Soccer

Thorns beat Reign to advance to NWSL final — Tobin Heath and Lindsey Horan scored and the Portland Thorns advanced to the National Women’s Soccer League championship game with a 2-1 semifinal victory over the Seattle Reign on Saturday. The defending NWSL champion Thorns (13-6-6) will play the winner of the other semifinal between the Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage for the title next Saturday at Portland’s Providence Park. The Reign went up first in the 28th minute on Jasmyne Spencer’s goal. Heath’s shot from the corner of the box n the 43rd minute tied it. Horan scored the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute on a header that bounced in off the post. It was her 14th of the season.

Motor Sports

Chastain earns 1st Xfinity win — Ross Chastain held off Justin Allgaier for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday, pulling away on the final restart. Chastain led 180 of the 200 laps. Cole Custer was third, followed by Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler. Chastain swept all three stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Allgaier clinched the overall regular-season series title during the second stage.

Cycling

Yates all but assured victory in the Vuelta — English rider Simon Yates is poised to win his first Grand Tour title after he successfully defended his lead in the Spanish Vuelta through Saturday’s 20th stage. Yates will take his advantage of 1 minute, 46 seconds, over Enric Mas into the final stage, when race custom dictates the riders do not attack the race leaders on the traditional arrival to Madrid. Yates’ win of the Vuelta will also complete a sweep by British riders of the season’s three Grand Tours. Chris Froome won the Giro d’Italia in May and Geraint Thomas won the Tour de France in July. Bend’s Ian Boswell finished Saturday’s stage in 85th place, 21 minutes, 18 seconds behind stage winner Mas. Overall, Boswell is in 125th place, 4 hours, 27 minutes, and 33 seconds behind Yates.

— From wire reports