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Kansas City CPKC stadium will showcase Ilona Maher, women's rugby

Published

2 weeks ago

April 10, 2025

Kansas City CPKC stadium will showcase Ilona Maher, women's rugby

CPKC Stadium will be the stage for another women’s sports event next month. Video above: Kansas City eyes 2031 Women’s World Cup, Rugby World CupThe USA Women’s national rugby team, known as the Women’s Eagles, will face off against Canada on Friday, May 2, at CPKC Stadium. The women’s team will certainly be looking for a win after losing its past three matches against Ireland, France and England. It won’t be easy, though; the last time the Women’s Eagles faced Canada on April 28, 2024, they lost 50-7. But the Women’s Eagles have several strong players: Alev Kelter, who scored 21 points in her six matches at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris; Kristi Kirsche, who also helped lead the Olympic rugby team with 20 points; Alex Sedrick, who scored 17 points during the women’s journey to their bronze medal. But one player has caught the attention of millions online: Ilona Maher, who proved she’s not just skilled on the field but also in the ballroom, coming in second place on “Dancing with the Stars.”She’s amassed nearly 5 million followers on Instagram and 3.5 million on TikTok, went viral last year during the Olympics and has held onto the internet stardom. Fans love her sense of humor, her athletic prowess and her message about breaking stereotypes about women and athletes. Maher will join the Women’s Eagles in Kansas City at the home of KC Current. The match begins at 7:30 p.m. CPKC Stadium is the first stadium in the world built for a professional women’s sports team.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

CPKC Stadium will be the stage for another women’s sports event next month.

Video above: Kansas City eyes 2031 Women’s World Cup, Rugby World Cup

The USA Women’s national rugby team, known as the Women’s Eagles, will face off against Canada on Friday, May 2, at CPKC Stadium.

The women’s team will certainly be looking for a win after losing its past three matches against Ireland, France and England. It won’t be easy, though; the last time the Women’s Eagles faced Canada on April 28, 2024, they lost 50-7.

But the Women’s Eagles have several strong players: Alev Kelter, who scored 21 points in her six matches at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris; Kristi Kirsche, who also helped lead the Olympic rugby team with 20 points; Alex Sedrick, who scored 17 points during the women’s journey to their bronze medal.

But one player has caught the attention of millions online: Ilona Maher, who proved she’s not just skilled on the field but also in the ballroom, coming in second place on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Dan Mullan

She’s amassed nearly 5 million followers on Instagram and 3.5 million on TikTok, went viral last year during the Olympics and has held onto the internet stardom.

Fans love her sense of humor, her athletic prowess and her message about breaking stereotypes about women and athletes.

Maher will join the Women’s Eagles in Kansas City at the home of KC Current. The match begins at 7:30 p.m.

CPKC Stadium is the first stadium in the world built for a professional women’s sports team.

Related Topics:athletic event Olympics rugby sports team usa video

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April 26, 2025

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Bucknell University

PROVIDENCE, R.I.- Bucknell women’s water polo (15-13) fell 17-4 to #10 Princeton (21-6) in the CWPA Semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The first-seeded Tigers were too much for the fourth-seeded Bison. Princeton led 10-1 at halftime and cruised to the 17-4 victory. Princeton scored six goals in the first quarter, leaving no doubt to the eventual […]

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April 26, 2025

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PROVIDENCE, R.I.- Bucknell women’s water polo (15-13) fell 17-4 to #10 Princeton (21-6) in the CWPA Semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The first-seeded Tigers were too much for the fourth-seeded Bison. Princeton led 10-1 at halftime and cruised to the 17-4 victory.

Princeton scored six goals in the first quarter, leaving no doubt to the eventual outcome. The Bison offense tried to find openings but were undone by Princeton’s aggressive and defiant defense.

Bella Schraa tallied a goal in the second quarter to break Princeton’s streak. The Tigers prevented any comeback by scoring four more cage-finders for the 10-1 halftime lead.

The Tigers outscored Bucknell 4-0 in the third quarter, firmly putting the game away.

The Bison never stopped fighting and equaled Princeton’s three goal output in the final stanza with a trio of goals. Ashley Hopper scored the first tally. Regan Coon provided the second goal. Rhys Beutler supplied the Bison’s final cage-finder.

Bucknell will face the loser of Harvard-Michigan in tomorrow’s third-place game at 11 a.m.

Sports

Men’s Volleyball vs UC Irvine (Semifinals) on 4/25/2025 – Box Score

— Irvine subs: D’Arcy, William; Ennis, Tim; Grigoriev, Maxim. Irvine subs: D’Arcy, William; Ennis, Tim; Grigoriev, Maxim. — Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Todd, Justin. Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Todd, […]

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38 minutes ago

April 26, 2025

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—

Irvine subs: D’Arcy, William; Ennis, Tim; Grigoriev, Maxim.

—

Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Todd, Justin.

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Goss, Micah.

Hawaii

0-1

[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Henno, Hilir (from Ennis, Tim).

Hawaii

1-1

[Rosenthal, Tread] Service error.

Irvine

2-1

[Henno, Hilir] Service ace (Roure, Adrien).

Irvine

2-2

[Henno, Hilir] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

Hawaii

2-3

[Roure, Adrien] Attack error by Grigoriev, Maxim (block by Nusterer, Kurt).

Hawaii

3-3

[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Flexen, Nolan (from Henno, Hilir).

—

Irvine subs: Goss, Micah; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

4-3

[Grigoriev, Maxim] Service ace (Choy, ‘Eleu).

Irvine

4-4

[Grigoriev, Maxim] Service error.

—

Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Choy, ‘Eleu.

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Grigoriev, Maxim.

Hawaii

5-4

[Nusterer, Kurt] Kill by Henno, Hilir (from Karlous, Joe), block error by Todd, Justin.

—

Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Nusterer, Kurt.

Irvine

6-4

[Flexen, Nolan] Attack error by Sakanoko, Louis (block by Goss, Micah; Karlous, Joe; Ennis, Tim).

Irvine

6-5

[Flexen, Nolan] Kill by Kearney, Finn (from Roure, Adrien).

Hawaii

7-5

[Kearney, Finn] Service error.

Irvine

8-5

[Ennis, Tim] Kill by Henno, Hilir (from Karlous, Joe).

Irvine

8-6

[Ennis, Tim] Service error.

Hawaii

9-6

[Sakanoko, Louis] Service error.

—

Irvine subs: Grigoriev, Maxim; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

9-7

[Goss, Micah] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Goss, Micah.

—

Hawaii subs: Nusterer, Kurt; Choy, ‘Eleu.

Hawaii

9-8

[Todd, Justin] Attack error by Grigoriev, Maxim (from Karlous, Joe).

Hawaii

10-8

[Todd, Justin] Kill by Henno, Hilir (from Karlous, Joe).

—

Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Todd, Justin.

Irvine

10-9

[Karlous, Joe] Kill by Nusterer, Kurt (from Rosenthal, Tread).

Hawaii

11-9

[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Nusterer, Kurt.

Irvine

11-10

[Henno, Hilir] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Choy, ‘Eleu).

Hawaii

11-11

[Roure, Adrien] Attack error by Henno, Hilir (block by Sakanoko, Louis; Nusterer, Kurt).

Hawaii

11-12

[Roure, Adrien] Attack error by Ennis, Tim (block by Kearney, Finn).

Hawaii

12-12

[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Flexen, Nolan (from Karlous, Joe).

—

Irvine subs: Goss, Micah; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

12-13

[Grigoriev, Maxim] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Grigoriev, Maxim.

—

Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Choy, ‘Eleu.

Hawaii

12-14

[Nusterer, Kurt] Attack error by Flexen, Nolan (block by Todd, Justin; Sakanoko, Louis).

Hawaii

12-15

[Nusterer, Kurt] Kill by Kearney, Finn.

Hawaii

12-16

[Nusterer, Kurt] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis, block error by Karlous, Joe.

Hawaii

13-16

[Nusterer, Kurt] Service error.

—

Irvine subs: Rigg, Aidan; Karlous, Joe.

Irvine

13-17

[Flexen, Nolan] Kill by Todd, Justin (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Hawaii subs: Choy, ‘Eleu; Nusterer, Kurt.

Hawaii

14-17

[Kearney, Finn] Kill by Rigg, Aidan (from Aitken, Shane), block error by Sakanoko, Louis.

Irvine

14-18

[Ennis, Tim] Attack error by Henno, Hilir (block by Rosenthal, Tread; Todd, Justin).

Hawaii

15-18

[Sakanoko, Louis] Service error.

—

Irvine subs: Grigoriev, Maxim; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

15-19

[Goss, Micah] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Goss, Micah.

—

Hawaii subs: Taylor, Kai; Todd, Justin; Nusterer, Kurt; Choy, ‘Eleu.

Hawaii

16-19

[Taylor, Kai] Kill by Rigg, Aidan (from Henno, Hilir).

—

Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Taylor, Kai; Choy, ‘Eleu; Todd, Justin.

Irvine

16-20

[Rigg, Aidan] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Karlous, Joe; Rigg, Aidan.

Hawaii

17-20

[Rosenthal, Tread] Service error.

—

Irvine subs: D’Arcy, William; Ennis, Tim.

Irvine

18-20

[Henno, Hilir] Service ace (Roure, Adrien).

Irvine

19-20

[Henno, Hilir] Attack error by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

Irvine

19-21

[Henno, Hilir] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Ennis, Tim; D’Arcy, William.

Hawaii

20-21

[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Flexen, Nolan (from Karlous, Joe).

—

Irvine subs: Goss, Micah; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

20-22

[Grigoriev, Maxim] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).

—

Irvine subs: Aitken, Shane; Grigoriev, Maxim.

—

Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Choy, ‘Eleu; Wade, Kainoa; Nusterer, Kurt.

Hawaii

21-22

[Wade, Kainoa] Kill by Flexen, Nolan (from Karlous, Joe).

—

Hawaii subs: Nusterer, Kurt; Wade, Kainoa; Choy, ‘Eleu; Nusterer, Kurt.

Irvine

21-23

[Flexen, Nolan] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

Hawaii

22-23

[Kearney, Finn] Kill by Flexen, Nolan (from Karlous, Joe).

Irvine

22-24

[Ennis, Tim] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).

Hawaii

23-24

[Sakanoko, Louis] Service error.

—

Irvine subs: Grigoriev, Maxim; Aitken, Shane.

Irvine

23-25

[Goss, Micah] Service error.

Sports

Championship Run Ends With Loss To Georgia State

Story Links FOLEY, Ala. – UNCW’s run in the Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship came to an end on Saturday with the Seahawks falling to nationally-ranked Georgia State, 3-1, in the finals at the Foley Beach Volleyball Complex. The 18th-ranked Panthers (22-16) earned the league’s automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA […]

Published

42 minutes ago

April 26, 2025

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FOLEY, Ala. – UNCW’s run in the Sun Belt Conference Beach Volleyball Championship came to an end on Saturday with the Seahawks falling to nationally-ranked Georgia State, 3-1, in the finals at the Foley Beach Volleyball Complex.

The 18th-ranked Panthers (22-16) earned the league’s automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Championships in May. The Seahawks fell to 22-9 with the loss coming in the program’s first championship dual appearance.

UNCW’s pairing of Gracie Sistrunk and Lyvia Trimp posted UNCW’s lone win to run their record to 30-1.

The Seahawks advanced to the finals for the first time in program history with a come-from-behind, 3-2, win over top-seeded Coastal Carolina. Trailing 2-1, Gabby LaPata and Sarah Thompson leveled the dual at 2-all with a 15-13 win in the third set at the top pairing.

Traci Schrock and Annika Thompson delivered a win at the third pairing to end the Seahawks to their first conference finals appearance. The pair dropped the first set to Coastal, but answered with a 21-19 win in the second and also rallied from a late deficit to win 16-14 in the third set.

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Gauchos’ Rally Comes Up Just Short in Big West Quarterfinal

IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara Women’s Water Polo team (16-13, 2-5 Big West) gave hosts and No. 3 seed UC Irvine (15-12, 5-2 Big West) everything the Anteaters could handle in Friday’s Big West Championship Quarterfinal, but the Gauchos’ late rally came up just a goal shy […]

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1 hour ago

April 26, 2025

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IRVINE, Calif. — The No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara Women’s Water Polo team (16-13, 2-5 Big West) gave hosts and No. 3 seed UC Irvine (15-12, 5-2 Big West) everything the Anteaters could handle in Friday’s Big West Championship Quarterfinal, but the Gauchos’ late rally came up just a goal shy of sending things to overtime as Santa Barbara fell, 12-11. Christina Mullane recorded a hat-trick, while Juju Amaral tallied five assists and Ava Donleavy made 14 saves.

FROM INTERIM HEAD COACH EMMA MYALL
“We came in with a strong gameplan, we were really excited about our after-goal defense that we ran, and it worked pretty well for a good amount of the game,” Myall said. “In general, I’m so proud of the season this year. It was a very unexpected season for us, and the girls went through a lot of hardship and difficult times of change, and they started adjusting really well to me and to my staff, and we all realized we had each other’s backs and we wanted to win.”

“Our culture, that was the one thing I really wanted to focus on when I first came in as interim (head coach). I brought the girls together and we talked about love, and we talked about confidence and loyalty and accountability, and those things led us through the season. The number one of those was love, right? With love you have respect, you have all the things, and the celebration, the goals, the blocks, everything we’re doing, that’s all out of love for each other, and we’re a family at the end of the day.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were all over the Anteaters early, with Mullane drawing and converting a penalty shot on Santa Barbara’s first possession. Amaral added her first of two goals on the day to double the Gauchos’ advantage to 2-0 inside two minutes. Irvine responded and tied the game before the second quarter, but Bella Mady scored the first goal of the second to put Santa Barbara back on top.

The second quarter went back and forth, with Irvine next to score, then Amaral putting the Gauchos ahead again. The Anteaters answered, but again Santa Barbara re-took the lead, this time through Imani Clemons. The Gauchos held that lead, a 5-4 edge, at halftime.

Irvine took their first lead of the day with the first two goals of the third quarter, but Santa Barbara again grabbed their lead back with goals from Mullane and Molly Souza, going up, 7-6. After another Anteater goal tied things, Annie Kuester gave the Gauchos the lead yet again, 8-7, heading into the fourth quarter.

For the first time all day, Irvine took a two-goal lead in the fourth, going in front by three, 11-8, with four and a half minutes left to play. Mullane’s third goal of the day reduced the arrears to two, then Isabel Valaika scored less than 20 seconds later to bring Santa Barbara back into the game, with the score 11-10. Irvine’s final goal of the day came just inside the three-minute mark, and Kuester kept the comeback dream alive with her second goal of the day, with a minute and 45 seconds left. The Gauchos got a chance to tie the game in the final ticks of the clock, but could not convert.

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No. 1 Long Beach State Serves Up a Semifinal Win in Quest for Back-to-Back Big West Titles

Story Links HONOLULU – The top team in the nation and The Big West regular-season champion Long Beach State powered past No. 4 seed UC San Diego in straight sets to punch their ticket to Saturday’s finale at The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, held at SimpliFi Arena […]

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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HONOLULU – The top team in the nation and The Big West regular-season champion Long Beach State powered past No. 4 seed UC San Diego in straight sets to punch their ticket to Saturday’s finale at The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, held at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25–18, 25–17, 25–23 in favor of the Beach.

The win moves LBSU to a 27-2 overall record and secures a place in the Championship match for consecutive seasons in the bid to go back-to-back. The Tritons cap off an inspired season with an overall record of 18-11, the most Division I wins by a UCSD team in program history, with a postseason surge that included a five-set win over UC Santa Barbara in Thursday night’s first round matchup.

One of the headlines from the night was freshman phenom Moni Nikolov, whose four service aces brought his season total to 90, setting a new Big West single-season record. Beyond the prowess at the service line, Nikolov dished out 35 assists while adding four kills and five digs.

The Beach were in command from the first serve, hitting .520 in the opening set and finishing with a sparkling .400 hitting percentage overall. The offense was fluid, led by a 14-kill and eight-dig outing for freshman Alex Kandev, who hit .600 (14-2-20) for LBSU. Ben Braun added five kills and five blocks to lead all players at the net.

UC San Diego was able to rally in a second set that featured 11 ties and four lead changes. The Tritons led the match at 18-16 after a kill for Selcho, but the Beach got back on the high side with three unanswered points capped by the Nikolov record-breaking ace to put the score at 19-18. UCSD kept fighting with ties at 19 and 22-all before the Beach was able to close it out on a Kandev strike as the freshman tandem from Sofia, Bulgaria connected on set point.

Despite the sweep, UCSD showed flashes of the grit that carried them into the semifinal round with five players tallying at least five kills. Upperclassmen Josh Schellinger, Sebastian Lara and Peter Selcho each finished with seven kills in the match with Selcho doing it on 11 errorless swings for a .636 hitting percentage. Graduate transfer Bryce Dvorak tallied 29 assists in a final collegiate match.

Next up, the Beach awaits the victor of No. 3 seed UC Irvine and second-seeded Championship host Hawai’i. The match will be played on Saturday at 10 p.m. PT/7 p.m. HT with the Champion earning the league’s automatic bid into the field of the National Collegiate Championship. Last year, the Beach and Anteaters both advanced to the national semifinal with LBSU finishing as runners-up.