Sports
Julian Hall, Red Bulls too much for FC Cincinnati in 4-2 win
Apr 4, 2026; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; Red Bull New York goalkeeper Ethan Horvath (34) reacts during the first half against FC Cincinnati at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images Julian Hall recorded his fifth goal of the season, Emil Forsberg and Mohammed Sofo also scored and the New York Red Bulls ended a three-match winless rut with a 4-2 triumph over FC Cincinnati on Saturday in Harrison, N.J.
New York (3-2-1, 10 points) entered the game with five goals on the season, four of them courtesy of 18-year-old phenom Hall. The Red Bulls nearly doubled that total, though one was a critical own goal off Cincinnati.
Ethan Horvath made four saves for the Red Bulls, and Cade Cowell had a fine performance, recording one assist and making the play that induced the own goal.
Pavel Bucha and Kyle Smith scored for Cincinnati (2-4-0, 6 points). Evan Louro, making his second straight start in net for the injured Roman Celentano, made three stops.
Forsberg put the Red Bulls ahead 2-1 in the 48th minute when he expertly nailed his close-range free kick over the Cincinnati wall to score off the crossbar.
In the 66th, Cowell took the ball along the right side of the box and changed directions twice to elude his defender. He sent a low cross toward Hall, and Smith’s outstretched leg attempted to deflect the shot but instead directed it over the line.
Smith made amends six minutes later. Evander’s corner kick was headed down by a New York defender, but Smith slid to the ground to poke it under Horvath and trimmed the margin to 3-2.
Cincinnati, which took six corner kicks, had numerous chances in the closing stages before Sofo buried a New York insurance goal from the center of the box three minutes into stoppage time.
Two minutes later, Cincinnati defender Alvas Powell was shown red when he chased down Omar Valencia in the open field and pushed him to the ground, denying a scoring opportunity. Valencia appeared hurt on the play.
The Red Bulls and Cincinnati traded opening blows in the 12th and 17th minutes. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty pushed ahead down the right sideline and passed to Cowell, who sped past his marker to the goal line and centered it for Hall for a grounder through Louro.
Cincinnati responded quickly on a counterattack. Samuel Gidi and Kevin Denkey shuttled the ball to Bucha, whose right-footed shot zipped past a jumbled New York defense and a frozen Horvath.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Darren Raddysh sets franchise record, as Lightning topple Bruins
Apr 2, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh (43) controls the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Darren Raddysh scored a franchise-setting, tiebreaking goal late, as the Tampa Bay Lightning closed their seven-game homestand with a three-goal third period in a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
In a career season, Raddysh netted the game-winner, his 21st, with over five minutes remaining in regulation, breaking a tie with teammate Victor Hedman for the most goals by a Lightning defenseman in a single season.
Charle-Edouard D’Astous netted one and Nikita Kucherov hit an empty net to seal it for Tampa Bay (48-22-6, 102 points), which went 5-1-1 on the season-long stand. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.
Casey Mittelstadt tallied for Boston (43-26-8, 94 points), who is 0-2-0 on its four-game road trip, thus far, and lost both matches in Florida. Goalie Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots.
Before the match began, the Lightning learned they had qualified for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season with losses by the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators.
Boston nearly had an easy rebound goal with a loose puck in Vasilevskiy’s blue paint, but charging defenseman Charlie McAvoy was dragged down by Raddysh, preventing the first tally but creating a power play.
However, the home side was successfully able to work through two penalty-kills, and Vasilevskiy and Swayman, who fought one another on Feb. 1 in the Stadium Series game, kept it scoreless.
In the second period, Vasilevskiy stuffed Viktor Arvidsson’s early backhander on a breakaway, but Arvidsson later spun and slipped a pass to a trailing Mittelstadt, who sped all alone through the slot and drilled his 15th at 6:47.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay had just five shots and were outplayed in the frame.
D’Astous put his club on the board by recovering his own rebound and burying the tying goal at 2:11 into the third, giving him two goals and eight points over the past seven outings.
The Atlantic Division opponents continued the tight-checking theme throughout the matchup, which could potentially be a first-round one in the postseason, until Raddysh sent a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the right circle that bounced in off the inside of Swayman’s right arm at 14:29.
Kucherov potted No. 42 with Swayman out of the net at 18:27.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Yuliia Starodubtseva to face Jessica Pegula in Charleston final
Mar 1, 2026; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) hits a shot against Elvina Kalieva (USA) during her qualifying match during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Yuliia Starodubtseva saved six of eight break points and stunningly stormed her way into the Charleston Open final with a 6-1, 6-4 takedown of fifth-seeded Madison Keys on Saturday.
The Ukraine native and former college standout at Old Dominion was a qualifier at this tournament before a withdrawal elevated her into the main draw. Now, she will have an opportunity to claim her first WTA title when she faces defending champion Jessica Pegula.
The top-seeded Pegula had 23 winners against 25 unforced errors while registering a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 over fourth-seeded Iva Jovic. All four of Pegula’s matches in Charleston have gone three sets.
Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio
Top-seeded Czech Marie Bouzkova saved five of seven break points en route to posting a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over Argentina’s Jazmin Ortenzi to reach the title match in Bogota, Colombia.
Bouzkova had a 5-2 lead in the opening set, but Ortezni rallied to force a tiebreak before Bouzkova was able to prevail. She sailed through the second set to earn the championship match appearance against eighth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary.
Udvardy engineered an impressive rally for a 6-7 (8), 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Emiliana Arango of Colombia. The home country favorite led 5-2 in the third set before Udvardy won four straight games to take the lead and eventually win the match.
–Field Level Media
Sports
South Carolina, UCLA face off in national championship game
Apr 3, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) shoots the ball against the Texas Longhorns during a semifinal of the Final Four of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images PHOENIX — Perennial powers South Carolina and UCLA avenged recent setbacks in the semifinals of the NCAA women’s Final Four on Friday.
Each could do it again when they meet in the championship game Sunday afternoon.
UCLA (36-1) broke the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak in a 77-62 victory in their last meeting Nov. 24, 2024, when star center Lauren Betts had 11 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks.
“It was one of those games at home where we were really clicking on both sides of the ball,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of the most recent meeting, the Bruins’ only win in the five-game series.
Two seasons prior, South Carolina (36-3) beat the Bruins twice, the second time 59-43 in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen on March 25, 2003.
“I’ve been on both sides of that,” Close said. “What I remember is, the team that rebounds the best and defends the best down the stretch won both those games. I don’t think it is probably going to be that different.”
South Carolina is playing for coach Dawn Staley’s fourth national championship, her third in five years, in their sixth straight Final Four.
UCLA coach Cori Close is going for her first. The Bruins have not won in the NCAA era, although they did win the 1978 title while competing in the precursor AIAW. The Bruins are in their second straight Final Four after losing to UConn in the semifinals a year ago.
South Carolina made the finals with a decisive-at-this-level 62-48 victory over tournament No. 1 seed and undefeated UConn, which had beaten the Gamecocks by 23 in the 2025 championship game.
The Gamecocks won the rematch with an aggressive, active defense that limited the Huskies to 31.1% shooting. It was punctuated by a late-game exchange between Staley and UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who issued an apology Saturday for how he “handled the end of the game.”
“For me, no distractions at this time,” Staley said in response. “Concentrating on winning the national championship. That’s it.”
Ta’Niya Latson had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Agot Makeer scored 14 points, and two other Gamecocks scored in double figures against UConn.
Staley would be one of four coaches with four national championships.
“We’re going to be challenged because they are pretty methodical in how they want to cut you apart,” Staley said of UCLA. “They got bigs, they got shooters, they got a point guard that’s super smart.
“They’ve been together. They’re an experienced group that’s used to playing well with each other. They’re battle-tested. We got all of that that we’re up against.”
UCLA advanced with a 51-44 victory over Texas behind 6-foot-7 Betts’ 14th double-double, her blocked shot in the final 18 seconds, and a defense that held the Longhorns to 31% shooting. Texas handed the Bruins its only loss this season in Las Vegas on Nov. 26.
Betts, one of the five Bruins’ senior starters, is averaging 17.2 pointers and 8.7 rebounds.
“She brings about a great challenge,” Staley said. “A couple years ago you could kind of be real physical with her, she would kind of back down a little bit. Now she embraces it, right? Now she welcomes it.
“She can play off of it so well. You have to make a decision whether you’re going to double her, single-cover her, whether you’re going to triple her, then figure out how you’re going to scramble out of that and prioritize who because they can shoot the basketball.”
Kiki Rice (15.1 points), Gabriela Jaquez (13.3), and Gianna Kneepkens (12.8) provide complementary alternatives.
“Against a team like that, it’s going to be about our aggressiveness on both ends of the floor,” Betts said.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
Darren Raddysh sets franchise record, as Lightning topple Bruins
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