Curtis Hall and Wyllum Deveaux had first-period goals as the Maine Mariners opened an early lead and topped the Reading Royals 4-1 on Monday afternoon at Reading, Pennsylvania.

Ethan Ritchie and Tyler Drevitch added goals for Maine (14-14-5). Joseph Nardi had a goal early in the third period for Reading (14-17-1).

Nolan Maier stopped 24 shots for the Royals, while Brad Arvantitis recorded 30 saves for the Mariners.

SOCCER

FIFA AWARDS: World Cup champion Aitana Bonmatí of Spain was named FIFA’s best women’s soccer player after the 25-year-old playmaker won the Ballon d’Or award last October, which followed a UEFA award in August.

And that was after she led Spain to World Cup glory and Barcelona to the Champions League title. She was named player of the tournament for both competitions.

Bonmatí won Monday over Spain teammate Jenni Hermoso and Colombia star Linda Caicedo.

• Lionel Messi has been named FIFA’s best men’s player after moving from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami and leading the David Beckham-owned team to a little-known Leagues Cup title — all while single-handedly elevating soccer’s relevance in the United States.

The 36-year-old Argentina star on Monday was selected over Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland – the same pair he beat for his eighth Ballon d’Or award last October. Messi secured the FIFA award for the eighth time in 15 years. He had won it last year, too, after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Joel Embiid returned from his latest injury on Monday to score 41 points and grab 10 rebounds and lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 124-115 victory over visiting Houston.

HOCKEY

NHL: Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and will be away from the team for an indefinite amount of time.

The league and union announced Monday that Nichushkin, 28, will return to the Avalanche once he’s cleared by program administrators. No other information was provided.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Norm Snead, an NFL quarterback for 16 seasons in the 1960s and ’70s who was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, has died. He was 84.

Snead died Sunday in Naples, Florida, his brother, Danny, told The Associated Press on Monday. A cause of death was not provided.

SKIING

MEN’S WORLD CUP: French ski star Alexis Pinturault will undergo knee surgery next week after sustaining a season-ending injury during a World Cup super-G race, the French skiing federation said Monday.

Pinturault, the overall World Cup champion in 2021 and a three-time Olympic medalist, crashed when landing the Silberhorn jump approaching the final section of the storied Lauberhorn course at Wengen last week. He was airlifted from the course, six days after he became a father for the first time.

The federation said Pinturault, who met a specialist on Monday, ruptured the cruciate ligaments and internal meniscus in his left knee. He will undergo surgery at a Lyon clinic.

GYMNASTICS

BELARUS ATHLETES: The International Gymnastics Federation has granted neutral status to 30 athletes and officials from Belarus allowing them to take part in international competitions, although it is unclear how they could qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The only Belarusian gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, trampoline gymnast Ivan Litvinovich, was one of the 14 athletes on the FIG list of people given neutral status.

Russian and Belarusian were banned from most sports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Belarus supports. But the International Olympic Committee asked sports governing bodies last year to look at integrating individuals from Russia and Belarus back into competitions as neutral athletes as this year’s Paris Games approached. In order to be eligible for neutral status, athletes and officials must not have publicly supported the war nor have ties to military and state security agencies.