Sports
LAFC weathers shaky start to beat Vancouver in MLS Cup playoff opener
No MLS coach has won more regular-season games over the past three years than LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo. But that’s really been just an opening act, an appetizer. Because where Cherundolo and his team shine brightest is in the playoffs, which they opened again Sunday with a methodical 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps before a sold-out crowd of 22,298 at BMO Stadium.
With the win, on goals from Denis Bouanga and Cristian Olivera, LAFC goes into the second game of the best-of-three playoff next weekend needing a victory to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. If Vancouver wins, the series will return to BMO Stadium on Nov. 8 for the third and deciding game.
Since taking over LAFC, Cherundolo has lost just once in nine postseason games, winning one MLS Cup and losing by a goal in another. If he gets his team back to the championship game again this fall, he’ll become just the third man in league history — and the first in 17 years — to take his team to the final in three consecutive seasons.
However, the road there is fraught with potential potholes, a couple of which Cherundolo’s team steered around Sunday.
“The guys did enough to win the first game and nothing more,” Cherundolo said.
“There’s more work to be done. There’s a couple more games. Maybe only one for us.”
LAFC weathered a shaky start that saw Vancouver blow a golden opportunity to go ahead in the seventh minute when Stuart Armstrong burst in the box alone with only LAFC keeper Hugo Lloris to beat. And he beat him cleanly, but his right-footed shot bounced off the left post and across the front of the goal without crossing the line.
Seven minutes later Pedro Vite threw another scare into the home team, sending a low right-footed shot inches wide of the other post. If either had gone in, it could have spelled trouble for LAFC, which won just once in 11 regular-season games when conceding the first score.
But all that became moot when a video replay convinced referee Jair Marrufo that Vancouver defender Tristan Blackmon had blocked Mateusz Bogusz’s shot with his arm, leading to a penalty kick Bouanga converted for a 1-0 LAFC lead. The goal, in the 30th minute, was Bouanga’s 21st of the season and his league-best eighth from the spot.
Vancouver nearly matched that in stoppage time when Ryan Gauld curled a left-footed free kick from 20 yards off the crossbar, giving the goalposts more saves than Lloris in a first half that ended with LAFC leading. And that brought two more stats into play: LAFC entered Sunday 15-1-0 in MLS play when leading after 45 minutes and 6-1-2 in its last nine games with Vancouver, including a two-game sweep in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Neither of those trends would be reversed in a second half that LAFC dominated, doubling its lead 12 minutes after the break at the end of a passing sequence that saw Ryan Hollingshead and Bogusz steer the ball around the box before hitting Olivera charging in from the right wing. Olivera then one-timed a hard right-footed shot that deflected off Whitecaps keeper Yohei Takaoka into the roof of the net.
“It was fun to watch,” Cherundolo said of the goal. “Exactly how we kind of draw up on the tactical board.”
Vancouver made the final seconds a bit dramatic when Gauld found the back of the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to make the final score more respectable — and perhaps give the Whitecaps a bit of momentum entering the second game next weekend.
“Definitely job’s not done,” defender Aaron Long said, repeating his coach.
“It’ll be a complicated match,” Olivera added in Spanish. “We will go there and look for the win. It hasn’t been easy. But we have a good team that deserves to advance.”
LAFC forward Kei Kamara, top, goes airborne over Vancouver midfielder Sebastian Berhalter during the second half Sunday.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
Gauld’s goal came nine minutes after Carlos Vela, the last member of LAFC’s original roster, drew a huge ovation when he came on for Bouanga.
When Vela, whose last appearance came in December’s MLS Cup final, was waved on, Long rushed to the sideline, pulled the captain’s armband off his bicep and handed it to Vela, who wore it through most of the team’s first six seasons.
“That was an easy one,” Long said. “Carlos coming on the field, his first time back? Yeah, he’s getting that for sure.”
The team did not make Vela available for comment.
Sports
LIV Golf stars commit to staying put after Brooks Koepka’s departure, return to PGA Tour
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Brooks Koepka may have returned to the PGA Tour following a stint at LIV Golf, but do not expect the Saudi-backed league’s other biggest stars to join in.
Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith all committed to staying put when speaking to reporters on Tuesday at a preseason press conference.
“I had no idea, no idea that that would happen.” DeChambeau said. “No idea what the penalties would even be. Right now, I’ve got a contract. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at LIV Golf this year.”
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm walk to the eighth green during the first round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 2, 2022. (Adam Cairns/The Columbus Dispatch)
“I made a decision to come out here and spend more time at home, and I’m not giving that away. I’ll be on LIV for years to come,” added Smith, who won the 2022 Open Championship shortly before officially committing to LIV.
DeChambeau and Smith each left in 2022, but Rahm was perhaps the biggest surprise. Once very outspoken against LIV, he joined the league in December 2023.
In August 2024, he shut down rumors of buyer’s remorse to Fox News Digital, and that still appears to be the case.
“I’m not planning on going anywhere. Very similar answer to what Bryson gave. I wish Brooks the best. As far as I’m concerned, I’m focused on the league and my team this year, and hopefully we can repeat as champions again,” Rahm said.
Koepka’s decision came weeks after he revealed he would be leaving the rival series.
“I want to thank my family and my team for their continued support throughout every step of my professional career,” he wrote on social media. “When I was a child, I always dreamed about competing on the @PGATOUR, and I am just as excited today to announce that I am returning to the PGA TOUR. Being closer to home and spending more time with my family makes this opportunity especially meaningful to me.
Brooks Koepka, of the United States, acknowledges the crowd on the 5th green during the first round of the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, July 17, 2025. (Peter Morrison, File/AP Photo)
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“I believe in where the PGA TOUR is headed with new leadership, new investors, and an equity program that gives players a meaningful ownership stake,” he continued. “I also understand there are financial penalties associated with this decision, and I accept those.”
Koepka said he planned to be at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open in the coming weeks.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said Koepka’s return sparked the Returning Member Program for those who left the company and may decide to follow in Koepka’s footsteps.
Rolapp said Koepka agreed to a few conditions upon his return to the PGA Tour. It included a “five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the PGA Tour’s Player Equity Program, representing one of the largest financial repercussions in professional sports history, with estimations that he could miss out on approximately $50–85 million in potential earnings, depending on his competitive performance and the growth of the Tour,” according to Rolapp. Koepka will also make a $5 million charitable donation to an organization yet to be determined.
Brooks Koepka during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. (Aaron Doster/Imagn Images)
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Koepka became the first person to return to the PGA Tour after defecting for LIV.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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Sports
Luka Doncic plays and scores 27 points as the Lakers rout the Hawks
Luka Doncic and LeBron James were listed as questionable for the Lakers’ back-to-back game Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Doncic because of left groin soreness, James because of left foot joint arthritis and right sciatica.
Also, checking the stat sheet before the game, the Lakers were listed as one of the worst three-point shooting teams and one of the worst defensive shooting percentage teams in the league.
Well, Luka played and LeBron played and the Lakers shot lights-out from three-point range and were solid across the board on defense while i rolling over the Hawks 141-116 at Crypto.com Arena.
Doncic felt soreness in his groin when the Lakers played at Sacramento on Monday night and was unsure about playing Tuesday. But he played and delivered 27 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.
James didn’t play in the second game of a back-to-back game last week at New Orleans and San Antonio and said he will be listed as TBD, to be determined, in such scenarios. But James played against the Hawks and nearly produced a triple-double with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Coming into the game, opponents were shooting 48.8% from the field and 37.4% from three against the Lakers, ranking them 28th and 26th, respectively, in the NBA.
The Hawks began the game ranked fourth in three-point shooting, making 37.4%, and they were ranked eighth in field-goal percentage, making 43.6%.
All of the above made for a bad recipe for the Lakers entering the game.
But when the game started, none of that mattered to the Lakers, who held the Hawks to 45% shooting and 28.3% from three-point range.
The Lakers shot 55.9% (19 for 34) from three-point range.
The Lakers’ big lead was sliced to 11 points in the fourth.
But back-to-back three-pointers by James and Marcus Smart, both off passes from Doncic, and a Doncic basket gave them a 19-point lead, and they never looked back.
The Lakers scored 81 points in the first half, a season-high for points in a half, a half in which they opened a 23-point lead and had the Hawks reeling from the beginning.
Doncic missed just one of his six three-pointers in the first half. Gabe Vincent came off the bench and missed just one of his four three-pointers in the first half.
Rui Hachimura had missed the previous seven games with a right calf strain but was back in action against the Hawks. He had seven points and two rebounds in 18 minutes.
ETC: The Lakers signed guard Kobe Bufkin to a 10-day contract Tuesday. The 6-foot-5 Bufkin played in seven games for the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers’ G League team, where he averaged 28.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists over seven games. He has appeared in 27 career NBA games over two seasons with the Hawks. “You know, during the stretch, we’ll have opportunities during this 10-day,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said…. Backup center Jaxson Hayes didn’t play against the Hawks because of left hamstring soreness. Redick said Hayes got some “imaging” Tuesday on his injury and that the Lakers will have “more information” going forward.
Sports
Mike Tomlin stepping down as Steelers head coach: reports
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Mike Tomlin is stepping down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to multiple reports.
Tomlin’s decision on Tuesday came after a blowout loss against the Houston Texans in the AFC Wild Card Round of the playoffs. It marked the Steelers’ seventh straight postseason defeat.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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