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NaVi, MongolZ qualify for IEM Katowice playoffs

Syndication: The Courier-JournalA custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Natus Vincere and The MongolZ clinched playoff spots at the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice by winning Group B upper-bracket semifinal matches on Monday in Poland.

NaVi eked out a 2-1 win over Team Sports, while The MongolZ dumped GamerLegion 2-0.

In other Group B action on Monday, Astralis edged FURIA Esports 2-1 while Team Liquid toppled MOUZ, both in lower-bracket quarterfinals.

The Group A lower-bracket semifinals also were contested, with FaZe Clan nipping G2 Esports 2-1 and Eternal Fire rallying past 3DMAX 2-1.

Group play has 16 teams split into two double-elimination brackets, with all matches best-of-three. The two group-phase winners will advance directly to the playoff semifinals, the two group-phase runners-up will move to the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the two third-place teams will make the quarterfinals as low seeds.

The playoffs will be single elimination, with best-of-three matches for the quarterfinals and semifinals ahead of a best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The champion will earn $400,000.

On Monday, Natus Vincere opened with 13-8 win on Mirage before Team Spirit captured Dust II 13-11. On the decisive third map, Nuke, NaVi pulled out a 16-14 overtime victory.

Lithuania’s Justinas “jL” Lekavicius amassed 60 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential for Natus Vincere. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets registered 71 kills and a plus-22 K-D differential.

The MongolZ dumped GamerLegion 13-10 on Nuke and 13-5 on Mirage. Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren finished with 38 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential for the all-Mongolian victors. Sweden’s Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and the Czech Republic’s Oldrich “PR” Novy each logged 29 kills for GamerLegion.

Astralis sandwiched a 13-10 win on Inferno and a 13-11 victory on Nuke around a 13-8 loss to FURIA Esports on Dust II. Nicolai “device” Reedtz recorded 45 kills and a plus-7 K-D differential for all-Danish Astralis. Felipe “skullz” Medeiros topped all-Brazilian FURIA with 53 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential.

FaZe Clan managed a 16-13 overtime victory on Ancient, but G2 Esports pulled level with a 13-10 win on Inferno. FaZe sealed the series with a 13-8 decision on Nuke.

Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky was the key performer for FaZe with 59 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential. Guatemala’s Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa logged 52 kills but had a minus-2 K-D differential.

3DMAX started with a 13-4 blowout on Inferno, but Eternal Fire recovered for a 16-13 overtime win on Anubis and a 13-10 triumph on Dust II.

Samet “jottAAA” Koklu had 57 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for all-Turkish Eternal Fire. Pierre “Ex3rcice” Bulinge wound up with 49 kills and a level K-D differential for all-French 3DMAX.

Six matches are scheduled for Tuesday:

–Virtus.pro vs. Team Vitality (Group A upper-bracket final)

–FaZe Clan vs. Eternal Fire (Group A lower-bracket final)

–Natus Vincere vs. The MongolZ (Group B upper-bracket final)

–GamerLegion vs. Astralis (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

–Team Spirit vs. Team Liquid (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)

–GamerLegion/Astralis winner vs. Spirit/Liquid winner (Group B lower-bracket final)

Intel Extreme Masters Katowice prize pool:

1. $400,000

2. $180,000

3-4. $80,000

5-6. $40,000

7-8. $24,000

9-12. $16,000 — G2 Esports, 3DMAX, two teams TBD

13-16. $10,000 — Team Falcons, BIG, FURIA Esports, MOUZ

17-20. $4,500 — Wildcard, paiN Gaming, MIBR, HEROIC

21-24. $2,500 — Complexity, FlyQuest, SAW, Imperial Female

–Field Level Media

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DC United ends scoring drought, earns 4-4 draw with Red Bulls

MLS: D.C. United at Red Bull New YorkApr 22, 2026; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; Red Bull New York forward Jorge Ruvalcaba (11) reacts after scoring a goal against D.C. United during the second half at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

Tai Baribo scored his third goal in the 80th minute as D.C. United ended a long scoring drought and escaped with a 4-4 draw in an adrenaline-fueled match against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night in Harrison, N.J.

Jackson Hopkins added a goal and an assist for D.C. United (2-4-3, 9 points), who rallied from a two-goal deficit. D.C. has not won in its last five games, going 0-2-3 over that stretch.

The offensive splurge came from a D.C. team that entered the match with an MLS-low four goals. Baribo has now scored six of the team’s eight goals this season.

Jorge Ruvalcaba scored two spectacular goals in the second half for struggling New York (3-3-3, 12 points), which has won only one of its last seven MLS matches.

Ronald Donkor added a goal and two assists and Julian Hall scored his team-high sixth goal for the Red Bulls, who have surrendered 18 goals in their last five matches.

New York struck first in the 15th minute with a precise pair of passes by Adri Mehmeti and Donkor, which set up Hall for a low right-footed shot past on-rushing D.C. keeper Sean Johnson (one save).

Just six minutes later, the Red Bulls took advantage of a lack of pressure from the D.C. defense as a cross by 17-year-old Matthew Dos Santos was deflected by D.C. defender Aaron Herrera.

The ball found Donkor in the center of the box and he fired a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead.

D.C. answered in the 37th minute in transition as Hopkins crossed from the right side to Baribo in the middle of the box. With a sliding right-footed shot, Baribo beat New York keeper Ethan Horvath (one save).

New York countered in the 52nd minute in transition as Emil Forsberg found Ruvalcaba sprinting down the left wing. Ruvalcaba beat one defender then watched another slide past before rifling a tough-angle shot into the top right corner for a 3-1 lead.

But D.C. answered, taking advantage of the tendency of the back line of New York to play too far forward. D.C.’s Joao Peglow won two balls near midfield and sent them forward for breakaway goals five minutes apart.

Hopkins scored the first to make it 3-2 and Baribo followed in the 59th minute to tie it up.

After Ruvalcaba scored again in transition in the 71st minute, Baribo answered from just in front of the goal line with his equalizer on a feed from Silvan Hefti, who had two assists in the match.

In stoppage time, D.C.’s Jacob Murrell appeared to score a transition goal but was called for a foul, shoving a defender out of his way before flicking in a shot with his left foot.

–Field Level Media

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Strong second period carries Flyers past Penguins for 3-0 edge

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia FlyersApr 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Travis Konecny (11) checks Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell (67) during the first period in game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Trevor Zegras, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler and Noah Cates all scored their first career playoff goals to guide the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-2 home victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and a three-games-to-none series lead.

After capturing Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal matchup in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia scored three times in the second period of this one, and Dan Vladar took care of the rest with 28 saves.

Owen Tippett had the other goal for the Flyers. Cates and Zegras each added an assist, and Jamie Drysdale, Sean Couturier and Noah Juulsen logged two assists apiece.

Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson scored for Pittsburgh, which needs to win Saturday in Philadelphia to save its season. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring 4:18 into the contest on a power play. Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Malkin connected on a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that ended with Malkin’s tally from the doorstep.

That was the only goal of the first period, but the middle session saw plenty of offense — all from Philadelphia — and a significant amount of physical play.

The second-period scoring began with Zegras’ power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle at 5:18.

At the time, there were 11 players in the penalty boxes. Following a scrum on the previous shift, all 10 skaters were assessed roughing penalties with Rust getting an extra minor that had to be served by a teammate.

Less than four minutes later, the teams were back at full strength when Ristolainen scored from the right circle after a nice feed from Juulsen. Ristolainen received the puck with space and beat Skinner through the five-hole.

About two minutes later, Seeler’s shot from the blue line got through traffic and found the back of the net.

Pittsburgh pressured in the third period, which turned out to be an eventful stanza for Vladar. He lost a skate blade early in the session and then hurt his right arm on a collision with Rust a couple minutes later.

The injury appeared to affect Vladar, as he promptly allowed a power-play goal when Karlsson’s shot snuck just under his arm with 10:21 remaining.

However, Philadelphia regained the momentum with a power-play goal less than three minutes later when Cates took a pass on the doorstep, reverse-pivoted into the crease and lifted a forehand under the crossbar.

Tippett’s empty-netter with 1:12 left put an exclamation point on the victory.

–Field Level Media

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Shooting woes sink Magic as Pistons even up series in G2

NBA: Playoffs-Orlando Magic at Detroit PistonsApr 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) dribbles defended by Detroit Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins (24) in the first half during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points and had 11 assists and Tobias Harris added 16 points and 11 rebounds on Wednesday night as the Detroit Pistons bounced back to even their Eastern Conference playoff series with a 98-83 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic.

Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson each had 11 points for the Pistons, who snapped an 11-game home playoff game losing streak, the longest in NBA history. Duncan Robinson and Isaiah Stewart also scored 10 apiece for Detroit, which last won a home playoff game in 2008.

Jalen Suggs scored 19 points and Paolo Banchero added 18 for the eighth-seeded Magic. Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane also had 12 points for Orlando which connected on only 26 of 80 field goal attempts, including just eight of 32 3-pointers.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Orlando.

After a defensive struggle in the first half for both teams, Detroit broke the game open in the third quarter, starting with a 30-3 run. The Pistons, who scored the first 11 points before Bane nailed a 3-pointer, outscored the Magic 38-16 in the quarter. Orlando hit only five shots, committed six turnovers and trailed by as much as 27 points.

The Pistons maintained a comfortable cushion through the final quarter, allowing the Magic to get no closer than 97-83 with less than a minute remaining.

The first quarter was a defensive battle with the Pistons holding on for a 25-21 lead. Detroit, which led by as much as seven points, held Orlando to 26.9 percent shooting from the field while the Magic forced eight Pistons turnovers and briefly went in front 21-20.

The two teams continued the defensive intensity in the second quarter which featured four ties and two lead changes. Detroit took an eight-point lead early in the quarter, but Orlando scored four of the last five points to tie the game at 46 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

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