Sports
Dynamo chasing home-field advantage in clash vs. St. Louis City
Oct 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo FC defender Erik Sviatchenko (28) celebrates after scoring a goal against the New England Revolution in the second half at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images The Houston Dynamo are vying for a top-four playoff spot in the Western Conference with two matches to go, but they still have work to do starting with Saturday’s visit to St. Louis City.
Houston (14-9-9, 51 points) enters the weekend fifth in the conference, but only two points behind both the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake. Nabbing a top-four seed means getting home-field advantage for the best-of-three series in Round 1.
The Dynamo have won two of their last three matches and four of their last seven following a 2-1 triumph over the New England Revolution on Wednesday. Defender Erik Sviatchenko broke a tie when he delivered a beautiful curling goal off Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla’s free kick.
“It was the best goal I’ve scored in my career,” Sviatchenko said. “Normally I’m over on the other side, but then it just happened that I decided to take it down, and it was perfect for a volley.”
Coach Ben Olsen, who has guided the Dynamo to playoff berths in his first two seasons on the job, called the match “a wild one.”
“New England entered the match with real desperation and fire, and we were lucky to have kept it scoreless in the first half,” said Olsen, who praised Steve Clark’s three-save performance. “… Now we have to patch ourselves up for another difficult task in St. Louis, but this win is massive as we try to move up the table.”
St. Louis (7-12-13, 34 points) is not heading to the playoffs following its surprise first-place Western Conference finish as an expansion club in 2023. But interim coach John Hackworth helped stabilize the team, which went 3-1-1 in September before falling 1-0 to Los Angeles FC on Wednesday.
It was St. Louis’ first shutout loss since July 17.
“Look, I want to make sure everybody knows that I don’t think we played a great game,” Hackworth said. “… But we also came on short rests across the country and played one of the better, best teams in the league, and we had a chance to be successful until the very end.”
Cedric Teuchert has scored five goals in eight regular-season matches since joining St. Louis, enough to tie the team lead with Eduard Lowen and Joao Klauss, who hasn’t scored since May. Ibrahim Aliyu has a team-high six goals for the Dynamo.
These clubs played to a scoreless draw May 4 in Houston.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Anna Bondar goes overtime, reaches Hamburg final
May 25, 2026; Paris, France; Anna Bondar of Hungary reacts during her first round match against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine on day two at Stade Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images No. 4 seed Anna Bondar of Hungary outlasted Elina Avanesyan of Armenia 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (2) in a three-hour, 29-minute match on Saturday to advance to the final of the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open in Germany.
Bondar will face fifth-seeded Tamara Korpatsch of Germany, who advanced in her semifinal match when Mayar Sherif of Egypt retired in the second set with an injury. Bondar reached the final at Hamburg for the second consecutive year.
Bondar was down 5-3 in the opening set against Avanesyan before rallying then taking the final four points of the tiebreaker for the set. Bondar also lost serve to fall behind 2-0 in the deciding set then won the first five points of the tiebreaker to advance.
Korpatsch dominated the opening set 6-1 then went up 2-0 in the second set before Sherif was forced to bow out. Sherif was coming off her first title in four years at the Iasi Open in Romania.
Prague Open
Lilli Tagger of Austria pulled off an upset of No. 2 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and earned her way into the final with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4) semifinal victory.
Both semifinalists from the Czech Republic fell in their home country with No. 5 seed Tereza Valentova losing 7-6 (4), 6-3 to No. 8 seed Daria Snigur of Ukraine.
After losing the opening set, Tagger rallied by breaking Krejcikova’s serve to go up 4-2 in the second set. She broke serve again in the fourth game of the final set then won the final three points in the tiebreaker to win the match.
Snigur and Valentova each broke serve twice in the opening set before Snigur won the final four points of the tiebreaker. Snigur then broke Valentova’s serve twice in the second set, including once to take a 5-3 lead before serving for the match.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Salvador Perez sets KC franchise HR record in win over Tigers
Jul 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) celebrates after he hits a home run in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Nick Loftin hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth, Salvador Perez set the franchise home run record, and the visiting Kansas City Royals squeaked by the Detroit Tigers, 3-2, on Saturday.
Perez’s seventh-inning blast was his 318th career homer, surpassing Hall of Famer George Brett on the franchise’s all-time list. It was also Perez’s 31st homer against the Tigers.
Vinnie Pasquantino had three hits and scored a run for Kansas City.
Hao-Yu Lee drove in both Tigers runs with a double and solo homer. The Tigers had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Detroit starter Casey Mize gave up one run and three hits in six innings. Royals starter Michael Wacha lasted seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits.
Loftin gave the Royals the lead with one out in the ninth, pulling an 0-2 pitch from Jacob Waguespack (0-1) over the left field wall.
Riley Greene led off the bottom of the inning with a single off Daniel Lynch IV (4-2). Alex Lange then replaced him and struck out Lee. Zach McKinstry moved Greene to third with a single. Lange then struck out Matt Vierling and induced pinch-hitter Spencer Torkelson to end the game, allowing Lange to notch his 10th save.
The Royals took the lead in the second as Pasquantino led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and reached third on a Mize wild pitch. He scored on Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly.
Detroit tied it in the bottom of the second. Greene banged a double off the left field wall and scored on Lee’s opposite-field double.
With one out in the fourth, Lee took advantage of a hanging changeup and clobbered it over the left field wall to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Perez smashed his historic homer off Kyle Finnegan, pulling a hanging slider over the left field wall for an estimated 401 feet.
Perez couldn’t deliver again in the eighth with runners on the corners and two out as he grounded into a fielder’s choice.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Orlando City SC sign homegrown D Bernardo Rhein
Nov 24, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; The Orlando City logo is seen prior to a match against Atlanta United in a 2024 MLS Cup conference semifinal match at Inter&Co Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Orlando City SC signed homegrown defender Bernardo Rhein to a first-team contract through the 2027-28 season.
The deal includes team options for the 2028-29 and 2029-30 campaigns.
“Bernardo has earned this opportunity through his dedication, consistency and the progress he’s shown at every stage of our development pathway,” said Orlando City general manager Ricardo Moreira.
“Having started in futsal, Bernardo brings flair and intensity to our backline. From the Academy to OCB and now the First Team, he has embraced every challenge and continued to grow as a player and as a person. This signing reflects our commitment to developing talent from within, and we’re excited to support Bernardo as he takes the next step in his career with the Club.”
The 18-year-old made his MLS debut on April 22, 2026, against Charlotte FC. He becomes the 19th Orlando City Academy product to advance through the full development pathway.
–Field Level Media
WTA roundup: Anna Bondar goes overtime, reaches Hamburg final
Salvador Perez sets KC franchise HR record in win over Tigers
