Sports
LAFC is surging as the hottest team in MLS. Will it carry the team to another title?
Eleven games into this MLS season, LAFC had lost as many games as it had won and had scored as many goals as it had given up. The numbers were as mediocre as the team’s play — and mediocre wasn’t going to cut it for a franchise seeking a third straight trip to the MLS Cup final.
But those numbers didn’t add up for coach Steve Cherundolo, who thought the record didn’t reflect his team’s performance.
“I can create a statistic that puts me in a fantastic light. Any player can,” he said. “I can find one that puts them in a horrible light. So I try not to draw conclusions from that.
“What is fair to say is the team is playing better.”
With five straight wins — all shutouts — LAFC is playing better than any team in MLS as it returns from a two-week break Saturday in Orlando, Fla., the first game of a five-day road trip that also will take it to Austin next week.
Defender Aaron Long said the team took its early struggles in stride, knowing they wouldn’t last.
“We were confident in our abilities,” he said. “Every team, throughout the season, goes through ups and downs right? We were in a little bit of a down moment, we had things that weren’t falling our way.
“Then we kind of got ourselves out of that and got over the hump. Now we feel like we’re on a roll.”
Well, they were on a roll, anyway. Because of the vagaries of the MLS schedule, LAFC’s most recent game was June 1. Long said most of the players used the break to heal and rest — he went to San Diego with his family for three days. But now they’re eager to get back to business.
“We feel like there’s a reset button,” he said. “We want to start the next stretch of the season as good as we can. It was good to go on the break on a high like that.
“The mood is good and we’re champing at the bit to get back out there.”
LAFC midfielder Ilie Sánchez, left, heads the ball in front of FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira during an LAFC win on June 1.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Cherundolo said LAFC’s uneven start was magnified by the team’s success in winning two Western Conference championships, a Supporters’ Shield and an MLS Cup in the last two seasons.
“It’s L.A. and it’s OK,” he said. “We understand our role and our reputation and we feel perfectly comfortable with high expectations.”
Part of the reason they weren’t meeting those expectations was a defense that started May by giving up three goals in a 3-1 loss to last-place San José, the team with the worst goal differential in MLS. That performance left goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who started the last two World Cup finals for France, ranked as the worst player at his position in MLS.
But Lloris and the team haven’t given up a goal since, the five consecutive shutouts and 480 scoreless minutes both setting club records. Add in 125 consecutive scoreless minutes in two U.S. Open Cups wins and LAFC hasn’t conceded a goal in 575 minutes in all competition and hasn’t trailed in its last seven games.
“For defenders, it’s kind of what we want to do,” center back Jesús Murillo, speaking in Spanish, said of the scoreless streak. “The beginning of the season was difficult and we had to make some adjustments, we had to get better. Now we’ve done that.”
That surge has carried the team to second in the conference and fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings with half a season to play.
“There’s definitely a better sense of team defending,” Long said of LAFC, which added two defenders in addition to Lloris since last season, resulting in a period of adjustment at the start of the schedule. “I don’t think it’s the back four or the back six in particular, but the group as a whole. There’s been a lot of stability, a lot of clarity in what we’re trying to do.”
That’s important because for all the attention the team has gotten for its offense — an LAFC player has won the MLS Golden Boot three times since 2019 — the team has won with defense, ranking in the top five in fewest goals given up in each of its three best seasons.
LAFC midfielder Mateusz Bogusz celebrates after scoring against Minnesota on May 29.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
But here’s the scary thing for opponents: LAFC (9-4-3) is almost certain to get better this summer with the addition of Olivier Giroud, the French national team’s all-time leading scorer. Giroud, who tied for third in Italy’s Serie A with 15 goals for AC Milan this season, signed a designated-player contract with LAFC last month and will join the team after his duties with France in the European Championships are over.
He’ll likely make his LAFC debut in the Leagues Cup in August, joining an attack led by Denis Bouanga, the reigning MLS scoring champion who has scored four times in his last five games.
Good fortune, it would seem, is starting to snowball for LAFC. Cherundolo, nonetheless, still says what matters most is the next game, not the last one.
“It’s a perspective thing,” he said. “You can think in terms of streaks or you can think game to game or even half to half. So the streak is just one game.
“This is the space we’re in mentally right now and not thinking in streaks.”
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As expected, the Washington Wizards have begun the 2026 NBA Draft by selecting BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick.
In a draft class loaded with “cant-miss prospects,” Dybantsa stood out above the rest, as the 6-foot-9, 217-pound forward put on a show with the Cougars in his one and only collegiate season.
Dybantsa averaged 25.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 51% from the field for BYU. He became the fifth Division-1 player in the last 40 seasons to average at least 25 points while shooting 50% from the field in a single season.
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MINNEAPOLIS — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is planning for right fielder Kyle Tucker to be out for the rest of the series against the Minnesota Twins, after he left Monday’s game with low back spasms.
Roberts hopes to write Tucker into the lineup Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series in San Diego, after three days off, plus most of the game Monday.
“Hopefully he [can take] advantage of this, obviously to get right, but also kind of a mental reset,” Roberts said. “Hopefully the four days will suffice.”
Tucker, who said he felt a little better Tuesday but still sore, especially when rotating, is “pretty confident” that he’ll be able to avoid the injured list. And if he can take swings on Wednesday, he’ll probably be on track for that Friday return.
“But if he doesn’t, then we’ll have probably a tougher decision on Friday,” Roberts said.
Tucker, who has a .707 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage this season, has had a slow offensive start to his Dodgers’ tenure. He wasn’t ready to make any declarations about the potential benefits of time off to reset.
“Maybe,” he said. “We’ll see after I get back. We’ll see how that goes.”
The news on catcher Dalton Rushing, who exited Monday’s game to rule out a concussion, was more straightforward.
Rushing hadn’t yet gone through the second round of concussion testing needed to clear him to play when Roberts addressed the media Tuesday afternoon. But Rushing had told Roberts he was ready to play.
“That doesn’t carry too much weight until I hear from the medical staff,” Roberts said. “But it is good to know that he said he’s good to go. My hope is that he’ll be available off the bench in some capacity.”
As a downpour hammered the tarped field early Tuesday evening, it was unclear when exactly the Dodgers would be playing. But despite plenty of rain in the forecast Tuesday evening, the teams and Major League Baseball identified a window for the game.
The Twins announced an estimated 5:05 p.m. PDT first pitch, representing a 25-minute rain delay.
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Wyndham Clark reflected on winning what was his second U.S. Open with an emotional message filled with appreciation.
Clark went wire-to-wire at Shinnecock Hills to become the 24th player to win at least two U.S. Opens in their career after beating fellow American Sam Burns by one shot. The 32-year-old’s first U.S. Open title came in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club, another one-shot victory, where he got the best of runner-up Rory McIlroy.
“I’m not sure I’ve found the words yet. If I’m being honest, last year wasn’t filled with many highs. There were a lot more questions than answers, a lot more frustration than celebration, and plenty of moments that tested my belief in myself,” Clark’s note on X began.
Wyndham Clark of the United States looks on after winning the 126th U.S. OPEN at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 21, 2026, in Southampton, New York. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
WYNDHAM CLARK DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LOVED, BUT HE DOES HAVE TO BE RESPECTED AFTER US OPEN TRIUMPH AT SHINNECOCK
“This game can be incredibly humbling. It doesn’t owe you anything, and sometimes the only thing you can do is keep showing up and trust that the work will eventually pay off. That’s why this week means so much. To the fans, thank you for making this championship what it is. New York crowds are passionate, honest, and demanding. Whether you were pulling for me or not, you created an atmosphere I’ll never forget and pushed all of us to compete at our best.
“Thank you to the USGA, the members of Shinnecock Hills, the volunteers, and every person behind the scenes who made this week so special. This place is everything a U.S. Open should be, and I’m incredibly honored to have my name connected to it forever.
“To my team, family, friends, and sponsors, thank you for staying in my corner through the difficult stretches. Thank you for believing in me on the days when believing wasn’t easy. This trophy means more because of the road it took to get here. The setbacks, the doubts, and the hard days all make this moment that much sweeter. I’ll never forget this week, this place, and what it feels like to stand here as a two-time U.S. Open Champion. Forever grateful.”
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NEW YORK GOLF FANS DESERVE TO BE CALLED OUT, SAM BURNS HAS A GOOD CRY, WYNDHAM CLARK’S BEST SHOT AT SHINNECOCK
Wyndham Clark celebrates with his caddie, David Pelekoudas, on the 18th green during the final round of the 126th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 21, 2026, in Southampton, New York. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Clark was far from the fan favorite during Sunday’s final round at Shinnecock. The majority of fans on the Long Island, New York property appeared to be pulling against the Colorado native with countless shouts for his golf ball to find bunkers and minor roars after each of his five bogeys during the final round.
Wyndham Clark celebrates with his girlfriend Emily Tanner after winning the 126th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour)
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Clark made a pair of public mistakes during the 2025 PGA Tour season. During the final round of the 2025 PGA Championship, he threw his driver through an advertisement sign behind a tee box. A month later, after missing the cut at Oakmont in the 2025 U.S. Open, he ripped apart two lockers inside the clubhouse and was barred by the historic club in the following days.
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