St. Edward’s players pretty much swept the Heartland Conference awards. Among the women, Kate Orkild is Defender of the Year, and midfielder Olivia Collado is Player of the Year for the second time, and also a first-team All-American. On the men’s side, sophomore forward Danny Riley was named Player of the Year, with senior defender Gavin Bruce Defensive Player of the Year. (Former Aztex players John Kaschak and James Martin were also named all-conference.) Congrats to both teams for another great season.

Brazil’s Corinthians beat Egypt’s Al-Ahly 1-0 on Wednesday to advance to Sunday’s final of the Club World Cup in Japan. The Copa Libertadores winners will face either Champions League winners Chelsea or CONCACAF champions Monterrey of Mexico, who play in the second semifinal on Thursday.

Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona) broke the single-year goal-scoring record this week, notching his 86th goal in all competitions in 2012. He’s also the favorite to win an unprecedented fourth straight Ballon d’Or award as the world’s top player.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.