Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — Sophomore Eric Avila scored the deciding goal on UC-Santa Barbara’s fifth penalty kick and the unseeded Gauchos beat Wake Forest 4-3 in the tiebreaker Saturday to advance to the national title game.

The Gauchos face UCLA today after the Bruins were led by non-scholarship freshman David Estrada’s two goals in a 4-0 upset over Virginia in the first semifinal.

Second-seeded Wake Forest (18-4-3) had a chance to prolong its season until freshman Zack Schilawski kicked his penalty shot well over the cross bar to end the game. The teams played to a scoreless tie through regulation and two 10-minute overtimes.

SPURRIER

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Steve Spurrier wanted the world to know he was happy at South Carolina. His newest contract, complete with a nearly half-million dollar raise, should get the message across.

Spurrier, 61, was awarded a one-year extension that locked him up at South Carolina through 2012 and gave him a hefty boost to $1.75 million — up from his previous deal of $1.257 million — for his total compensation package.

Spurrier’s name had cropped up for big time coaching vacancies at Miami and Alabama the past two weeks.

NHL

RALEIGH — Eric Staal had two goals, and Justin Williams added a short-handed tally following a nifty pass by Rod Brind’Amour to help Carolina beat Boston 5-2.

Erik Cole and Ray Whitney also scored for the Hurricanes, the only NHL team with six 10-goal scorers this season. Cam Ward made 17 saves and held Boston scoreless in the final two periods.

Sharks 3, Red Wings 2

DETROIT — Joe Pavelski’s goal with 5.9 seconds remaining capped San Jose’s comeback.

Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 4, SO

MONTREAL — Sheldon Souray scored the winner.

Thrashers 3, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. — Glen Metropolit scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period and Kari Lehtonen had 27 saves to push Atlanta past Florida.

Islanders 5, Penguins 3

PITTSBURGH — Viktor Kozlov and Mike Sillinger each had two goals to lead the New York Islanders over Pittsburgh.

Devils 4, Flyers 3, SO

PHILADELPHIA — Martin Brodeur blanked Philadelphia’s Simon Gagne and Petr Nedved in the tiebreaker.

BASEBALL

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants declined to offer salary arbitration to Barry Bonds, and his agent says the team isn’t interested.

“San Francisco’s decision not to offer Barry arbitration speaks volumes of their true intentions to have him back in a Giants uniform for the 2007 season,” agent Jeff Borras said.

* NEW YORK — Tom Glavine is staying with the New York Mets, agreeing Friday to a $10.5 million, one-year contract and opting against a possible return to the Atlanta Braves, a baseball official said.

Glavine, who is 10 wins shy of 300, went 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA this past year. He is a two-time Cy Young Award winner.