text: Earthquakes welcome back fans with 3-1 over Dallas
  April 24, 2021 Updated: April 24, 2021 9:18 p.m.
  Seventeen-year-old homegrown player Cade Cowell had a goal and an assist Saturday, and the Earthquakes beat Dallas 3-1 in their Major League Soccer home opener as they welcomed back fans to PayPal Park.
  About 3,600 tickets were sold, approximately 20% of the stadium's capacity, in the first sporting event to have in-person attendance in Santa Clara County since the beginning of the pandemic 13 months ago.
  "It was huge," said Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, an Alamo native. "They're the heartbeat of this club. Their passion, their noise, their intensity throughout the game, it's what gives us the extra boost. It's just a different feeling when they're there."
  The 49ers, who play at nearby Levi's Stadium, went the entire 2020 NFL season without fans in their stadium, and the NHL's Sharks, who play at SAP Center about 8 miles down the road from PayPal Park, will welcome back fans Monday for a game against the Arizona Coyotes.
  MLB's Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco County and A's at the Coliseum in Alameda County first welcomed back fans at their home openers earlier this month.
  The NBA's Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco County hosted their first fans of the season Friday night.
  Cowell, who is from Ceres (Stanislaus County) and trained at a youth academy in Pleasanton, split the Dallas back line with a through ball from just across midfield that led Cristian Espinoza into an open space to directly challenge the goalkeeper. Espinoza finished with a chip shot into the left corner, giving the Earthquakes a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute.
  Cowell weaved through two defenders to curl home a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner, making it 3-0 in the 59th minute.
  Overall, he had his second goal and second assist in his career with San Jose (1-1-0).
  Oswaldo Alanis opened the scoring for San Jose with a penalty kick in the 34th minute.
  Ex-Shark Thornton sets Toronto mark
  The Toronto Maple Leafs were founded in 1917. More than 103 years later, Joe Thornton became the oldest in franchise history to score a goal.
  The longtime Sharks mainstay, who went to Toronto in free agency in the offseason, scored his fourth goal of the season at 4:04 of the first period in the Maple Leafs' 4-1 win at the Winnipeg Jets.
  At 41 years, 296 days, Thornton broke the record set by Allan Stanley at 41 years, 252 days on Nov. 8, 1967.
  The Maple Leafs stretched their North Division lead to eight points over the second-place Jets.
  • In other NHL highlights, Sidney Crosby scored to pass Evgeni Malkin and Mario Lemieux for most 20-goal seasons in franchise history (14) as the host Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2. .. Chandler Stephenson scored two first-period goals and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the last-place Anaheim Ducks 5-1 to extend their lead in the West to four points over the idle Colorado Avalanche.
  Golf: Brooke Henderson rallied to win the HUGEL Air Premia LA Open for her 10th LPGA Tour title, and first since 2019, surging to a 4-under-par 67 for a one-stroke victory over Jessica Korda (72) at 16-under to break the event record of 14-under set by Minjee Lee in 2019.
  • South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel birdied six of their final eight holes to shoot a 9-under 63 and take a one-shot lead at 19-under 197 into the final round of the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic at Avondale, La.
  Motor sports: The rain came at a good time for Jeb Burton, helping him end a years-long winless stretch. Burton got his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory when heavy rain halted the action with 23 laps left at Talladega, Ala., securing his first high-level win since a truck race in 2013.
  • Colton Herta, a 21-year-old second-generation driver, won the pole for Sunday's IndyCar race on the 1.8-mile downtown temporary course that runs along Tampa Bay.
  Tennis: Rafael Nadal will face a Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Barcelona Open final after easing past Pablo Carreno 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals. Tsitsipas advanced after beating Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3.