Kansas
LAFC celebrates finally snapping its finals skid, winning the U.S. Open Cup
It was a scene that felt both familiar and long overdue for LAFC.
Since entering Major League Soccer seven years ago, the team has raised an MLS Cup and two Supporters’ Shields before its fans at BMO Stadium. Only the Columbus Crew has won more trophies during that span.
Yet when a massive crimson victory platform was wheeled onto the stadium floor Wednesday night, minutes after LAFC beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 in extra time to win its first U.S. Open Cup championship, the mood was more relief than joy.
Even the fireworks felt compulsory rather than celebratory.
Wednesday’s game was the team’s fifth final in the past two seasons; according to MLS, only three other teams in league history have played for hardware that often in so short a span.
LAFC is the only one of those team to have lost four in a row. It couldn’t afford another loss.
“It means a lot to win tonight,” said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was embraced by a group at teammates at the final whistle.
“This trophy,” he added “is really important.”
“Tonight was a bit special” agreed Olivier Giroud, who won a World Cup alongside Lloris for France and now has won a U.S. Open with him at LAFC.
Special because it proved, in case anyone had forgotten, that LAFC can win a final. In fact, the team is just the fourth club in MLS history to win a Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup in a three-year span — and the first to do so since the Seattle Sounders in 2014-16.
So even with four finals loses in a row coming into Wednesday, coach Steve Cherundolo said the team had no demons to exorcise, a view he repeated after joining his players in parading their latest trophy around the field.
“I don’t know why you don’t believe me,” he said. “You have a winner and a loser in every final. And before every final, it’s kind of like a coin toss.
“We’re happy, obviously, to win. And I think we were due.”
The win didn’t come easily, however.
After a cautious, physical and scoreless first half, Giroud’s first goal since joining LAFC this summer gave the team a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute. But Erik Thommy, whose turnover at midfield led to Giroud’s score, matched that with a goal of his own seven minutes later.
That sent the game to extra time, where the most star-studded team in MLS was rescued by goals from substitutes Omar Campos and Kei Kamara.
Campos’ score 12 minutes into the first extra period was also his first with the team and came after the Mexican defender ran onto a Cristian Olivera pass as he entered the penalty area. He then dribbled across the top of the box to create space before drilling a right-footed shot inside the far post.
Kamara, who came off the bench at the start of extra time, then put the game away with a header four minutes into the second extra-time period.
“I am ecstatic,” Cherundolo said “for the players.”
“I thought it would be more relief,” he added when asked about his emotions. “But it really is just joy.”
Probably a little bit of fatigue as well since the game was LAFC’s 94th game in all competition since the start of last season. No MLS team has ever come close to that.
And that schedule and LAFC’s recent results in finals are likely related. Because if playing in so many competitions (MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup) during the past two years has increased the team’s chances of playing for titles, it’s also forced it to play a game every five days during the last two seasons.
Now, with all those other tournaments out the way, LAFC (14-8-7 in MLS play) has nothing left to focus on but its final five regular-season games and the start of the MLS playoffs.
“We know we can improve,” Giroud said of a grind that resumes Saturday in Cincinnati. “This Cup will bring us confidence for the rest of the season because we don’t want to stop there. We have a strong end of the season, qualify for the playoffs and go as far as we can in the playoffs.
“We are hungry. We know our potential. Our qualities.”
For Sporting Kansas City, meanwhile, the fact it was playing for hardware at the end of what will likely be its worst season since 1999 — when it played in a different state under a different name — is part of the magic of the U.S. Open Cup.
SKC (8-16-7) is one of just two teams that have already been eliminated from playoff contention with three weeks to play. Yet Wednesday it was playing for a fifth U.S. Open Cup title, which would have made it the most successful MLS team in tournament history. But after playing LAFC even for more than 100 minutes, its players would up parading across the makeshift crimson stage to collect consolation medals while LAFC carried off the Cup.
“Details count in soccer,” Thommy said. “It’s the result we have.”
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Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas, becomes sister city to Concepción, Argentina, ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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Kansas City, Kansas, is now a sister city to Concepción, in the Tucumán province of Argentina.
The connection that carries deep personal meaning for members of the Kansas City area’s Argentinian community, with less than six weeks until Lionel Messi and their national team play at Kansas City Stadium (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium).
Kansas City, Kansas, becomes sister city to Concepción, Argentina, ahead of World Cup
The official Sister Cities Agreement was signed Wednesday at Sporting Park, in a ceremony that also served as the kickoff of a broader cultural and economic initiative connecting Argentina and Kansas.
Federico Carmona has lived in the United States for more than two decades. He spent Wednesday afternoon cheering and smiling.
“This is my dream,” Carmona said.
For Carmona, the moment was personal — a merging of the two places he calls home.
KSHB/ Brian Luton
“This is a blessing,” Carmona said.
He continued, “Argentina is my heart. I was born in Argentina. I have so much passion for soccer. I used to play, my kids play. We never thought that Argentina was going to be in Kansas City. So that was a big, big surprise for us.”
Claudia Luna West, chair of the Sister Cities Association and a native of Concepción, Tucumán, was one of the driving forces behind the partnership.
“It means the world to me,” Luna West said.
KSHB/ Brian Luton
She described the pairing of the two cities as a natural collaboration — like the ingredients of a perfect recipe coming together.
“Everything collaborates to be this great thing,” Luna West said.
That recipe metaphor extended to food. The event featured the announcement of a partnership between Kansas BBQ Empanadas and Jack Stack BBQ — a culinary symbol of the two cultures meeting.
“Now, empanadas aren’t going to be just an ethnic food. They’re going to be a landmark of Kansas,” Luna West said.
Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK, Christal Watson, said the designation reflects the city’s diversity and its ability to connect with the world.
KSHB
“I think it’s important that we set a global stage on how diverse we are and how beautifully, wonderfully made we are with all the different cultures,” Watson said.
Watson said shared experiences — including food — are what bring communities together.
KSHB
“Food is a common link. Those are the things that get us engaged… those are the things that help us grow and be a better community overall,” Watson said. “We already have a flavor going on.”
Jake Reid, president and CEO of Sporting Kansas City, said the timing of the sister city announcement — with the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaching — felt right.
KSHB/ Brian Luton
“We’ve been planning this for so long. I think to have it on the doorstep now and be probably a month out is becoming very real and exciting,” Reid said. “They’re meant to be from… kind of everything we’ve got going on right now, for sure.”
For Carmona, the day was a long time coming.
“We can’t wait for all this to happen,” Carmona said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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MANHATTAN — Kansas State will have a new kick returner come fall after Bryce Noernberg departed the team, and his dad used some colorful language in a Facebook post to announce it.
A K-State spokesperson confirmed that Noernberg left the team after the spring season. He returned 20 kicks over the last two seasons for an average of 27.8 yards per return. He scored one touchdown and also coughed up the ball multiple times.
In a Facebook post, Noernberg’s father, Scott, wrote that it had been an amazing few years in Manhattan, but then “Division I college football does what it does.”
“New head coach Colin (sic) Klein brought in all new coaches and players… paid them accordingly and (Noernberg) found himself at the bottom of the depth chart,” Scott Noernberg wrote. “Not wanting to start over again as a true walk-on freshman, he basically told them to kiss his ass!!
“Well done Bryce! I’m so proud that you stood up to the system! D1 athletics is in a very sad state, and it’s times like this that make you grow as a man!”
Also a wide receiver, Noernberg saw one offensive snap over his two seasons with the program. He was unlikely to find an offensive role for the Wildcats this year, considering the return of Jaron Tibbs and the additions of Josh Manning, Izaiah Williams, and Derrick Salley Jr. Other returning players, like Adonis Moise and Larry Porter IV, were also considered ahead of him.
His departure does leave a void at kick returner, which Noernberg wasn’t guaranteed to keep heading into the year.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com
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