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LOS ANGELES — Call it the $9.55 million goal. Or call it Denis Bouanga picking up the mantle that had been left behind by Carlos Vela, a torch unofficially being passed a few days after LAFC’s first icon officially retired, picked up by the team’s current star. And perhaps Bouanga’s extra-time goal Saturday night, a […]

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LOS ANGELES — Call it the $9.55 million goal.

Or call it Denis Bouanga picking up the mantle that had been left behind by Carlos Vela, a torch unofficially being passed a few days after LAFC’s first icon officially retired, picked up by the team’s current star.

And perhaps Bouanga’s extra-time goal Saturday night, a blast that deflected off the leg of Club América’s Miguel Vazquez and past goalkeeper Luis Malagon in the 115th minute of play, should go down as the most important goal to date in the history of the eight-year-old club. Yes, maybe even more important than Gareth Bale’s tying goal in extra time of the 2022 MLS Cup final, which set up a shootout that produced the club’s first league title.

There are now three, to date, massive victories atop a history that has been remarkably consistent since the club’s first game in 2018, including two Supporters’ Shields for best regular season record.

There is the 2022 MLS Cup victory over Philadelphia, the 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City last September to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and Sunday’s 2-1 victory over one of Mexico’s most famous and successful clubs that put LAFC into the 32-team field for the FIFA Club World Cup. That not only overcame what had been a stumbling block, following losses in CONCACAF Champions League finals to Tigres in 2020 and León in 2023, but it put LAFC in there with the big boys.

As in, globally big.

No, coach Steve Cherundolo isn’t obsessing yet about Chelsea, the first Club World Cup opponent June 16 in Atlanta. (And yes, FIFA, I know the schedule has been set, but wouldn’t it make sense – and dollars as well – to shift at least one of LAFC’s pool play games to the Rose Bowl?)

First things first.

“Our next opponent is Kansas City (June 8), so that’s where my head is,” Cherundolo said. “I haven’t really thought about the Club World Cup and our opponents … We will be prepared, as prepared as we possibly can be. And we will come up with a plan that can work. But I don’t think there’s any secret in this room to say, for us to beat those teams, we need to play perfectly. We needed to play near perfectly tonight. We didn’t, but I think we played pretty close and that’s why we won.”

But there is a much larger picture here, one that not only affects LAFC but Major League Soccer as a whole. Cherundolo has talked about it before: The economic imbalance between teams in other countries and other leagues that can spend freely and those in MLS who are restricted by not only a tightly wound salary cap but by arcane salary mechanisms and categories of spending that restrict what a team can do to improve itself from year to year, or limit a club’s ability to create roster depth to complement its designated players.

“Everybody in this room knows or is familiar with the best example of being a successful team, winning and then trying to turn around the next season, down the street in this city,” he said, speaking of the difficulties experienced by the Galaxy a season after winning the championship. “That’s really hard to do.

“But I think you can see LAFC’s success over the past four years now has been very consistent, although we have had less tools to work with. And part of the decision making is letting players like Ilie Sanchez go, but being very good at being prepared for what else is out there …  with your roster building, your scouting management, your negotiating but also then essentially then your coaching staff getting players on board, and trying to find players that fit our model, but also tweaking the model a little bit to fit players.”

It would be one thing for a team to deal with MLS’ restrictions if everyone else it plays against operates under the same rules. Given that  MLS teams face Liga MX clubs and other teams from the CONCACAF region that have no such restrictions, it’s like operating with one hand tied behind your back. You can succeed for a time, but eventually it catches up with you.

“We are, I think, maximizing the dollars we get to spend,” Cherundolo said. “We maximize and stretch every single dollar to try to compete with the best in our region, and now to compete with the best in the world.

“But – it is not always going to work like that. You do need to stay competitive financially as well. You can look at the EPL. If you look at the European leagues, it’s no secret why they are the best teams in the world. And so there is an element where we cannot just close our eyes and say, oh, now we’re there, and let’s stop investing. It needs to be continued to push forward financially.”

Consider that the coach made many of those same observations after the 2023 home and home with León in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, in which LAFC lost the first leg 1-0 in Mexico and the second leg 2-1 at home. The irony, of course, is that Sunday’s play-in match took place after León was bounced from the Club World Cup because of a violation of ownership rules. The same group also owns Pachuca, which also had qualified.

This was a hurry-up call. Leon and Pachuca appealed the ruling, which was made in March, and the decision to reject their appeal wasn’t finalized by the Court of Arbitration for Sport until May 6. The LAFC-Club América play-in wasn’t officially announced until May 16.

“We felt like because León was the team that is no longer part of it, and we were the runners up in the Champions League, that we should get that spot or at least the opportunity to fight for that spot, right?” defender Aaron Long said. “So we’re super happy that they gave us the opportunity to play a great team. And again, to come out on top is is amazing.”

So is this the biggest victory in LAFC history?

“I don’t know if it’s the most important, but it’s definitely it’s definitely one of them,” Long said. “Probably top three. The MLS Cup is probably up there as well. But yeah, I mean to represent this club on a global stage, and for our ownership that has poured so much into this club and our staff and our general manager (John Thorrington) and how much they put into the club year after year and fight for trophies, fight for titles, to now represent us on the world stage is unbelievable.

“And it’s all that we wanted.”

jalexander@scng.com

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Sports on the Air for Saturday, July 19: TV, radio schedule in Wichita

Saturday’s TV / radio AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL AFL: Melbourne at Carlton, 4:30 a.m., FS1 AFL: Fremantle at Collingwood, 11:59 p.m., FS2 BASKETBALL The Basketball Tournament: The Ville vs. Boston v Cancer, round of 64, at Louisville, Ky., 11:30 a.m., FOX The Basketball Tournament: Purple Reign vs. The Shine, round of 64, at Kansas City, Mo., […]

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Saturday’s TV / radio

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL

  • AFL: Melbourne at Carlton, 4:30 a.m., FS1

  • AFL: Fremantle at Collingwood, 11:59 p.m., FS2

BASKETBALL

  • The Basketball Tournament: The Ville vs. Boston v Cancer, round of 64, at Louisville, Ky., 11:30 a.m., FOX

  • The Basketball Tournament: Purple Reign vs. The Shine, round of 64, at Kansas City, Mo., 1 p.m., Youtube (online)

  • The Basketball Tournament: Assembly Ball vs. Fail Harder, round of 64, at Indianapolis, 3 p.m., FS1

  • The Basketball Tournament: JHX Hoops vs. OffDaHook, round of 64, at Kansas City, Mo., 3 p.m., Youtube (online)

  • The Basketball Tournament: Boeheim’s Army vs. Herkimer Originals, round of 64, at Syracuse, N.Y., 5 p.m., FS1

  • The Basketball Tournament: DaGuys STL vs. Sheffield Sharks, round of 64, at Kansas City, Mo., 5 p.m., Youtube (online)

  • The Basketball Tournament: Stars of Storrs vs. Brown Ballers, round of 64, at Syracuse, N.Y., 7 p.m., FS2

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

  • AVP Pro Tour: week 6, day 1, at New York, 7 p.m., CW

BOYS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

  • EYBL Peach Jam: teams TBA, at Augusta, S.C., 8 a.m., NBA

CYCLING

  • UCI: The Tour de France, stage 14, Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres, France, 5:30 a.m., Peacock (streaming)

FLAG FOOTBALL

  • 2025 NFL Flag Championships: girls quarterfinals, teams TBA, at Canton, Ohio, 9 a.m., 10 a.m., NFL; 11 a.m., noon, ESPN

  • 2025 NFL Flag Championships: boys quarterfinals, teams TBA, at Canton, Ohio, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., ESPN

FOOTBALL

  • Canadian Football League: Saskatchewan at BC, 6 p.m., CBSSN

GOLF

  • DP World Tour/PGA Tour: The 2025 Open Championship, third round, at Portrush, Ireland, 4 a.m., USA; 6 a.m., NBC

  • DP World Tour/PGA Tour: The Barracuda Championship, third round, at Truckee, Calif., 5 p.m., GOLF

  • DP World Tour/PGA Tour: The 2025 Open Championship, final round, at Portrush, Ireland, 3 a.m. (Sunday), USA

GYMNASTICS

  • USAG: The U.S. Classic, at Hoffman Estates, Ill., 7 p.m., CNBC (taped)

HORSE RACING

  • NYRA: Saratoga Live, 11:30 a.m., FS1; 1:30 p.m., FS2

  • Saratoga Saturday: The Coaching Club American Oaks Stakes, 4 p.m., FOX

  • Breeders Cup Challenge Series: The Haskell Stakes, at Oceanport, N.J., 4 p.m., NBC

LACROSSE

  • PLL: Boston vs. Denver, at Fairfield, Conn., 2 p.m., ABC

MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL

  • Texas League: Wichita Wind Surge at Springfield, 6:30 p.m., Bally Sports Live (streaming); MiLB.tv (online); 92.3-FM

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

  • UFC 318 Early Prelims: undercard bouts, at New Orleans, 5 p.m., ESPN2

  • UFC 318 Prelims: undercard bouts, at New Orleans, 7 p.m., ESPN

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MLB

  • Kansas City at Miami, 3 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Kansas, 1240-AM, 97.5-FM; MLB (out-of-market only)

  • Cincinnati at NY Mets, 3 p.m., MLB

  • Boston at Chicago Cubs, 6 p.m., FOX

  • Houston at Seattle, 8:30 p.m., MLB

MOTOR SPORTS

  • FIM MotoGP: The Czechia Grand Prix, sprint race, at Brno Circuit, 7:55 a.m., FS1

  • NTT IndyCar Series: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, practice, 9:30 a.m., FS1

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series: BetRivers 200, practice and qualifying, 10 a.m., CW App (streaming)

  • NASCAR Cup Series: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, practice and qualifying, 12:30 p.m., truTV

  • NTT IndyCar Series: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, qualifying, 1:30 p.m., FS1

  • Pro Motocross Championship: round 25, at Washougal, Wash., 2 p.m., NBC

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series: The BetRivers 200, at Dover Motor Speedway, 3:30 p.m., CW

  • NHRA: Northwest Nationals, qualifying, 9 p.m., FS1 (taped)

NBA

  • Summer League Tournament: New York vs. Washington, consolation game, at Las Vegas, 2:30 p.m., NBA

  • Summer League Tournament: Sacramento vs. Toronto, semifinal, at Las Vegas, 3 p.m., ESPN

  • Summer League Tournament: Houston vs. Minnesota, consolation game, at Las Vegas, 4:30 p.m., NBA

  • Summer League Tournament: Charlotte vs. Oklahoma City, semifinal, at Las Vegas, 5 p.m., ESPN

  • Summer League Tournament: Cleveland vs. Golden State, consolation game, at Las Vegas, 6:30 p.m., NBA

  • Summer League Tournament: Portland vs. Phoenix, consolation game, at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m., NBA

RUGBY

  • International Union: Australia vs. British & Irish Lions, at Brisbane, Australia, 5 a.m., CBSSN

  • Women’s International Fixture: United States vs. Fiji, at Washington, 1 p.m., CBS

  • International Union: United States vs. England, at Washington, 4 p.m., CBSSN

  • NRL Women’s: Sydney at Brisbane, 10:40 p.m., FS2

  • NRL Women’s: New Zealand at Newcastle, 3:10 a.m. (Sunday), FS2

SAILING

  • SailGP: Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, day 1, at Portsmouth, England, 10 a.m., CBSSN

SOCCER

  • UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 Championship: Germany vs. France, quarterfinal, at Basel, Switzerland, 1:45 p.m., FOX

  • USL Championship: Hartford at Rhode Island, 3 p.m., CBS

  • Copa América Femenina Group Stage: Venezuela vs. Bolivia, group B, at Quito, Ecuador, 3:50 p.m., FS2

  • Copa América Femenina Group Stage: Colombia vs. Paraguay, group B, at Quito, Ecuador, 6:55 p.m., FS1

TENNIS

  • Hopman Cup: Canada vs. Greece; ATP: Gstaad and Bastad, semifinals; WTA: Hamburg and Iasi, semifinals, 4 a.m., TENNIS

  • ATP: Los Cabos, singles final, 9 p.m., TENNIS

WNBA

  • 2025 All-Star Game: Team Collier vs. Team Caitlin, at Indianapolis, 7:30 p.m., ABC



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Yohan Chang: Canadian taekwondo coach, athlete and stunt double at Rhine-Ruhr 2025

Written by Sophie Wisely, FISU Young Reporter, Australia Most kids dream of being a stunt double in blockbuster movies. For Canadian Yohan Chang, that’s his reality. Holding double duties at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games as both coach and competitor, the 24-year-old is the epitome of taekwondo mental fortitude. A graduate of one […]

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Written by Sophie Wisely, FISU Young Reporter, Australia

Most kids dream of being a stunt double in blockbuster movies. For Canadian Yohan Chang, that’s his reality.

Holding double duties at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games as both coach and competitor, the 24-year-old is the epitome of taekwondo mental fortitude.

A graduate of one of Canada’s top business schools at York University, Chang has coached the national taekwondo team since 2022, mentoring his students at international tournaments while carving out an extraordinarily exciting career in the film industry.

And that’s just the beginning.

“Taekwondo is actually a family business for me,” he said.

“I started when I was two, just kicking (and) punching with my dad and eventually, I transitioned into competing when I was around 12.

“Ever since then, it’s just been my entire life.”

Living the Hollywood dream

Chang is no stranger to the international stage, using his unique taekwondo skills to develop a niche job path in TV and movie stunts.

“My dad also does the film industry aspect. So being a younger kid with this skill set of martial arts; being able to fall, being able to spin, kick, and jump is somewhat uncommon,” he said.

“So they need kids all the time to do all those small stunts. That’s how I slowly got into it, and then… into coaching, training (and) competing.”

Chang has credits in over 13 different entertainment series, with some jobs amassing nearly 800 million minutes viewed at peak streaming.

“The biggest (job) that I’ve worked on is Umbrella Academy. It’s a Netflix show with people with superpowers. I stunt double the Asian actor Justin H. Min. So I was stunt doubling him in season (two and three).

“Obviously, it’s been a blast being on that side of (the industry).”

The Torontonian said there isn’t much difference between his on-screen persona and the competitive taekwondo mindset.

“I would say that the main similarity (between the both) is the pressure of being on camera and also performing. You have that same pressure where you can’t really afford to fail.”

Coaching Team Canada on Saturday, 19 July, while also representing his country in the men’s 64kg division the following Tuesday, Chang has unprecedented insight into being a student-athlete. 

“I’m towards the end of my career, so it’s quite a rare opportunity for me to compete at an international level like this. The stunt jobs and those things, they’ll always be there, especially as I get older,” he admitted.

“This is my first University Games as an athlete… I just wanted to see what it was like being at a multi-sport game, working with other individuals outside of taekwondo and seeing what the atmosphere was like and seeing if anything was different.” 

Chang’s mental fortitude, developed over years of competition, allowed the Schulich School of Business student to balance elite sports and academics.

Canada is no stranger to sporting prowess, but for niche disciplines such as taekwondo, structural boundaries still present themselves.

“It’s quite difficult to get into the sport, because in order for you to compete at a high performance level, you have to get your black belt first. Which makes it a little bit more difficult for people who just want to try it out,” he said.

This is something Chang is working to change, training with his student-athletes regularly to create a supportive and tight-knit environment. On Saturday, his mentoring paid off in a big way as his pupil and teammate Nithan Brindamohan captured gold with a 2-1 win over Ethan Youngsuk of the United States.

Other gold medallists on day three of the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 taekwondo competition included Thailand’s Bunlung Tubtimdang (men’s 68kg), Brazil’s Maria Pacheco (women’s 57kg) as well as Yunseo Kim from the Republic of Korea (women’s 46kg).   

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.



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Astros' Brendan Rodgers suffers concussion, broken nose during minor league rehab assignment

Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Houston Astros second baseman Brendan Rodgers sustained a concussion and a broken nose when he collided with a teammate during a minor league rehab assignment, the team said Saturday. The 28-year-old Rodgers was playing for Triple-A Sugar Land Friday night in the first game of his rehab assignment when the […]

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Astros' Brendan Rodgers suffers concussion, broken nose during minor league rehab assignment


Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Houston Astros second baseman Brendan Rodgers sustained a concussion and a broken nose when he collided with a teammate during a minor league rehab assignment, the team said Saturday.

The 28-year-old Rodgers was playing for Triple-A Sugar Land Friday night in the first game of his rehab assignment when the collision occurred in the third inning. He had been sidelined since June 15 with a left oblique strain.

The Astros said Rodgers would be evaluated further over the next few days.

Rodgers is batting .191 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 43 games for Houston this season. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft by Colorado, he played for the Rockies from 2019-24.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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The Herald-Dispatch Girls All-Tri-State Track and Field Team | High School Sports

State AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoUS Virgin IslandsArmed Forces AmericasArmed Forces PacificArmed Forces EuropeNorthern Mariana IslandsMarshall IslandsAmerican SamoaFederated States of MicronesiaGuamPalauAlberta, CanadaBritish Columbia, CanadaManitoba, CanadaNew Brunswick, CanadaNewfoundland, CanadaNova Scotia, CanadaNorthwest Territories, CanadaNunavut, CanadaOntario, CanadaPrince Edward Island, CanadaQuebec, CanadaSaskatchewan, CanadaYukon Territory, Canada Zip Code Country United States of […]

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Former Shickley volleyball coach Dan Sorge inducted into National High School Coaches Hall of Fame

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – The Shickley volleyball team was nearly unstoppable during the Dan Sorge era, winning six straight state titles from 1987-1992, and broke the state record for consecutive victories, setting a new mark of 104 matches. Now, more than 10 years after the end of his coaching career, Sorge was honored with an […]

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HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – The Shickley volleyball team was nearly unstoppable during the Dan Sorge era, winning six straight state titles from 1987-1992, and broke the state record for consecutive victories, setting a new mark of 104 matches.

Now, more than 10 years after the end of his coaching career, Sorge was honored with an induction into the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Rapid City, South Dakota.

With a coaching career that lasted from 1979-2015, Sorge was influential in the growth and development of youth volleyball in the state of Nebraska.

Watch the embedded video for the full interview.

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Copyright 2025 KSNB. All rights reserved.



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South’s Maria Osage-Erese earns area’s first college scholarship in girls flag football – News-Herald

Five years ago, Maria Osagie-Erese knew nothing about flag football. Today she is the first student-athlete from The News-Herald area to earn a college scholarship to play flag football at the next level. A recent graduate of South, Osagie-Erese said she will join Mercyhurst’s program this coming fall after receiving a substantial scholarship to join […]

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Five years ago, Maria Osagie-Erese knew nothing about flag football.

Today she is the first student-athlete from The News-Herald area to earn a college scholarship to play flag football at the next level.

A recent graduate of South, Osagie-Erese said she will join Mercyhurst’s program this coming fall after receiving a substantial scholarship to join the program that just moved up to Division I with its fledging flag football program.

“Five years ago I didn’t even know what flag football was,” Osagie-Erese said. “Five years ago I wanted to play soccer. My dream was to be on the USWNT. It was my favorite sport, but something was missing.”

Enter the sport of girls flag football, where Osagie-Erese spend the past three years as a running back and defensive back for the South Rebels. All of a sudden, her love of soccer and her proficiency in track as a shot put and discus thrower started to take a back seat.

This past spring, Osagie-Erese helped led South to a 17-2 record and a second-place finish in the first state girls flag football tournament at Massillon Paul Brown Stadium. She led the team with 362 yards rushing to go with 14 catches and 179 yards through the air, finishing with seven total touchdowns.

Defensively, she had 18 stops.

She will play running back and defensive back at Mercyhurst, but quickly added, “I’ll play whatever position they want me to play.”

Osagie-Erese certainly could have chosen track and field for college. She was a Division I regional qualifier in the shot put with a throw of 37-feet, 10-inches. Her PR in the discus was 96-1.

“Flag football is a lot of short-burst running,” she said. “It really fits what I do. At first I thought I’d be going to Kent State for track, but Mercyhurst’s coach came to see us play and see our games and that’s when everything changed.”

Most of the colleges that have scholarship opportunities in flag football are in Florida or southern state, Osagie-Erese said. Location to Mercyhurst — just an hour or so from Willoughby — played a big part in her decision, as well.

She plans to major in international business with a minor in French.

Though she graduated a few months ago, Osagie-Erese joined her South teammates at the NFL’s flag football championships in Canton this weekend. The Rebels went 1-2, with a win over a Cincinnati Bengals team and losses to teams representing the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.

It’s been a highlight week for girls flag football. Not only are the flag football championships going on in Canton this weekend, but the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced it is sponsoring the 2026 state championship game next spring as the latest step toward the OHSAA officially sanctioning the sport.

It’s a journey Osagie-Erese is proud to be part of, along with being the first girl in area history to receive a college scholarship in the sport.

“I think it’s amazing,” she said. “I think girls are finally getting to play and be on the big stage like the boys. It’s long overdue. I’m excited to be part of it.”

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