Maiara Niehues’ late goal lifts Angel City FC past Washington Spirit

• September 27, 2026

Maiara Niehues scored in the 88th minute and Angel City FC earned a 1-0 road victory over the Washington Spirit on Saturday.

Carina Lageyre found Niehues near the top of the penalty area, and the Brazilian midfielder created enough space to curl a shot into the upper corner for the late winner.

The victory extended Angel City’s unbeaten streak to six matches and improved the club to 12-8-6. Angel City has won four of its past five matches after beating Utah, 3-0, last weekend.

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson made two saves for her second consecutive shutout. Washington goalkeeper Sandy MacIver also made two saves.

The Spirit (14-8-4) lost their third consecutive match.

Angel City continues its road trip against defending NWSL champion Gotham FC on Oct. 4.

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC comes up empty against FC Dallas

• September 27, 2026

FRISCO, Texas — Osaze Urhoghide scored in the 34th minute, Jonathan Sirois had three saves, and FC Dallas beat Los Angeles FC 1-0 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.

Dallas (13-6-8) is second in the Western Conference with 47 points, three ahead of Houston and St. Louis (tied for third).

Urhoghide went up high for a header, off an in-breaking corner kick played in by Joaquín Valiente, from the top of the 6-yard box that slipped under the crossbar to make it 1-0.

Hugo Lloris had three saves for LAFC (11-9-8).

Sirois stopped a shot by Sergi Palencia from the center of the area in the third minute of stoppage time to essentially seal the victory.

Up next

LAFC: Hosts Vancouver on Oct. 10.

​ Orange County Register 

No. 12 USC football falls to No. 20 Oregon as defense unravels in 2nd half

• September 27, 2026

LOS ANGELES — A peculiar choice after winning the coin toss. A lack of sportsmanship after a brutal hit. Allowing four methodical second-half touchdown drives to a backup quarterback and keeping the offense on the field, leading to a game-sealing turnover on downs.

Lincoln Riley’s USC football team, everybody.

Riley promised his fifth year in Southern California would be different. That after matching its rivals’ name, image, and likeness war chest, USC’s ‘Time Is: Now.’ With Riley at the helm, USC’s glitz and glamor hasn’t faded. The Hollywood mystique remains intact.

But the results, the College Football Playoff aspirations, were left somewhere on a plane ride from Norman, Okla., to LAX. No. 12 USC’s 41-27 loss to No. 20 Oregon on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum matched so many of the letdown performances USC (4-1) has had throughout the last five seasons, in which the Trojans are the less physical team and Riley the less savvy coach.

Instead, it was Oregon (3-1) rallying after it lost superstar quarterback Dante Moore early in the second quarter. Backup quarterback Dylan Raiola stepped in, dicing apart Gary Patterson’s defense for 289 yards and two touchdowns, completing 19-of-25 passes.

To his credit, Riley’s been the quarterback whisperer that he was advertised as Jayden Maiava threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt continued to step up in fellow freshman Trent Mosley’s absence with a team-high 114 receiving yards and a touchdown.

While Mosley was out, Oregon’s top pass catcher Jeremiah Johnson emerged off the injury report to catch seven passes for 119 yards, and running back Dierre Hill Jr. combined 105 receiving yards with 63 rushing yards to provide a safety valve for Raiola.

Despite the anticipation of Saturday’s matchup, neither side seemed worthy of taking the first punch as the game sputtered throughout the first quarter. Then Desman Stephens introduced himself.

With 10:06 remaining in the second quarter, on a second-and-9 from the USC 23-yard line, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore took off, racing beyond the first-down marker, before giving himself up with a slide. As he went to the ground, defenseless, Stephens lowered his shoulder to Moore’s head and neck area, delivering a blow.

Moore’s slide was abrupt, but Stephens had adequate time to adjust the power of his hit. More so, his response in the aftermath was problematic. After the hit, Oregon’s players pushed Stephens around in protection of their quarterback, and as the gravity of the moment settled with Moore laying motionless on the ground, Stephens was seen celebrating the hit.

Moore ultimately exited the stadium after being transferred from a stretcher into an ambulance. The NBC broadcast confirmed he had movement in his extremities while he was tended to at nearby L.A. General Hospital.

The situation seemed to inspire Oregon. Two plays after Moore exited, Raiola connected with Evan Stewart for a 3-yard touchdown.

In fact, both offenses woke up, trading field-goal drives before the half, and coming out firing after the break.

Raiola settled in, leading Oregon 75 yards for a touchdown. He got help from running back Dierre Hill Jr., who took a screen 62 yards before rushing in for an 8-yard score on the following play.

Hill’s touchdown capped a drive that was essentially free for Oregon because Riley opted to receive the ball after USC won the coin toss, allowing the Ducks to end the first half and begin the second with the ball.

Maiava answered Raiola, completing his next four passes and capping off a 65-yard march by keeping the ball for a 1-yard rushing touchdown.

After Hill continued to gash USC, turning another short completion into a 28-yard touchdown, Maiava led USC on a game-tying drive, rolling out of the pocket to find Tanook Hines for a touchdown.

But Raiola remained unfazed, leading the Ducks on a 10-play drive. The Ducks benefited from USC committing a roughing the passer penalty on a third-and-15 at the 40-yard line. They capitalized when wide receiver Dakorien Moore broke free on a chair route and Raiola hit him near the pylon to restore a 7-point lead.

With the offense’s firing, Riley opted to keep USC’s offense on the field on the following possession as it faced a fourth-and-7 from its own 49-yard line. Maiava targeted Zacharyus Williams across the middle and Oregon’s Brandon Finney Jr. stepped in front to break it up.

Oregon took advantage of the short field, rushing the ball into the gut of USC’s defense on five of the next seven plays until Hill broke the plane on a two-yard touchdown.

With Hill’s score sealing USC’s fate and Riley’s third loss in three tries against Oregon, Trojans fans began to file out of the Coliseum, providing another reminder of a staple of Riley’s tenure.

Empty seats and empty promises.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Kings pull away from Ducks in preseason finale

• September 27, 2026

LOS ANGELES — During the preseason overall and in Saturday afternoon’s clash at Crypto.com Arena in particular, the Kings struggled early but flourished late.

They won their second straight exhibition match after opening their four-game slate with a pair of losses, blowing past the Ducks 6-2 despite twice falling behind early.

Both teams played close approximations of their opening-night rosters in their final tuneup action.

“There was a good majority of our players and a good majority of their players, which was good,” Kings coach Peter Laviolette said. “That was meaningful, in training camp, to be able to play a last game (between) their team and our team.”

Free-agent signing Mats Zuccarello spearheaded the victory with a goal and two assists, one on each of two goals by Alex Turcotte, who added an assist. Career King Adrian Kempe and newcomer Erik Haula both had a goal and an assist. Scott Laughton also scored. Drew Doughty contributed three assists. Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 pucks.

Nikita Nesternko and Beckett Sennecke tallied for the Ducks. Lukáš Dostál was touched up for six goals on 20 shots.

In the third period, the Kings busted the contest open, completing a run of five unanswered goals.

Their second of the day on the power play came by way of Haula. He won an offensive-zone faceoff to Doughty, who hit Turcotte for a one-timer that clanked off the end boards and came directly to Haula with 8:08 to play.

“This shows what we can work on as a group,” said Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe, adding that “we have to fix our details and some habits.”

Zuccarello continued his smashing debut when he stole the puck from Nick Jensen in the neutral zone before delivering a quick pass that sprang Turcotte for a top-shelf, far-side snipe with 11:04 remaining.

Just 1:39 into the closing stanza, the Kings extended their lead to 4-2. Doughty’s firm shot from the point was deflected home by Turcotte, who centered the second line Saturday.

“Great performance. It’s fun to see him get rewarded with some goals and some points, he works really hard every day and it doesn’t always pay off” Kempe said of Turcotte. “It was really fun to see him play those type of minutes.”

After the Ducks’ nifty passing sequence resulted in a goal on their first power play of the game, the Kings requited, 8:56 into the second period.

Quinton Byfield’s agile keep-in gave way to Kempe and Artemi Panarin playing pitch-and-catch in the left circle before Panarin’s kneeling cross-ice dish became Zuccarello’s kneeling one-timer. The puck banked off Dostál for the 39-year-old Zuccarello’s first goal in a Kings sweater.

“There’s definitely a high hockey IQ there, also, he’s skilled,” said Laviolette of Zuccarello, who’d been dealing with a shoulder injury. “For being out, getting into a game situation and connecting on a one-timer on the backside, he’s had a high skill level his whole career. He brings a lot of positive attributes to the team.”

The Ducks took a pair of one-goal leads, but in each instance the Kings came up with an equalizer, leaving the score level, 2-2, through 20 minutes.

The Kings scored twice in the final 1:04 of the first period in their win over the Ducks on Wednesday and got another last-minute marker in the opening frame Saturday. Kempe took a Brian Dumoulin pass off the heel of his stick, staying with the play and slipping the puck under Dostál’s right pad.

Sennecke had given the Ducks an edge with a power-play goal, receiving a Leo Carlsson feed at the side of the net and swiping a deceptive low shot through Kuemper’s five-hole from a sharp angle at 16:32.

The Kings had earned their first goal at the 8:44 mark, when Laughton’s doggedness paid dividends. He dumped the puck to initiate the forecheck, went to work below the goal line and then popped in front, where Cody Ceci’s slam off the boards came to him for a close-range goal.

The Ducks opened the scoring at 7:06 after puck drop, cashing in off a strong forecheck of their own. Judd Caulfield’s hit separated Turcotte from the puck, then Tim Washe found an unmarked Nesterenko on the doorstep for a redirection goal.

Next up, the Kings open the regular season in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday and the Ducks will also start on the road, traveling to Vegas for a bout with the Golden Knights on Friday.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Blake Treinen injures shoulder warming up, ending his season

• September 27, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO — Veteran reliever Blake Treinen suffered a shoulder injury while warming up to enter Saturday’s game and will not pitch again this season.

The Dodgers will place Treinen on the injured list to end the regular season, and he is not likely to be on any postseason roster pending the outcome of an examination of his shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s unfortunate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He was warming up, and it was the shoulder. I don’t know if it was a complete blowout, but it’s really unfortunate.

“His season’s over. And yeah, unfortunate.”

This could be the end of the 38-year-old Treinen’s career after two seasons dealing with arm injuries. A free agent this winter, he already missed an entire season (2023) after undergoing surgery in November 2022 to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder.

Treinen returned in 2024 but pitched fewer than 30 innings each of the past two seasons, spending long stretches on the Injured List, mostly with forearm and elbow issues. He made just seven appearances this September after returning from the IL and finished with a 4-1 record, one save and 3.64 ERA in 36 appearances this season.

Treinen missed the 2023 season after undergoing surgery in November 2022 to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder.

An All-Star when he had 38 saves with the Oakland A’s in 2018, Treinen first signed with the Dodgers following the 2019 season. The longest-tenured pitcher on the active roster this year, he made 222 appearances in six seasons with the Dodgers, posting a 2.88 ERA and 12 saves.

Treinen was a key piece of the bullpen on the Dodgers’ World Series-winning teams in 2020 and 2024. He was less so in 2025 but overall made 39 postseason appearances for the team.

UP NEXT

Dodgers (TBA) at Giants (TBA), Sunday, 12:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Big Bear bald eagle Jackie honored again in Fawnskin, life-size carving of her unveiled

• September 27, 2026

Around 100 fans of the famed Big Bear bald eagle Jackie gathered on Saturday for a second tribute to her at the privately owned park in Fawnskin, deep within the Big Bear Lake community.

The event was part of a two-day celebration hosted by park owner Mike Wayman.

The festivities centered on unveiling a life-size carving of Jackie and a renaming ceremony of the site from Fawn Park to Fawnskin Freedom Park.

Wayman said by email Thursday evening that Jackie had a role in the name change.

“The bald eagle is the United States symbol of power and greatness,” Wayman said. As part of the renaming, a  piece of an I-beam from the Twin Towers attacked on 9/11 was displayed.

Wayman held a similar memorial ceremony on Sept. 5 that drew hundreds of well-wishers wanting to pay their respects to the beloved mama bird. Wayman’s events are not affiliated with the Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that installed and operates the livefeed cameras.

In July, Jackie was found grounded for hours after fighting two younger eagles.

The Ojai Raptor Center, a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Ventura County, provided medical care for Jackie for nearly a month until her death on Aug. 10. Ojai reported that Jackie was suffering from health problems, including large blood clots in both wings and a kidney. The exact cause of death remains unknown.

Another tribute to Jackie is planned on Saturday, Oct. 3. The tourist organization Visit Big Bear, Friends of Big Bear Valley and other groups are teaming up for that event.

​ Orange County Register 

Westminster welcomes fall with fun

• September 27, 2026

A Moon Lantern Celebration Saturday night, a drone show Friday night and Lotería games Thursday night have been among the special events during Westminster’s four-day Fall Festival, which continues Sunday.

The multi-day festival kicks off with a Hispanic Heritage Month Cultural Night Thursday, had an Embrace Aging Expo on Saturday and will feature a Maker’s Hive Market from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

“For the past five years, our Fall Festival has brought the community together in celebration,” Westminster City Manager Christine Cordon said. “This year, we are thrilled to incorporate our community’s rich history by adding a glowing moon lantern celebration, and to honor our nation’s birthday with an America 250 drone show.”

There are also carnival games and rides, a beer garden, live entertainment and children’s activities that run through Sunday.

***If you go

When: Noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27

Where: Westminster Civic Center, 8200 Westminster Blvd.

Cost: Free admission

Information: westminster-ca.gov/departments/community-services/fall-festival

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Saturday, Sept. 26

• September 26, 2026

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Saturday, Sept. 26

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

BOYS WATER POLO

SADDLEBACK TOURNAMENT

Estancia 10, Torrance 3

Yucaipa 11, Sage Hill 9

Hemet 18, Segerstrom 6

Irvine 6, Brea Olinda 2

Trabuco Hills 13, Villa Park 12

Westminster 8, Kennedy 6

Estancia 17, Norte Vista 4

CHINO VALLEY FALL CLASSIC

Walnut 8, Woodbridge 4

S&R SPORT/FOOTHILL INVITE

Bellarmine 6, Huntington Beach 3

Coronado 16, Crean Lutheran 9

Huntington Beach 11, Carlsbad 9

Davis 10, Foothill 6

Davis 18, Portola 12

Jesuit 22, Crean Lutheran 1

​ Orange County Register