Sports
Falcons, HEROIC advance in DreamLeague Season 25
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans react during the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Team Falcons and HEROIC won matches Wednesday to clinch advancement to Group Stage 2 at the DreamLeague Season 25.
Falcons (4-1-2) earned a 2-0 victory over 9Pandas (0-5-2) to wind up in third place in Group A after round-robin play in Group Stage 1. HEROIC (4-3-0) took fourth place in Group A following a 2-0 win over Xtreme Gaming (0-5-2).
The event’s 16 teams were divided into two round-robin groups of eight for Group Stage 1, with each match consisting of two maps. The top four squads from Group A and the top four from Group B will move on to Group Stage 2, while the rest of the teams will be eliminated.
Tundra Esports (6-0-1) and BetBoom Team (5-1-1) had already wrapped up the top two places in Group A, and they each recorded a 2-0 win on Wednesday. Tundra dumped Moodeng Warriors (2-5-0), and BetBoom bested Shopify Rebellion (2-3-2).
In Group B, Chimera Esports (3-1-3) and PARIVISION (2-1-4) played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, a result that sealed a playoff berth for both teams. First-place Team Spirit (5-0-2) wrapped up an unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Yakult Brothers (1-1-5).
Gaimin Gladiators (2-2-3) posted a 2-0 win over AVULUS (0-5-2), and Team Liquid (1-1-5) drew 1-1 against BOOM Esports (0-3-4). Those results created a three-way tie for the fourth and final qualifying spot for Group B.
Tiebreaker matches will be held Thursday, with Yakult Brothers opposing Team Liquid, and the winner of that contest facing Gaimin Gladiators for the right to move forward.
The eight teams that reach Group Stage 2 will be put into one single round-robin group, where they will face off in best-of-three matches beginning on Friday.
The top two teams from Group Stage 2 will head to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the third- and fourth-place teams will land in the lower bracket, and the remaining teams will be eliminated.
The playoffs begin March 1 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three aside from the grand final on March 2, which is best-of-five. The winning team gets $250,000 and a club reward of $40,000. There will also be 20,440 ESL Pro Tour points distributed to the participants.
In Wednesday action, Team Falcons handled 9Pandas in 34 minutes and 31 minutes, both on green. Slovakia’s Oliver “skiter” Lepko paced Falcons with an average 8.5/2.0/13.5 kill-death-assist ratio.
HEROIC opened with a 42-minute victory on red before closing out Xtreme Gaming with a 42-minute win on green. Nicaragua’s Yuma “Yuma” Langlet wound up at 9.5/2.5/16.0 for HEROIC.
DreamLeague Season 25 Group Stage 1 standings (match record W-L-T, map record)
Group A
1. Tundra Esports, 6-0-1, 13-1
2. BetBoom Team, 5-1-1, 11-3
3. Team Falcons, 4-1-2, 10-4
4. HEROIC, 4-3-0, 8-6
5. Shopify Rebellion, 2-3-2, 6-8
6. Moodeng Warriors, 2-5-0, 4-10
7. Xtreme Gaming, 0-5-2, 2-12
8. 9Pandas, 0-5-2, 2-12
Group B
1. Team Spirit, 5-0-2, 12-2
2. Chimera Esports, 3-1-3, 9-5
3. PARIVISION, 2-1-4, 8-6
T4. Gaimin Gladiators, 2-2-3, 7-7
T4. Team Liquid, 1-1-5, 7-7
T4. Yakult Brothers, 1-1-5, 7-7
7. BOOM Esports, 0-3-4, 4-10
8. AVULUS, 0-5-2, 2-12
DreamLeague Season 25 prize pool (cash winning, EPT points, club reward)
1. $250,000, TBD, $40,000
2. $100,000, TBD, $30,000
3. $80,000, TBD, $25,000
4. $60,000, TBD, $20,000
5. $40,000, TBD, $15,000
6. $35,000, TBD, $15,000
7. $30,000, TBD, $12,500
8. $25,000, TBD, $12,500
9-10. $20,000, 350 points, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, 175 points, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, 98 points, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, 42 points, $10,000
–Field Level Media
Sports
St. Louis City's Tomas Ostrak delivers only goal needed to beat Rapids
May 9, 2026; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) fields the ball ahead of St. Louis City defender Fallou Fall (27) in the second half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Tomas Ostrak scored in the 83rd minute to give St. Louis City a 1-0 home win over the 10-man Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
The victory extended St. Louis City’s winning streak to four regular-season matches and their points streak to seven matches (6-0-1).
After playing 71 minutes with an 11-on-10 advantage, St. Louis (7-6-4, 25 points) finally broke through on Ostrak’s tally. A nice passing play from Tomas Totland set up Ostrak for a superbly-placed shot from the edge of the box that sailed into the right side of the net.
Ostrak’s first goal of the season came seven minutes after the midfielder entered the match as a substitute. It was just Ostrak’s second regular-season match, as leg injuries sidelined him for most of St. Louis’ 2026 campaign.
Rapids defender Rob Holding was issued a straight red card in the 12th minute, and Colorado (6-10-1, 19 points) then went into a defensive shell. St. Louis outshot Colorado 18-2, with no Rapids shots on target.
It made for a quiet night for Roman Burki, as the St. Louis goalkeeper didn’t need to make a single save to earn his second shutout of the season. Nico Hansen made two saves for Colorado.
St. Louis also didn’t deliver much direct pressure, as only three of the home team’s 18 shots were on target. While the Rapids defended well, St. Louis City committed some self-sabotage with a season-high 22 fouls, continually interrupting their own attacks.
Jeong Sang-bin’s shot off the crossbar in the 37th minute was St. Louis’ best chance of the first half. Rapids defender Lucas Herrington made a pair of close-range blocks on Totland and Daniel Edelman during a St. Louis flurry in the 54th minute.
Holding was shown the early red card after he brought down Jeong in open play in the 12th minute, likely preventing Jeong from a breakaway chance. It was Holding’s second ejection in as many matches against St. Louis, as he also received a red card in the 50th minute of St. Louis City’s 1-0 win over the Rapids on May 9.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hunter Brown in control, Astros down White Sox for 5th straight win
Jul 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown (58) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Hunter Brown allowed two hits over seven shutout innings and Isaac Paredes drove in three runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Jeremy Pena was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Paredes was 2-for 4 for the Astros, who have won five straight, including the first two of the three-game weekend series.
The White Sox, who managed five hits, have lost three of their last four.
They threatened in the eighth with runners on second and third and two out, but reliever Bennett Sousa replaced Bryan Abreu and retired pinch hitter Randal Grichuk on a popout to first.
After Colson Montgomery’s RBI single in the ninth, Josh Hader came in to get the last two outs for his 12th save.
Brown (2-1) finished strong, setting down 12 consecutive batters from the fourth through seventh innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out seven as he fired 60 strikes in 90 pitches.
Chicago starter Sean Burke (7-5) surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
It was a 0-0 pitcher’s duel through five with Burke also retiring 12 in a row, from the second through the fifth, but heading for trouble.
The streak was broken when Burke hit Cam Smith with a pitch to lead off the sixth. Pena’s single and a walk to Yordan Alvarez loaded the bases. Paredes then grounded a single to right that got past right fielder Braden Montgomery for an error that also allowed Alvarez to score for a 3-0 Houston lead as Paredes reached third.
Burke then limited the damage by getting Jose Altuve on a groundout and striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Walker.
Paredes added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-0.
White Sox left fielder Sam Antonnaci robbed Paredes, who was leading off the fourth, of a likely home run with a leaping catch of his long drive by pulling the ball in just above the fence.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alejandro Alvarado goal helps San Diego edge Dallas
Jul 25, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego FC midfield Alejandro Alvarado (70) scores a goal during the second half against the FC Dallas at Snapdragon Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images Alejandro Alvarado scored his first MLS goal in the 50th minute and San Diego FC made it hold up for a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Dallas on Saturday night.
CJ dos Santos was called on to make just one save while recording his first shutout of the season for San Diego FC (5-7-5, 20 points).
Jonathan Sirois made four saves for Dallas (7-5-5, 26 points) after replacing injured starter Daniel, who had three stops.
San Diego FC held possession nearly 70% of the match to improve to 3-0-1 against FC Dallas in their two-season history.
Alvarado had the ball from beyond the box early in the second half and unleashed a long right-footed shot into the right corner of the net to break a scoreless tie.
Two minutes later, FC Dallas put its only shot on target but Petar Musa’s close-range header was saved by dos Santos.
Omni Valakari had a solid chance for San Diego in the 59th minute, but his left-footed shot caromed off the right goalpost.
Anderson Julio of Dallas broke in toward the net in hopes of receiving the ball in the 72th minute and dos Santos came out to break up the play. That left Santiago Moreno with an open net to shoot at, but he chipped his right-footed attempt over the net.
San Diego almost gifted FC Dallas the tying goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
Manu Duah made an errant pass back into the midfield and gave Dallas’ Logan Farrington a chance to dash in toward dos Santos. But Duah sprinted back toward the San Diego net and he was able to get his foot in and block Farrington’s right-footed shot to thwart the opportunity.
One minute later, the match was called.
San Diego outshot Dallas 19-7 and held an 8-1 edge in shots on target.
Dallas lost Daniel after he made a point-black save in the 16th minute on Valakari.
Daniel’s right leg bent awkwardly as he stretched to stymie Valakari and he remained down in pain. Trainers eventually helped him walk off the field and Sirois entered as the new goalie in the 19th minute.
San Diego outshot Dallas 13-2 in the first half but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Marcus Ingvartsen had a big opportunity in the 32nd minute, but his close-range right-footed shot was stopped by Sirois.
–Field Level Media
