Sports
No. 10 St. John's hopes to get healthy in time for UConn
Feb 16, 2025; Queens, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm guard Deivon Smith (5) walks to the bench with head coach Rick Pitino in the second half against the Creighton Bluejays at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Beating DePaul was expected for St. John’s, even with leading scorer RJ Luis Jr. sidelined for the first time this season due to a groin injury.
On Sunday, the 10th-ranked Red Storm face one of their biggest tests of the season when they oppose UConn — and having Luis available likely will be much more critical for the game at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Luis had not been ruled out for the game, and St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said Friday said the decision was up to Luis as the Red Storm attempt to complete a season sweep of the Huskies for the first time since 1999-2000.
Luis, a Big East Player of the Candidate, tops the Red Storm (23-4, 14-2 Big East) with 17.6 points per game, a figure that ranks fourth in the conference.
He scored 23 points in the Red Storm’s win over Creighton on Feb. 16 but was replaced in the starting lineup by Sadiku Ibine Ayo three days later. Ibine Ayo scored a career-high 15 points as St. John’s cruised to an 82-58 win over the Blue Demons. Ibine Ayo would draw the start again if Luis remains out.
“Everything takes time. We’re starting to mesh well together, playing off each other,” St. John’s senior guard Kadary Richmond said. “That’s what it took, some time to get adjusted to each other.”
Devion Smith joined Ibine Ayo in moving from the bench to the starting lineup against DePaul, and he led the Red Storm with 18 points, his second-highest total of the season. Smith had been dealing with a neck injury that Pitino thought was going to sideline the guard indefinitely.
Richmond, who added 17 points and nine rebounds, is averaging 17.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in his past six games, though Pitino said the guard played through the same injury as Luis.
The Huskies (18-8, 10-5) were handed a 68-62 home loss by St. John’s on Feb. 7 after they blew an early 14-point lead. Luis capped a 21-point outing by hitting the clinching jumper with 11 seconds remaining.
UConn is 6-5 since winning its first four Big East games, though it owns road wins over then-No. 9 Marquette and then-No. 24 Creighton in that span. The Huskies were held to 70 points or fewer in each of the past four games, most recently being forced to gut out a 66-59 win over Villanova in Hartford on Tuesday.
Liam McNeeley scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime against the Wildcats, including 11 points in the game-ending 27-6 run. McNeeley missed eight games with a high ankle sprain and is averaging 21.8 points in four games since returning, including an 18-point outing against St. John’s and a 38-point showing at Creighton.
UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. added 13 off the bench against Villanova after scoring a combined three points the previous two games. The Huskies won despite a quiet showing from Alex Karaban (six points), who is 6 of 47 from 3-point range in his past nine games.
UConn got past Villanova after taking a disappointing 69-68 overtime loss at Seton Hall on Feb. 15 when it blew a seven-point lead in the final 36 seconds of regulation.
“The season was hanging in the balance for us (against Villanova),” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said. “If we lost this game, going to play St. John’s in the Garden over the weekend, this is definitely going to galvanize us. With having some high-end wins, and then having some really bad low floor moments, this team’s gotta find a way to finish strong, go into the Big East tournament with great momentum.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mateusz Bogusz brace carries Dynamo past Austin FC
Jul 25, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo FC midfielder Mateusz Bogusz (19) celebrates after scoring a goal during the first half against the Austin FC at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Mateusz Bogusz had two easy goals in the first 29 minutes and Guilherme Santos had a goal and two assists in a dominating first half as the host Houston Dynamo swamped Austin FC 3-0 on Saturday in a clash between Copa Tejas rivals.
The Dynamo (8-6-2, 26 points) extended their home unbeaten streak to five matches (4-0-1) and earned a split in the season series with Austin FC. Houston is 4-1-2 since a 2-0 loss in Austin to the Verde on April 25.
Jonathan Bond saved five shots to earn his fourth clean sheet of the MLS campaign for the Dynamo.
Austin (4-8-5, 17 points) remains the only MLS team without a road victory this season and has dropped four of its last five contests to the Dynamo away from home. The Verde have won just once in their past six matches (1-4-1) and followed up a stirring 3-1 home win over Seattle on Wednesday by laying an egg against their Lone Star State counterparts.
Houston swept to the front with a stunning trifecta of goals in the first 32 minutes. After Austin pressed the action in the early going, the Dynamo burned the visitors via the counterattack when Bogusz was the beneficiary of passes from Guilherme and Ezequiel Ponce and opened the ledger with a goal in the 12th minute.
Bogusz waited on the doorstep to the right of Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver for the pretty give-and-go sequence that found him wide open for the easy tally and a 1-0 Houston lead.
Bogusz then scored again in the 29th minute, outsprinting two Austin defenders for a long clearing pass from Guilherme before unleashing a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner that Stuver had no chance to save.
The Dynamo continued their onslaught in the 32nd minute as Guilherme scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season after assists from Agustin Bouzat and Felipe Andrade.
That tally was again produced on the counterattack as Bouzat drove his pass deep and high over the Austin defense for Houston’s dynamic star to run under before hitting a shot that Stuver could only watch bounce into the bottom right corner.
The Verde made a tepid attempt to respond over the final 15 minutes of the first half, with Przemyslaw Placheta testing Bond and then Brandon Vazquez producing a pair of low-percentage shots that the Houston keeper gobbled up.
Austin did little to cut into the deficit after halftime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyrese Spicer comes off bench to propel Orlando City past Nashville SC
Jul 25, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando City SC forward Justin Ellis (22) battles for the ball against Nashville SC defense Jack Maher (5) during the first half at Inter.Co Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Second-half substitute Tyrese Spicer scored in the 72nd minute to lift Orlando City to a 1-0 home victory over Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC on Saturday.
Justin Ellis notched the assist with a clever reverse pass to Spicer, who slipped behind the defense for a clear look at the goal. Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau turned in his second straight clean sheet with two saves.
The Lions (6-9-2, 20 points) had four shots on goal while Nashville (12-2-3, 39 points) had two. Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake had three saves.
In the 14th minute, Antoine Griezmann carried the ball wide into the attacking third and curled a cross to Ellis, whose header was on target but saved by Schwake.
Orlando kept up the pressure in the 28th minute when Ellis found Griezmann, whose left-footed shot bounced into Schwake’s hands.
Ellis threatened again moments later, shaking free of a defender before testing Schwake with a shot from the center of the box that lacked enough power to beat the goalkeeper.
As the first half wound down, Shakur Mohammed carried the ball out of midfield before slipping a pass to Andy Najar. Najar then played a through ball to a sliding Alex Muyl, whose attempt was saved by Crepeau at close range before the two collided.
Nashville had its best scoring threat in the 63rd minute when Najar settled a direct pass from midfield with a back-heel flick to Mohammed. The forward from Ghana blasted a shot in stride that Crepeau snared and quickly smothered.
Orlando withstood sustained pressure in the closing minutes. Crepeau came off his line to claim a corner kick in the 87th minute, denying Nashville a second opportunity.
Later, Daniel Lovitz’s cross in the 89th minute was headed away by Wilder Cartagena. Nashville finished with a 7-2 edge in corner kicks and a 52-48 advantage in possession, but couldn’t find the equalizer as Orlando dug in defensively.
Nashville had its five-match winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in 11 MLS matches (8-1-2).
–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
Mateusz Bogusz brace carries Dynamo past Austin FC
Tyrese Spicer comes off bench to propel Orlando City past Nashville SC
