SEATTLE — Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist to back goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and the Galaxy beat Seattle 2-0 on Saturday night, ending the Sounders’ 22-match unbeaten streak at home as well as a nine-match unbeaten run this season.
Greg Vanney led Los Angeles to its first victory in Seattle since July 9, 2016 — Bruce Arena’s final season as the Galaxy’s coach.
Pec used assists from Marco Reus and defender Miki Yamane in the 23rd minute to score his fifth goal of the season, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 lead that stood through halftime. It was his fourth goal in the last three matches and his 27th in 75 career appearances.
Reus’ assist was his fifth this season, while Yamane collected his first.
Pec and Edwin Cerrillo set up Matheus Nascimento’s first goal this season two minutes into stoppage time to clinch the victory. Cerrillo entered in the 89th minute before snagging his first assist and Pec’s helper was his fourth.
Marcinkowski stopped six shots for the Galaxy (5-5-4). It was his first clean sheet in his 10th start this season.
Andrew Thomas finished without a save for Seattle (7-2-3), whose only other loss came in its road opener at Real Salt Lake on Feb. 28.
The Galaxy extended the league’s longest current streak with at least one goal scored to 23.
Seattle was the last team to shut out the Galaxy, doing so with a 4-0 road win on Aug. 10 last season.
The Sounders were coming off a 3-2 victory over Arena’s San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, while the Galaxy lost to Sporting Kansas City — whose only other victory to that point came against the Galaxy on the road.
The Galaxy lead the all-time series with the Sounders 16-11-15, including a 5-8-8 record in Seattle.
The Sounders fall to 4-1-1 at home and the Galaxy improve to 3-3-2 on the road.
The carriage has turned back into a pumpkin, the ballgown is once again just tattered clothing and all the horses have gone back to being mice.
The Ducks’ Cinderella run through the NHL playoffs came to an end Thursday in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. And the end came well before midnight, with goals by Mitch Marner and Brett Howden in the first 8½ minutes giving Vegas a commanding lead before many in the late-arriving weeknight crowd had made it to their seats at the Honda Center.
The Golden Knights will move on to the Western Conference final with the Colorado Avalanche next week while the Ducks will move on to summer. But it’s the team’s latest start on the offseason since 2017, the last time the Ducks made it to the second round of the playoffs. So even if the glass slipper didn’t fit this time, the Ducks have reason to celebrate.
“I think our team, we learned, myself included, just how to play in those games,” said winger Troy Terry, the only remaining link to the Ducks’ last playoff team. “That’s kind of the difference in some of these games, a team like Vegas, learning how to manage those close games. It stings right now, but I think I speak for everyone that we’ll be hungry going into the summer.
“It was fun to play in this. It’s been a long time.”
Ducks center Leo Carlsson passes the puck as Vegas’ Shea Theodore defends during the second period.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
This team, after all, wasn’t supposed to be at the ball this long. Fourteen players on its roster had never been to the postseason before; most of them had never even played for a winning team in the NHL before. But the team’s youth and inexperience proved to be a strength, not a weakness.
They didn’t know they weren’t supposed to win in the playoffs, so they did, dispatching the Edmonton Oilers — who made the last two Stanley Cup finals — in the first round and outplaying the veteran Golden Knights, a playoff team in eight of the franchise’s nine seasons, throughout much of the second round.
Rookie Beckett Sennecke, just 20, had four goals and an assist in the six games with Vegas. Winger Cutter Gauthier, just 22, led the team with 12 points in his first trip to the playoffs. Defenseman Olen Zellwenger, also 22, had a goal and assist in his first two playoff games and Olympic gold medalist Jackson LaCombe, 25, led the team in ice time — and was third in points with 10 — in his first postseason.
That’s the core of the team going forward and the playoff experience they got this spring will be invaluable.
“We’ve got a super young core here,” Sennecke said. “We’re a fast team and we play with a lot of skill, a lot of pace. … The next few years are exciting.”
Ducks left wing Alex Killorn moves the puck ahead of Vegas right wing Keegan Kolesar in the first period.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“It doesn’t make this any easier,” added center Mikael Granlund, at 34 the second-oldest Duck to play Thursday. “Tonight was kind of the story of the season. In the first period we’re down three goals. In the regular season, we were able to come back. But in playoffs, it’s not easy.
“So yeah, there’s a lot of good signs in this team, but at the same time, it’s never easy.”
However, the fairy godmother’s spell wore off early in Game 6, which was just 62 seconds old when Vegas went ahead to stay.
Marner opened the scoring with a spectacular breakaway goal, skating on to William Karlssson’s two-line pass as he entered the offensive zone and beating LaCombe up the center of the ice to the crease. When he got there, he pulled up, turned his back to goalie Lukas Dostal, then shoved the puck just inside the right post for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Howden doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal 7½ minutes later, finding miles of space just to the right of the goal and banging in a pass from Marner that split LaCombe and Alex Killorn. The goal was Howden’s eighth of the playoffs, temporarily giving him the NHL postseason lead, while the assist gave Marner 18 postseason points, also best in the league.
“I thought we had a really good vibe going in and felt good about guys being excited,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Couple of quick goals, and we certainly lost a lot of our excitement. That was tough.”
When Shea Theodore scored off a faceoff seconds into a power play late in the period, it gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead at the intermission with the goals coming on a power play, the penalty kill and with the teams at even strength.
The Ducks led the NHL with 26 comeback wins during the regular season, but against the poised and patient Golden Knights the deficit was too big. The Ducks left the ice to a chorus of boos after the period, though they came back to dominate the second period, getting the only score at 12:46 when Mikael Granlund notched his fifth goal of the playoffs on a power play, lining a snap shot into the side netting from the middle the left circle.
But the Ducks would get no closer, with Vegas icing the game on two third-period goals from Pavel Dorofeyev, who had four goals in the final two games. The first came off a turnover from the Ducks’ John Carlson deep in his defensive end 2:52 into the final period and the second on a shot from a difficult angle to the right of the goal that ricocheted in off Dostal with 6:28 left in the Ducks’ season.
The two goals gave Dorofeyev nine for the playoffs, passing Howden for the league lead.
“They worked for what they got,” Quenneville said of the Golden Knights. “They deserve to move on.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Calvin Harris had a goal and two assists and Dejan Joveljić scored against his former team, leading Sporting Kansas City to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Galaxy on Wednesday night.
Sporting KC (2-8-2) snapped an eight-match winless streak under first-year manager Raphaël Wicky and an eight-match winless skid at home dating to last year. The club’s only other victory came against the Galaxy (4-5-4) — a 2-1 road win on March 14 in which Joveljić also scored.
Sporting KC grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute on Capita Capemba’s first career goal in his sixth appearance. Harris and Lasse Berg Johnsen had assists.
Joveljić made it 2-0 at halftime when he scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time with assists from Harris and defender Zorhan Bassong. It was his sixth goal this season and his 24th in 44 appearances with his new club. Joveljić scored 34 goals for the Galaxy from 2021-24. He scored the winner in the final against the New York Red Bulls in 2024 for L.A.’s sixth MLS Cup before being traded in the offseason.
Harris found the net in the 70th minute for a 3-0 lead with helpers from Manu García and Jacob Bartlett, who entered in the 61st. It was Harris’ first goal this season and his 12th in 113 career matches.
Stefan Cleveland totaled six saves for Sporting KC in his third start this season and the 15th of his career.
J.T. Marcinkowski saved six shots for Los Angeles.
The Galaxy extended their current scoring streak to a league-best 22 straight matches when Gabriel Pec scored in the 89th minute for his 10th goal of the season. Justin Haak and former Sporting KC member Erik Thommy had assists.
Pec scored two late goals in a 2-1 road win over Atlanta United last time out. It was his 10th goal of the campaign.
Sporting KC ties the all-time series at 29-29-18 while improving to 20-10-9 at home against the Galaxy.
Joveljić has scored in three straight matches against his former teammates.
Goalkeeper Bento’s bizarre injury-time own goal denies Al-Nassr a title-crowning 1-0 win over rivals Al Hilal at home.
Published On 13 May 202613 May 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo and his Al-Nassr teammates were left frustrated when their goalkeeper Bento scored an injury-time own goal, denying the club their first Saudi Pro League title in seven years.
Riyadh-based club Al-Nassr were leading 1-0 and seconds away from defeating local rivals Al Hilal, who are second in the league, when Bento fumbled an overhead save that sent the ball into his own net in a highly anticipated match on Tuesday.
A win would have sealed the 11th league title for Al-Nassr and the first for the Portuguese superstar since he famously joined the club in January 2023.
Al-Nassr top the league table with 83 points from 33 games, while Al Hilal are second on 78 points from 32 games. Ronaldo, who captains Al-Nassr, cut a picture of frustration on the bench when the equaliser was scored by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
The 41-year-old football icon has not won a domestic title with Al-Nassr since his then-record-breaking move from Manchester United after the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
Al-Nassr’s last league title came in 2019, while Al Hilal won the league in 2024.
Fans of the home team were given free team shirts at the beginning of the match, making the stands a sea of yellow in anticipation of the title win.
Barring a shock result against 15th-place Damac in their final league game, Al-Nassr are favourites to win the league on May 21 .
“The dream is close,” Ronaldo said in his post-match social media posts to his 770 million-plus followers.
The Ducks’ second-round playoff showdown with the Vegas Golden Knights has become a best-of-three series.
With a 4-3 victory Sunday before a raucous sold-out crowd at the Honda Center, the Ducks evened the series 2-2 as it heads back to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Tuesday. But it wasn’t easy, with the Golden Knights twice rallying from one-goal deficits, only to see the Ducks answer each time.
And the Ducks’ power play, so lethal in the team’s first-round win over Edmonton and so ineffective in the first three games of this series, finally found a spark, scoring goals in each of the first two periods.
The Ducks were fast and physical in the early going, playing with an urgency they lacked in their Game 3 loss. They also did a better job protecting the puck and that paid off with the team’s first power-play goal of the series 8:43 into the first period.
Vegas had killed 11 penalties against the Ducks and 21 in a row dating back to Game 3 in their first-round series against Utah. But after Dylan Coghlan went off for interference, Sennecke teed up a slap shot from the top of the right circle for his fourth goal of the playoffs, putting the Ducks up 1-0.
The lead didn’t last long, however, with Dorofeyev evening things with a power-play goal of his own about a minute and half later. The goal, on a tip-in, was Dorofeyev’s fifth of the postseason.
Ducks defenseman Ian Moore celebrates with teammates after scoring in the third period of a 4-3 win over the Golden Knights in Game 4 on Sunday at Honda Center.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Granlund put the Ducks back on top less than five minutes before the first intermission, taking a pass from Jeffrey Viel along the left-side boards and getting off a shot as he battled Vegas forward Cole Smith. The puck appeared to strike the blade of Smith’s stick as Viel let it go and that proved fortunate for the Ducks since the deflection fooled defenseman Noah Hanifin and goalie Carter Hart, who both let the bouncing puck tumble through them and into the goal.
That lead didn’t last long, either, with Howden tying things again for Vegas 4:04 into the second period. The goal, on the Golden Knights’ ninth shot, was Howden’s seventh of the playoffs, giving him a share of the NHL lead. Mitch Marner assisted on the first two Vegas goals, giving him a league-best 15 points in 10 postseason games.
However, Killorn scored the Ducks’ second power-play less than two minutes before the second intermission, putting the Ducks in front to stay. Moore doubled the lead 3:43 into the third, lining in a slap shot from well above the right circle.
The two-goal lead matched the largest of the series for the Ducks. Hertl cut that in half with 64 seconds to play after Vegas pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. But the Golden Knights got no closer.
Both teams have split their two games at home. The Golden Knights will have the home-ice advantage — if there is one — over the last three games since two are scheduled in Las Vegas.
Sunday’s win marked the sixth consecutive time the Ducks evened a playoff series it trailed 2-1 after three games.
Vegas played without winger Mark Stone, whose 28 goals were second-most on the team during the regular season. Stone, who had a goal and an assist in the first three games against the Ducks, is the team’s all-time playoff scoring leader with 79 points (39 goals, 40 assists) in 94 games. He sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period of Game 3 and his status for the rest of the series is unclear.
Jack McGlynn scored a goal in each half and the Houston Dynamo thumped LAFC 4-1 on Sunday night at BMO Stadium.
McGlynn used an assist from Lawrence Ennali in the 25th minute to score on a shot from well outside the box, giving Houston a 1-0 lead. It was McGlynn’s first goal after scoring a career-high six times last season.
Guilherme Santos scored off a free kick in the 34th minute for a two-goal lead. The first-year midfielder has six goals in 11 matches.
McGlynn had a shot from nearly the same spot hit the far post, also in the 42nd, and Nathan Ordaz answered for LAFC three minutes later to cut it to 2-1 at halftime. McGlynn was booked for a yellow card in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Stephen Eustáquio notched his third assist in seven appearances on Ordaz’s second goal, and Jacob Shaffelburg picked up his second in five outings this season and his 15th in 134 appearances. Ordaz has found the net eight times in 67 matches.
Mateusz Bogusz got a second chance to score in the 51st minute, using his left foot to find the net for the second time for a 3-1 lead. Bogusz scored 18 goals in 60 appearances with LAFC from 2023-24.
McGlynn gave the Dynamo a three-goal lead in the 55th with assists from Ennali and Santos, who already has five helpers. Ennali collected his first two assists of the campaign.
Jonathan Bond finished with five saves for Houston (6-5-0), which improved to 2-3-1 on the road.
Hugo Lloris saved two shots for LAFC (6-3-3), which drops to 4-2-1 at home. Lloris entered with eight shutouts through his first 10 starts, posting three more clean sheets than any other keeper in the league.
The Dynamo have gone 5-2-1 in the last eight matchups, holding LAFC scoreless in five of them.
LAFC beat the Dynamo 2-0 in Houston to close out February.
LAFC’s Sergi Palencia left with an apparent injury in the 42nd minute.
Up next for LAFC: visits St. Louis City on Wednesday.
Dudinha had a goal and an assist to lead the San Diego Wave to a 2-1 victory over rival Angel City on Saturday at BMO Stadium.
Dudinha beat multiple Angel City defenders before firing a shot that was deflected off defender Sarah Gorden for the opening goal in the 49th minute.
Angel City’s Emily Sams scored in the 54th minute to even the score.
San Diego (6-0-3) took the lead for good when Dudinha’s cross found the head of rookie defender Mimi Van Zanten in the 81st minute. Dudinha’s fourth assist tied her for the league lead with Portland’s Olivia Moultrie.
Angel City (3-0-4) started the 2026 season with three straight wins but it has lost its last four games.
Former Angel City head coach and current Wave assistant Becki Tweed led the club with Jonas Eidevall suspended because of a red card in last week’s 1-0 home loss to Bay FC.
LAS VEGAS — Perhaps you were a little surprised when the Ducks, who haven’t had a winning record in seven seasons, led the Pacific Division for most of the season, or when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2018, or when they eliminated the Edmonton Oilers — who played in the last two Stanley Cup Finals — in the first round of the playoffs this spring.
If you were surprised by any of that, wait until you hear what they’ve done now.
Because with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven playoff series, the Ducks evened the series at a win apiece and wrested home-ice advantage away from the division champions. Now they come home for Game 3 on Friday with a strong wind at their backs in a series they were supposed to lose.
“We kept the momentum and we’re headed home, which is fantastic,” center Ryan Poehling said.
If the series goes a full seven games, the Ducks will play three of the last five game at home where — would it surprise you to learn? — they had the best home record in the division this season?
But it’s not just that the Ducks won, but how they won that’s important. The younger, speedier team has skated rings around the older — and frustrated — Golden Knights, who have made the playoffs eight times in nine years, winning a Stanley Cup in 2023. Two games into this series, however, the plodding Golden Knights have looked like they’re skating through quicksand at times and have really had no answer for Anaheim in this series.
“The way to beat them is just outpacing them,” Poehling said. “And it’s not just with speed. It’s how we play. Guys are supporting one another, and you saw that. Tonight was kind of a game plan of what we want to do to win, for sure.
Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke celebrates after scoring in the second period against the Golden Knights in Game 2 on Wednesday.
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
“We didn’t like how Game 1 ended, but we liked our game. That’s hockey sometimes. You can play the right way, do all the right things, we end up losing.”
The Golden Knights won Game 1 when a blown icing call allowed them to score the go-ahead goal before adding an insurance goal into an empty net. So the Ducks made sure one play wouldn’t decide Game 2, taking their first lead of the series on a Beckett Sennecke goal midway through the second period.
“We had some great opportunities to score first,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Finding a way to score first was important.”
The Ducks also scored second and third, with Leo Carlsson doubling the lead 6:36 into the third period before Jansen Harkins scored into an empty net with 3:30 to play to ice things. That didn’t end the drama though because the Ducks were six seconds away from their first shutout of the season when Vegas’ Mark Stone scored a power-play goal into an empty net.
For the Ducks, that goal spoiled nothing.
“It doesn’t matter,” goalie Lukas Dostal said. “It doesn’t matter how you win, where the score is. Obviously it’s always the cherry on the top. But it doesn’t really matter. We got a W and that’s all we focus on.”
Maybe. But after a regular season in which the Ducks gave up more than 3.5 goals a game, most of any playoff qualifier, the defensive effort was…. well, surprising.
And important.
“That’s not our tradition of playing that type of game. Low-scoring affair, when we score first and we’re leading throughout,” Quenneville said.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal protects the net in front of Vegas forward Tomas Hertl during the second period.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
But if the Ducks hope to make a long playoff run, that’s the blueprint they’ll have to follow.
“The only way you’re going to be successful in the playoffs is you’ve got to win games like tonight,” said Quenneville, whose three Stanley Cup wins with Chicago are the most by an active NHL coach. “We showed that it’s going to take everybody to play these type of games. And everybody contributed.”
“We’re picking a good time,” added defenseman Jacob Trouba “to play our best hockey.”
Still, the Ducks’ best hockey can get better. Anaheim was for 0 for Las Vegas on the power play, failing to score on nine opportunities with the man advantage in the two games — including an eight-minute stretch in the first period when Vegas had one, and sometimes two, players in the penalty box.
“We had some great chances on the power play,” said Quenneville, whose team scored on half of their 16 power-play chances in the first-round series with Edmonton. Vegas, however, has killed 19 straight penalties and 24 of 25 in the postseason.
Ducks forward Leo Carlsson scores past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart during the first period Wednesday.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
Yet that wasn’t good enough for the sweep at home, so the once-favored Golden Knights must break serve in Anaheim.
“They split here. We’ve got to go in and try to get a game out of there,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “We’re going to keep our composure and get about our business. This team has always been really good in these type of situations, so I have full confidence we’re going to find our way.”
If the Golden Knights fail to do that, they just might be in for a surprise.
Bukayo Saka reacts quickest as Leandro Trossard’s shot is saved by Jan Oblak, putting in the rebound from close range to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emiates Stadium.
A revised North Korean constitution removes references to reunification with the South, a document shared by Seoul’s Unification Ministry showed Wednesday. Kim Jong Un, seen here at a party congress in February, was officially elevated to head of state. File Photo by KCNA/EPA
SEOUL, May 6 (UPI) — North Korea has revised its constitution to remove all references to reunification with South Korea, a document shared by Seoul’s Unification Ministry showed Wednesday, formalizing leader Kim Jong Un’s push to redefine inter-Korean ties as relations between two separate states.
The document, which was shared at a news conference by the ministry, removes language calling for the “peaceful reunification” of the Korean Peninsula that had been part of the North’s constitution since a 1992 revision.
The new version codifies a policy shift Kim first laid out in 2024, when he abandoned Pyongyang’s long-standing goal of reunification and defined South Korea as an adversary.
At a March meeting of North Korea’s rubber-stamp legislature, where the revision is believed to have been adopted, Kim called for recognizing South Korea as the “most hostile state.”
However, the revised constitution did not define South Korea as a “primary foe” or “hostile state,” despite Kim’s increasingly confrontational rhetoric toward Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The new constitution also introduces language defining North Korea’s territory as bordering China and Russia to the north and South Korea to the south.
It does not specifically address maritime boundary lines, including the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea known as the Northern Limit Line. The NLL, which was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command after the Korean War, has long been a source of tension between the two Koreas.
The waters around the boundary, which Pyongyang does not recognize, have been the site of multiple naval clashes since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, including the 2010 including the North’s 2010 torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 dead.
In January 2024, Kim called the line “illegal” and warned that even the slightest violation of the North’s territory would be considered a “war provocation.”
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to ease inter-Korean tensions since taking office in June, calling for the resumption of dialogue and making conciliatory gestures such as dismantling border propaganda loudspeakers.
Pyongyang has largely ignored those overtures while continuing to expand its military posture. In April, North Korea conducted several weapons tests, including tactical ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads and electronic warfare systems.
The revision also elevates Kim’s position as “head of state,” further consolidating his authority over state affairs and the country’s nuclear forces.
LAS VEGAS — T-Mobile Arena sits just off the Las Vegas Strip, not far from a faux Manhattan skyline, a pyramid and a casino made to look like a castle.
The line separating illusion from reality can be a thin one in Sin City, where the Ducks opened the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Monday intent on proving their first-round victory over the Edmonton Oilers was more than a facade. It didn’t go well, with Brett Howden’s goal early in the second period and Ivan Barbashev’s tie-breaking tally late in the third period giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-1 victory in the best-of-seven series.
Mitch Marner added an empty-net goal with six seconds to play to end any hope of a Ducks comeback. Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks with six minutes left in the game. Game 2 is in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
The Ducks were a shadow of the team that eliminated Edmonton. After averaging a playoff-high 4.33 goals a game, the Ducks were stymied by Vegas goalie Carter Hart, who turned away 33 shots. And after converting eight of 16 power-play opportunities against the Oilers, the Ducks were shut out in four chances against the Golden Knights.
Although the Ducks played their best defensive game of the postseason, giving up just 21 shots, the balanced Knights gave them few good scoring opportunities, especially on the power play.
The Ducks, who needed to use their superior speed to counter the Knights’ edge in experience, pushed the pace in the opening period but got nothing to show for it. The Knights took the lead less than four minutes into the second period when Howden made a dash to the edge of the crease to deflect in a pass from Marner for his fifth goal of the playoffs.
Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson celebrates after Mitch Marner’s empty-net goal in the final seconds of a 3-1 win over the Ducks on Monday.
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Howden had a chance to double the lead less than six minutes before the second intermission, but he whiffed trying to bat a loose puck in an open net from the right side.
Mark Stone had an opportunity to score on the power play with less than nine minutes left, but Ducks’ goalie Lukas Dostal made a spectacular save to keep it a one-goal game. And that paid off when Granlund put the puck through Brayden McNabb’s legs 2½ minutes later.
The tie was short-lived, however, with Barbashev redirecting in a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev for the go-ahead goal. Ducks players and coaches vehemently protested, believing officials missed an icing call before the goal.
The Ducks mounted a furious rally after pulling Dostal with about two minutes to play, but that ended with Marner clearing the puck the length of the ice into the empty net.
Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards believe Benjamin Sesko’s goal against Liverpool should not have stood after it brushed his fingers, saying under the laws of the game it should have been a handball.
SAN DIEGO — Ryan Hollingshead scored his first goal this season in the 14th minute of stoppage time and Denis Bouanga added a goal for LAFC on Saturday night in a 2-2 tie with San Diego FC.
Mathieu Choiniere’s soft header off a corner kick played to the back post by David Martinez bounced in front of the goal and Hollingshead slammed home the finish to cap the scoring.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored two goals — his first career multi-goal game in MLS — for San Diego.
Anders Dreyer played a corner kick to the near post and Ingvartsen headed home the finish to open the scoring in the seventh minute.
On the counter-attack, Dreyer played a cross from the right side to Ingvartsen, who knocked down the ball with his first touch and then blasted a shot from the center of the area inside the left post and into the side-net to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.
Ingvartsen has seven goals and two assists this season. The 30-year-old had two goals and one assist in eight appearances, five starts, in 2025, his first season in MLS.
Denis Bouanga scored in the 82nd minute, LAFC’s first shot on goal. Bouanga, who has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last three seasons, has five goals this season.
LAFC (6-2-3) beat Minnesota 1-0 last time out to snap a three-game winless streak.
San Diego (3-5-3) snapped a five-game losing streak.
CJ Dos Santos made his season debut and had three saves for San Diego but left due to injury in stoppage time and was replaced by Duran Ferree. The 24-year-old Dos Santos, who had 10 shutouts last season, suffered a fractured cheekbone and orbital floor fracture in a playoff loss at Portland on Nov. 1.
Mathias Laborda scored in the 82nd minute for the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night, sealing a 1-1 tie with the Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.
The Whitecaps (8-1-1), who were only the second MLS team in the post-shootout era (since 2000) to win eight of their first nine games to begin a season, had their club regular-season record four-game win streak snapped.
Sebastian Berhalter played a free kick from the left side to the back post and Laborda headed home the finish from point-blank range to cap the scoring.
The Whitecaps had 58% possession and outshot the Galaxy 19-7, including a 5-2 edge in on target shots.
Joseph Paintsil opened the scoring in the 46th minute. Lucas Sanabria, in the opening seconds of the second half, stole a misplayed ball from Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and fed Paintsil for a finish from the right side of the area.
JT Marcinkowski had four saves for the Galaxy (3-4-4).
Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva epitomized the mindset Mira Costa brought to Saturday afternoon’s Southern Section Division 1 girls’ beach volleyball championship match at Long Beach City College.
Trailing 13-9 in the deciding third set of their match against JSerra’s top duo of Sara Moynihan and Emma Champagne, the Stanford-bound seniors rallied to win the last six points and complete the Mustangs’ 5-0 sweep to reclaim the title they lost 3-2 to league rival Redondo Union last spring.
“We wanted to end our senior year with a bang and not be the only pair to lose,” Cochrane said.
Upon receiving the championship plaque, players formed a circle and took turns kissing it as they passed it around.
Mira Costa captured its third title in four tries since the CIF sanctioned the sport in 2023 and when you add the eight Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League titles the Mustangs won prior to that they deserve to be called queens of the beach.
Our coach was like, ‘you’re capable of coming back,’ so we had to do it,” Nikolaeva added. “Ruby is one of my best friends and we have a great bond.”
The Mustangs’ other four tandems each won in straight sets — Allyn Hilt and Lily Sprague at No. 2; Lily Vandeweghe and Lucy Matuszak at No. 3; Sofia Sala and Samantha Nammack at No. 4 and Lily Enfield and Lerin Rosenthal at the No. 5 spot.
Mira Costa (24-1) is 75-3 in four seasons of CIF Southern Section competition, including 67-0 against every team other than Redondo Union, against which it holds an 8-3 advantage. The Mustangs improved to 5-0 against the Lions (17-3), who upset Redondo Union in the semifinals.
The Mustangs have won 14 of 15 sets in their three Division 1 finals victories.
DIVISION 2
Bishop Montgomery, making its first finals appearance, prevailed 3-2 over Edison thanks to the heroics of sophomore twins Hailey and Alyssa Waters, who clinched the championship with a 13-21, 21-17, 15-12 victory over the Chargers’ tandem of Sydney Kershaw and Emery Oakes.
“Being twins causes fighting but we’ve always played together and our connection makes us stronger,” Alyssa said.
“Before that last set we took a minute to talk to each other,” Hailey added. “We knew what we were doing.”
The Knights’ No. 1 duo of sisters Stacy and Stephanie Balestrieri and the No. 4 duo of Kendall McKechnie and Carli Duda both won in straight sets.
DIVISION 3
Freshmen Hannah Martin and Lucy Morris earned the decisive point with a 21-16, 22-20 win on Court 5 in Long Beach Millikan’s 4-1 triumph over Windward.
“We didn’t know the score or what was going on in the other matches,” Martin said. “:Lucy and I were just focusing on ours. We’re really close friends but this is our first time playing together in CIF. We both play indoor too but in beach you have to have more trust because it’s only two of you.”
Madison Jones and Johanna Swerdloff won 21-17, 16-21, 15-8 at No. 2, Bella Bonales and Estale Lopez won 21-15, 21-18 at No. 3 and Olivia Vits and Samantha Guman won 21-12, 21-15 at No. 4 for the Rams (14-7), who lost to Long Beach Wilson in the Division 2 final last year.
Millikan is the third Moore League school to win a Southern Section title in the brief history of the sport, joining Wilson and Long Beach Poly, who won Divisions 2 and 3 last year. The Bay League is only other with multiple champions (Mira Costa and Redondo Union).
DiVISION 4
In the first finals appearance for both programs, Oak Park swept the last four courts to claim the inaugural Division 4 crown against Campbell Hall, a Division 3 semifinalist last season. Seniors Athena Trewyn and Kaela Raquel won 19-21, 21-19, 15-12 on Court 3 to notch the clinching point for the Eagles (11-5).
“We’ve never made it past the quarterfinals and we didn’t even make the playoffs last year,” said second-year coach Josh Giron, whose team practices at North Ranch Playfield in Thousand Oaks, a 30-minute drive from campus. “We have one court for 20 girls and sometimes we have to cancel practice because another team’s using it.”
Wrexham’s dream of reaching the Premier League is over, for this season anyway.
And for Ryan Reynolds, it was tough to stomach.
“I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season,” the actor wrote on X after the Welsh club he co-owns missed out on a place in the playoffs in the second-tier Championship by drawing 2-2 with Middlesbrough in a dramatic final round of the regular season on Saturday.
That allowed Hull to jump ahead of Wrexham and into sixth place — the fourth and final spot in the playoffs — courtesy of a 2-1 win over Norwich in a match played at the same time.
The winning goal for Hull, by Oli McBurnie in the 67th, appeared to be scored from an offside position but there are no video reviews in the English Football League.
It ended Wrexham’s unprecedented run of three straight promotions under its famous owners — a streak that began by getting out of the fifth tier in the 2022-23 season and has been documented in the globally popular, Emmy Award-winning “Welcome to Wrexham” series.
Still, seventh place marked the Wrexham’s highest finish in its history, bettering the 15th position it achieved in the second tier in the 1978–79 season.
“We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history,” Reynolds wrote alongside a graphic that showed how Wrexham has risen from the National League. “More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds.”
Elsewhere, Ipswich secured the second automatic promotion spot behind champion Coventry — and an immediate return to the Premier League — by beating Queens Park Rangers 3-0.
Ipswich is owned by U.S. investment group Gamechanger 20 Limited and counts pop star Ed Sheeran as a minority shareholder.
Joining Hull in the playoffs, which begin next week and are over two legs, are Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough.
Millwall will face Hull, and Southampton will meet Middlesbrough.
Best-ever finish by Wrexham
It was a memorable campaign by Wrexham in its first season in the second tier since the 1980s.
However, the short-term pain was acute, and Wrexham’s players sat on the ground and looked disconsolate after the final whistle — even though the Hull-Norwich match hadn’t finished.
Wrexham started the day in sixth place, ahead of Hull on goal difference, and conceded in the fourth minute to Middlesbrough, only to score through Josh Windass and Sam Smith for a 2-1 lead by the 41st.
Middlesbrough hit back immediately with a 43rd-minute equalizer but Wrexham finished the stronger, squandering a string of great late chances for a winner that would have secured a playoff place on goal difference.
Wrexham’s Josh Windass squats on the field and looks dejected following a draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.
(Michael Steele / Getty Images)
In the end, Wrexham finished two points behind Hull.
“This squad as it stands, with a preseason together, will be even stronger next year,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who oversaw a summer spend of around $40 million last year.
“Of course we’ll always look to add to that to try and give ourselves an even better chance … we know where we’d like to strengthen and what we need to improve on. We’ll do that and we’ll make this squad as strong as we possibly can to mount a challenge next year.”
Interim head coach D.J. Smith will be among the candidates for the Kings’ full-time job when general manager Ken Holland conducts his coaching search this month.
Smith took over March 1 when Holland fired Jim Hiller with the Kings at 24-21-14 and out of the playoff picture. The former Ottawa head coach rallied the Kings to an 11-6-6 finish to claim the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but the Kings were swept by the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche in their fifth consecutive first-round postseason exit.
“D.J. did a great job,” Holland said Friday. “The team responded to him, so he’s a candidate. … I don’t want to talk to 20 people. I’d like to talk to probably five to eight people, and then make a decision. Some with experience, some maybe assistants, and some who haven’t been a head coach.”
Holland will begin his coaching search next week, looking for a candidate who can get this team out of its first-round playoff exit rut. He reiterated his disinterest in a full-scale rebuild, but also hinted that the Kings might want to make adjustments to their longstanding defense-first philosophy.
The Kings have failed to advance beyond the first round in seven consecutive postseasons since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, including six first-round exits since team president Luc Robitaille took ultimate charge of hockey operations in 2017. The current Kings had 15 fewer points than last season’s team.
“As I sit here today, I’m not happy,” Holland said. “Luc Robitaille isn’t happy. Our players aren’t happy. It was a disappointing season. Under .500 at home, 29th in the league in goals scored, squeaked into the playoffs, got swept up by a Presidents’ Trophy-winning team. So I’m not happy. We’ve got to make the team better.”
Holland, who replaced Rob Blake a year ago, identified the obvious reason the Kings weren’t a real Stanley Cup contender this season: Their long-standing offensive struggles. The Kings scored only 225 goals, fourth-worst in the NHL and 25 fewer than last season.
Holland attempted to address the problem by trading for Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but the high-scoring forward couldn’t make up for the Olympic injury loss of fellow high scorer Kevin Fiala. Holland revealed Fiala might have been ready to return from his broken leg if the Kings had advanced to the second round.
The Kings have prioritized defense for most of the past two decades, often playing a sticky, trapping style that doesn’t promote offensive creativity or attack. That’s tough to overcome against opponents that are more talented while equally committed to defense — such as the Avalanche, who allowed only five goals in their four-game sweep.
Defense won two Stanley Cups for the Kings, but Holland openly wondered whether the Kings need to think bigger.
“Are we too defensive-minded? I’ve got to sort that out,” Holland said. “You’ve got to be good defensively. … You can’t win four games 6-5 in the playoffs. But we’re 29th in the league in goals scored. We’ve got to find ways. Power play has got to be better. We’ve got to generate a little more attack from the back end.”
The Kings also had inept special teams, ranking 28th in the NHL on the power play and 30th in penalty-killing. The Kings were the league’s third-best team at five-on-five defense, but only seventh in total goals allowed thanks to its feckless special teams.
Holland’s coaching hire will have to fix those units without the help of two-time Selke Trophy-winning forward Anze Kopitar, who retired after a 20-year career with Los Angeles. The Kings will need a new captain to replace Kopitar in the dressing room and a high-usage center to take Kopitar’s minutes.
The Kings will be relying even more heavily on Quinton Byfield, the former No. 2 overall draft pick who has grown into a dependable two-way player with the potential to improve in a more open system.
“Obviously it’s going to be QB’s team up front,” Holland said. “Kopi [leaves] a massive hole. He’s the highest-scoring forward in the history of the franchise. He plays 200 feet. He’s big and he’s strong. He wins draws. In my opinion, he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I don’t think we’re just going to be able to go out and find a way to replace him with one person, and I don’t expect it.”
The Kings still have ample veteran talent next to Byfield, Fiala and Panarin, including top scorer Adrian Kempe, emerging forward Alex Laferriere and promising defenseman Brandt Clarke. Holland claims he is eager to add talent across the lineup after he settles on a coach.
“We have lots of good players,” Holland said. “I’ve got to build a better team.”
EDMONTON, Canada — Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as the Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination by beating the Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The Oilers now trail the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series 3-2 with Game 6 on Thursday night at Honda Center.
Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously yielded six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the series.
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton is now 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.
Connor Ingram made 29 stops for Edmonton, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for the Ducks after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who gave up three goals on nine shots.
For the fifth straight game the Oilers struck first, scoring on the game’s first shot just 2:22 into the contest as Podkolzin beat Dostal high for his second of the postseason.
Edmonton took a 2-0 lead 8:33 into the opening period as a point shot was deflected twice, the second time through Dostal’s legs by Hyman.
The Oilers took a 3-0 lead just 1:14 later as Draisaitl tipped Bouchard’s point shot in for his second of the playoffs. That spelled an early end of the night for Dostal.
The Ducks got on the board on the power play 8:26 into the second period as Mason McTavish dropped it back to Killorn, who extended his points streak to four games with his third goal of the playoffs.
Edmonton responded with a power-play goal a couple of minutes later on a one-timer by Draisaitl, who tied Wayne Gretzky for the most postseason power-play goals in franchise history at 23.
Edmonton has played the most playoff games of any NHL team since 2022 with 80, two more than the Florida Panthers, who beat the Oilers in the last two Stanley Cup Finals before failing to qualify this season.
Playing in his 80th playoff game, Bouchard collected his 88th point, moving into a tie for third place for players through 80 games with Brian Leetch, behind only Bobby Orr (92) and Paul Coffey (92).
McDavid (63 points) passed Adam Oates for the second-most points in NHL history when trailing in a playoff series. Only Gretzky (80) has more.
Marco Reus scored two goals, the second one on a penalty kick in the 85th minute, to rally the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sunday.
Reus scored from 21 yards out off a free kick to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. The kick was awarded after Gabriel Pec was fouled by Real Salt Lake midfielder Stijn Spierings.
Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski was charged with an own goal in the final minute of stoppage time, tying it 1-1 at halftime. The ball deflected off the post and into the net when he dove to make a save on Zavier Gozo’s shot.
Reus scored the winner on a PK after a foul on Sam Junqua for shoving Elijah Wynder in the back on a corner kick. It was the fourth goal this season for Reus and his 10th in 37 career appearances.
Marcinkowski saved nine shots for the Galaxy (3-4-3).
Rafael Cabral totaled four saves for Real Salt Lake (5-3-1).
Real Salt Lake went 5-0-1 in a six-match stretch before losing 2-0 to visiting Inter Miami on Wednesday. The club falls to 1-2-1 on the road.
The Galaxy were coming off a 1-1-1 road trip and improve to 2-2-1 at home.
Ryan Poehling scored 2:29 into overtime, and the Ducks pushed Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to the brink of first-round elimination with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.
Jeffrey Viel tied it with 6:29 left in regulation for the Ducks, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit and another third-period hole before taking a 3-1 series lead with their third consecutive victory over the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers.
The Ducks won when Poehling’s sharp-angled shot trickled under Edmonton goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff start for his new team. An extensive video review revealed no reason to overturn the judgment on the ice that the puck had barely crossed the goal line underneath Jarry’s skate.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
The Ducks celebrate their Game 4 victory.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second period for the Ducks, whose first playoff series in eight years has been an exciting demonstration of their revamped roster’s skill. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots for the Ducks, which have scored 20 goals in four games against the Oilers.
Evan Bouchard scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Jarry made 34 saves for the Oilers. Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored first-period goals.
Edmonton nearly won it late in regulation, but Dostal made a spectacular, sprawling pad save to deny McDavid on a late breakaway. The Oilers’ superstar center has a goal and two assists in the series.
