Sports
Team Spirit, Team Falcons prevail at IEM Cologne playoffs
Nolan Starkey, a senior at Rossville High School, plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Monday, April 15, 2019, in Rossville. Starkey signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play esports at Trine University in Angola, Ind.
Rossville High School Senior Signs With Trine University To Play Esports
As the top performing team during Stage 3 group play, it is unsurprising that Team Spirit got off to a strong start during the eight-team playoff on Friday.
Team Falcons, on the other hand, had perhaps more success than expected as the fifth seed.
Both teams earned 2-1 victories in the quarterfinals Friday to advance to face one another in the next round on Saturday.
The Counter-Strike 2 tournament with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool began June 2 with the start of the first stage.
The field was ultimately trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages, where all matches were best-of-three, as is most of the playoffs. Sunday’s grand final will be best-of-five, with the winner taking home $500,000.
Spirit, unblemished in Stage 3, picked up where they left off by handling G2 Esports. Despite absorbing a surprising 13-9 loss on Overpass to open, the Russian esports team showed resilience in rallying for a 16-14 overtime win on Dust II and a 25-22 quadruple-OT victory on Mirage.
As expected for such a closely contested match, multiple players racked up impressive kill numbers. Spirit’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets paced all players with 81 kills and a 1.32 rating, though teammate Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov added 75 kills against just 56 deaths.
G2 was paced by Matus “MATYS” Simko’s 71 kills and 1.19 rating.
The Falcons established an advantage over fourth-seeded Team Vitality with a 13-11 win on Anubis to begin play. When Vitality rallied to win 13-11 on Inferno in Game 2, Team Falcons responded with a 13-11 closeout victory on Dust II.
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led all scorers with 63 kills, while his Falcons teammate Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin (52 kills) had the match’s highest rating at 1.43.
Vitality was led by Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut’s 54 kills and 1.16 rating.
The semifinals will be contested on Saturday. Previous qualifiers FURIA and Aurora Gaming face off in the first match of the day before Spirit and Falcons match up later in the day.
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000 — BetBoom Team, 9z Team, Team Vitality, G2 Esports
9-11. $15,000 — Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, The MongolZ
12-14. $15,000 — MOUZ, Monte, Legacy
15-16. $15,000 — B8, PARIVISION
17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG
20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis
23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest
25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Marina Mabrey drops career-high 37 as Tempo rally past Sun
Jun 19, 2026; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Toronto Tempo guard Marina Mabrey (3) passes against the Connecticut Sun during the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Marina Mabrey scored 21 of her career-best 37 points in the fourth quarter Friday night and the Toronto Tempo came back to defeat the Connecticut Sun 101-97 at Uncasville, Conn.
Mabrey, a former Sun, also made a career-best nine 3-pointers in 12 attempts, helping Toronto (8-8) snap a three-game losing streak. The Sun (2-15), who led by 16 points in the second quarter, have lost seven straight.
The Tempo also defeated the Sun on June 10 in overtime after trailing by 14.
Temi Fagbenle and Maria Conde contributed 19 points each for the injury-depleted Tempo. Isabelle Harrison added 15 points.
Kennedy Burke scored 18 points off the bench to lead the Sun.
Brittney Griner added 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Leila Lacan also scored 16 points, Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 13 points and Diamond Miller scored 10.
The Sun led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter. Lacan scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to expand the lead to 15. Fagbenle scored five straight points to cut the margin to one with 4:17 to play. Mabrey’s layup put Toronto in front by one with 3:16 left and her 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining gave Toronto a four-point lead on the way to the win.
The Sun led 24-20 after the first quarter.
The lead reached eight points with 5:34 to play in the second quarter on Nelson-Ododa’s layup.
The Sun, who were dominating the paint, took a 16-point lead on Griner’s putback layup to finish a 14-0 run with 2:04 remaining in the first half. The Sun led 50-37 at halftime, fueled by a 28-10 advantage in points in the paint.
Toronto shot 36.1% (13-for-36) from the field in the first half, while Connecticut shot 55.9% (19-for-34).
Toronto reduced the lead to seven with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter on Julie Allemand’s layup. Toronto then cut the margin to six before Connecticut scored four consecutive points. The Suns led by 13 with 2:34 left after Burke scored a layup and added another following her quick steal on the inbound pass. Connecticut was ahead 74-64 after three quarters.
Toronto was without Brittney Sykes (left foot), Nyara Sabally (right hamstring) and Kiki Rice (left ankle).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Surging Marlins win back-and-forth battle with Giants
Jun 19, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Owen Caissie (17) celebrates a home run against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images Rookie Owen Caissie went 3-for-3 with three RBIs as the host Miami Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Friday night.
The Marlins are 12-4 this month, giving them MLB’s best record so far in June. Overall, Miami has reached .500 at 38-38.
It was a bullpen day for the Marlins, who used eight pitchers. Their sixth pitcher, Cade Gibson (1-0), earned the win, retiring all five batters he faced.
Caissie showed his versatile offensive game with a 401-foot solo homer to center in the first; a 5-foot bunt single in the third; an RBI chopper double over the first-base bag in the fifth; and a 330-foot, go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Rafael Devers led the Giants’ offense with a homer, his 11th of the season.
Giants starter Landen Roupp, who hasn’t won a game since April 26, pitched well but was left with a no-decision. The right-hander struck out seven in six innings, allowing just two runs. However, he is now 0-6 with three no-decisions over his past nine starts.
Miami scored in the first as Caissie connected on a 2-1 cutter that was low in the zone.
San Francisco opened the second with three straight singles before Daniel Susac nearly hit a grand slam, settling for a 376-foot sacrifice fly that was caught at the top of the left field fence by Kyle Stowers.
Miami escaped further damage when former Marlins infielder Luis Arraez bounced into a double play.
The Marlins went back on top, 2-1, in the fifth as Javier Sanoja doubled and scored on Caissie’s chopper.
San Francisco took its only lead in the sixth. Devers tied it with a 413-foot bomb to right-center. Jung Hoo Lee then scorched a double (104 mph) and scored on Casey Schmitt’s bloop single.
Miami went back on top, 4-3, in the seventh. The rally started when reliever Sam Hentges (1-2) hit a batter, Esteury Ruiz. Sanoja then singled, and Liam Hicks followed with an RBI single. Caissie put Miami on top with his sacrifice fly.
Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth, earning his 10th save of the season and No. 100 for his career.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kiki Iriafen, Mystics rally to end Liberty's 8-game winning streak
Jun 19, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin (0) shoots the ball while defended by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images Kiki Iriafen scored nine of her 20 points in the final four minutes as the Washington Mystics roared back from an eight-point deficit to stun the host New York Liberty 86-83 on Friday.
The Mystics snapped the Liberty’s eight-game winning streak and earned their first victory over New York since the last day of the 2023 regular season. The Liberty had won 10 straight in the series.
All five starters finished in double figures for Washington (7-7). Sonia Citron had 16 points, Shakira Austin scored 14, Michaela Onyenwere contributed 11 and Georgia Amoore tallied 10 for the Mystics, who have won three of their past four. Amoore and Citron each dished out eight assists.
New York (11-5) was led by Leonie Fiebich, who had 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Breanna Stewart (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Jonquel Jones (10 points, 10 rebounds) each logged double-doubles for the Liberty.
The Mystics shot 32 free throws compared to 20 for New York. The game featured 19 ties and 12 lead changes.
New York took a 77-69 lead on a driving layup by Jones with 4:01 to go. The Mystics, who have the WNBA’s youngest team, responded with a 14-4 run and took the lead on a pair of Citron free throws with 1:09 remaining.
The Liberty’s Satou Sabally (13 points) tied the game at 83 by hitting two free throws with 48.6 seconds left. On the next possession with the shot clock running down, Citron lofted a pass to Iriafen, who laid it in with 26.9 seconds to go.
Iriafen made one of two free throws with 11.8 seconds after Stewart missed on a hook shot.
The Liberty called timeout to advance the ball past half-court. Sabrina Ionescu took a long 3-point attempt that missed. Fiebich grabbed the rebound and fed Sabally outside the arc, but Sabally’s shot was short at the buzzer.
There were eight ties in the first quarter as the teams continued to match one impressive shot-making feat with another.
Washington had the game’s first surge with a 9-4 run — with eight of the points coming from Citron — to grab a 32-27 lead with 6:57 left in the half. The Liberty answered with a 12-2 run to go up 39-34. New York held a 43-39 edge at halftime.
–Field Level Media
