High School Playoffs, Dynamo Season Opener, and More

High school playoffs continue this weekend. Locally, Dripping Springs plays Hays in the 4A Girls regional final, and Leander Vista Ridge plays New Braunfels Canyon in the Boys 4A regional final on Friday; no local 5A schools made the third round. The UIL Championships are next Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 at the Round Rock ISD athletic complex at 10211 W. Parmer. Get more info here.

The Houston Dynamo lost their MLS opener, 3-0, to New England; they host Costa Rica's Saprissa in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal, Wednesday night as we go to press. Mexican champion Pachuca beat DC United, 2-0 in the other semi on Tuesday; return legs are Wednesday, April 9, live on FSC: Saprissa-Houston at 6:30pm, DC-Pachuca at 10:30pm.

Mexico fired coach Hugo Sanchez on Monday after only 16 months in the job, two weeks after the U-23 team failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, and just three months before the tricolores open their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Champions League quarterfinals this week, and Manchester United continues to look like the best team in the world, shutting out Roma, 2-0, in Rome; elsewhere, it was Arsenal 1, Liverpool 1; Fenerbahce 2, Chelsea 1; and Schalke 0, Barcelona 1. The return legs are April 8-9, live on ESPN2, 1:30pm: Liverpool-Arsenal on Tuesday, Man U-Roma on Wednesday.

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FA Cup semifinals are this weekend, April 5-6: West Bromwich Albion-Portsmouth, 6am Saturday; Barnsley-Cardiff City, 10am Sunday.

Also on Saturday: a Premiership clash between Arsenal-Liverpool at 6:30am, the middle of their three games in seven days.

Stoke City dropped into second place in the English second division last weekend, following their third straight draw. With five games to go in the season, they still have promotion to the Premiership next season in their sights, but draws aren't going to get them there.