Team Falcons and FURIA will meet in Sunday’s grand final of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major after semifinal victories Saturday in Germany.

FURIA swept Aurora Gaming 2-0, while Team Falcons edged Team Spirit 2-1 in the other semifinal playoff. Both first-place Team Spirit and second-place FURIA had gone 3-0 in Stage 3 group play, while third-place Aurora Gaming was 3-1 as was fifth-place Team Falcons.

All four teams had advanced out of the quarterfinals, which were on Thursday and Friday.

The Counter-Strike 2 tournament with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool began June 2 with the start of the first stage.

The field was ultimately trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages, where all matches were best-of-three, as were most of the playoffs. Sunday’s grand final will be best-of-five, with the winner taking home $500,000 while the runner-up settles for $170,000.

On Saturday, Team Falcons opened with a 16-14 win on Anubis before Team Spirit drew even with a 13-8 victory on Mirage. The Falcons captured the deciding map, Dust II, by a 16-12 outcome.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led the Falcons with 59 kills to 52 deaths and a 1.26 rating to earn Player of the Match honors. Russian teammates Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin (60 kills, 1.18 rating) and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov (68 kills, 1.16) also contributed to the victory.

Russia’s Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov paced Team Spirit with 69 kills to 49 deaths and a 1.24 rating.

FURIA ousted Aurora Gaming, winning 13-9 on Dust II and 13-4 on Nuke.

Yuri “yuurih” Santos of Brazil was Player of the Match, pacing FURIA with a 34-19 K-D differential and 1.62 rating. Teammate Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato of Brazil posted a 29-20 K-D and 1.38 rating, while Mareks “Yekindar” Galinskis of Latvia recorded a 32-28 K-D and 1.30 rating. No Aurora Gaming players had a positive rating.

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000 — Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming

5-8. $45,000 — BetBoom Team, 9z Team, Team Vitality, G2 Esports

9-11. $15,000 — Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, The MongolZ

12-14. $15,000 — MOUZ, Monte, Legacy

15-16. $15,000 — B8, PARIVISION

17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG

20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis

23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest

25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid

28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC

31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports

–Field Level Media

Tim Howard, a United States men’s national team legend, stands alone in World Cup history with his 16-save performance in the Americans’ 2-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But he may have been a bit worried on Saturday night, when Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves in a scoreless draw against Ecuador Saturday night in Kansas City to earn Curacao’s first-ever World Cup point.

At least Room hopes so.

“A little bit annoyed that I don’t have the record from Tim Howard, but I think he was sweating in front of the TV because I was close,” Room quipped in his press conference after the match.

In some ways, Room made history in the match. His 15 saves are the most in a World Cup match by a goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet. It’s also a record for a 90-minute match, with Howard’s performance coming in a 120-minute extra-time match.

The fact that it came just one match after Room made four saves on 12 shots on net in Curacao’s 7-1 opening loss to Germany in Houston makes it that much more unbelievable.

“I think I need a statue in Curacao now,” Room said.

According to some statkeeping websites, Room actually tied the record. FIFA’s total of 16 saves by Howard is not a consensus tally.

That discrepancy doesn’t seem to be affecting how Room views the game whatsoever.

“It’s going to be an insane memory,” Room said. “You don’t think about it when you do it but of course it’s going to be something you look back to. For me as a goalkeeper, this is almost a perfect game.

” … It’s unbelievable. And I cannot do it alone. I did it with the team and my defenders and the midfielders, strikers. We did it as a team.”

While Howard played for Everton in the Premier League when he delivered his historic performance, Room has never reached those heights. The 37-year-old Netherlands native came up through a few Dutch academies and squads before settling with the Columbus Crew, with whom he won the 2020 MLS Cup.

Now, though, he’s not even in the top-level American league, playing for Miami FC in the USL Championship.

Up next, a chance for Curacao, the smallest nation in population and size to ever qualify for the World Cup, to punch a ticket to the knockout stage if they can beat Ivory Coast in Philadelphia on June 25.

–Field Level Media

Left-hander Trevor Rogers gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings and Blaze Alexander had a two-run double as the visiting Baltimore Orioles escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Rogers (4-7) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Orioles improved to 2-3 on a West Coast road trip that started in Seattle and concludes against the Los Angeles Angels this coming week.

Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-5) went six innings as he was unable to reprise his near no-hitter at Baltimore last season. He allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

After missing one game for the birth of his second child, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run in the ninth inning. Tommy Edman had a pair of singles for Los Angeles, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

The Orioles jumped in front 1-0 in the second when Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser led off the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. Coby Mayo’s groundout scored Taveras.

Baltimore increased the advantage in the fourth inning. Again they opened an inning with consecutive singles, this time from Samuel Basallo and Taveras. After Mayo walked with one out to load the bases, Alexander hit a two-out double down the third base line to score a pair of runs for a 3-0 lead.

Rogers cruised into the fifth inning where he gave up his first hit of the game on a two-out single to center from Edman.

Rogers’ only scare came in the seventh inning when he walked Mookie Betts with two outs before Miguel Rojas hit a ball to the base of the center field wall that was caught by Cowser.

The Dodgers pulled within a run in the ninth when Ohtani hit a home run, his 16th of the season, and Edman’s line drive was dropped by Taveras with two outs, allowing a second run to score. Right-hander Yennier Cano finished off his first save by striking out Kyle Tucker to strand runners on the corners.

–Field Level Media