathan Smith reacts as he walks off the field after losing his wicket during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
England's captain Ben Stokes celebrates the dismissal of New Zealand's Devon Conway during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
New Zealand's Nathan Smith reacts as he walks off the field after losing his wicket during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
England's captain Ben Stokes, right, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of New Zealand's Devon Conway during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
New Zealand's Glenn Phillips plays a shot during the fourth day of the Test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
