Matthew’s Sports Report!

LIU’s Run to the 2026 NCAA Tournament

A special edition of Matthew’s Sports Report

by Joseph A. Lambert

    The 2025-26 LIU men’s basketball season has been an amazing season so far. The Sharks began their season at the number one position in the Northeastern Conference’s preseason basketball poll when it was released on October 27. After winning their lone preseason game against Roberts Wesleyan University 83-65 on October 30, LIU began their regular season with an 89-67 loss to Notre Dame on November 3, then went on to win two more road games before defeating James Madison University 88-79 in their home opener on November 15. Over the next nine games, they registered only three wins, which would give them a record of 6-7 by the time the nonconference portion of their regular season schedule had concluded. 

   Beginning with their first conference matchup (an 84-78 win against Central Connecticut) on January 2, the LIU men’s basketball team went on a tear with a record of 15-3 in conference play. Their first winning streak lasted five games before they were defeated by LeMoyne University 83-77 on January 19, and this would be followed by a six game winning streak that ran from January 23 to February 12 before New Haven snapped the streak with a 55-52 loss on February 14. LIU would go 4-1 in the last five games of the season to finish as regular season champions with a record of 21-10, securing the number 1 seed in the NEC conference tournament. 

    The quarterfinal match of the NEC tournament on March 4 saw LIU defeat Chicago State University 79-75, with LIU forward Mason Porter-Brown recording 21 points. In the semifinals that were held on March 7, LIU faced off against Wagner College in a tough back and forth contest. While Wagner guard Nick Jones recorded 27 points, it was not enough for Wagner to win the game, as the Sharks held on for a 64-56 win to advance to the final on March 10, where they would face Mercyhurst University. As Mercyhurst was deemed ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to them being in the second season of their ongoing four-year transition from Division II to Division I, LIU was awarded an automatic bid to the tournament, marking their first appearance since 2018, which was the year before the Blackbirds (from Division I LIU Brooklyn) and the Pioneers (from Division II LIU Post) merged to create the Sharks that we see today.

    In the championship game of the NEC tournament, Mercyhurst began the first half of the game on an 8-3 run in the first four minutes. LIU would take the lead in the fifth minute of the half. While they led by 9 points at one point, the game would become very close with both teams making basket after basket, resulting in a high scoring first half which ended with LIU leading Mercyhurst 42-40. The first portion of the second half was highly electric with four lead changes, and the maximum point differential throughout most of the half was 5 points. With 2 minutes left to go, LIU would begin to increase their lead on Mercyhurst, and would hold a maximum lead of 9 points at one point. Mercyhurst continued to battle it out and tried to keep it a close game, but the amount of fouls they committed and the missed baskets that they made in the final minute of action caused them to run out of steam. The final score would be 79-70 in favor of the Sharks; guards Malachi Davis and Greg Gordon scored 24 points each, while Mercyhurst guard Bernie Blunt scored 26 points in a losing effort. With the win, LIU secured their first conference championship since 2018, their eighth conference title in Division I, and their fifteenth overall conference title (including seven Division II titles) across all three teams combined. 

    While the conference tournament is over, LIU is about to face its toughest endeavor in the history of its basketball program. While their predecessor teams had appeared in 27 NCAA basketball tournaments (seven for the Blackbirds in Division I, three for the Blackbirds in Division II, and 17 for the Pioneers in Division II), this is the first NCAA tournament where the Sharks are competing as one team representing one university that has two locations, which they have done since the unforgettable 2019-20 basketball season that ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish the Sharks the best of luck as they compete in the 2026 NCAA Tournament!

    Welcome back to the Sports report. This is our first report in a while because we had spring break. While we were on break I was lucky enough to go to Europe to see my sister. My family went to two different countries. I went to Italy and Barcelona. 

    We started out in Italy. We first got to Rome and the first thing we did was go to the Vatican. It was really beautiful and the highlight was seeing the Sistine Chapel, which was painted by Michel Angelo. It was so awesome. 

    The next day we went to the roman colosseum. This was built thousands of years ago. Many Gladiators fought in the Roman colosseum. The last thing we did in Rome was the Pasta making class. We made pasta and we ate it and it was so much fun. 

    After that we flew to Barcelona, Spain. In Barcelona we saw my sister’s apartment, We met her friends, and we walked around the city. We walked to the beach and we took a Gondola ride to the mountains. We also ate a lot of good food. The highlight of the trip to Barcelona was seeing the Sagrada Familia. It was a beautiful church that they have been building for over 100 years. 

    It was a great trip spending time with my family and seeing other places. Next week we will talk about sports.    - Matthew

Welcome back to the sports report. Man the snow is melting and it is almost spring. Spring makes me think of the baseball season. The Mets and the Yankees are getting ready for the regular season. The Mets have had some really good spring training games. The players on the mets that we have to focus on are Juan Soto, Peralta, Bo Bichette, and are all off to a great start in Spring training. Over the next few weeks they will keep working hard to get ready for opening day.  

The other thing about spring is the Islanders getting ready for the playoffs. The Islanders came out of the break and they won 2 great games. There is a lot of time left in the season but I hope the Islanders are ready for a good playoff run. 

One funny story that I would like to tell from Spring training. My dad has a friend who brought his son to Spring training. Juan Soto hit a home run during batting practice. His son tried to catch it but missed and the ball hit him in the nose and he did not get very hurt luckily. Juan Soto felt bad and signed his ball. 

I hope it is a great season for the Mets when the regular season starts. I hope we have a great week at school.   - Matthew 

Welcome back to the sports report. Before I talk about sports, I hope everyone is safe in this snowy weather. I don’t think winter is ever going to end. Anyway, let's talk about sports. 

There is a lot going on in sports and the major story in sports is the Olympics. The biggest story from the Olympics was Hockey. On Thursday in a thrilling game The US Women’s team defeated Canada in overtime. Both teams played great and it was so exciting to see the US Women come out on top. 

Just when we thought we couldn’t top that game, the US men played against Canada in another great game. The US Men won in overtime with Jack Hughes scoring the Game Winning Goal. It was crazy. Both teams played great and the US was fortunate to escape with the win. 

The Olympics were very fun to watch over the last 2 weeks and I am excited to watch the Summer Olympics in 2028. 

Next week we are going to talk about the Mets and the Yankees in Spring training. 

I hope everyone has their shovels ready to shovel all the snow. Let’s have a great week. 

Welcome back to the Sports Report. I hope you are staying warm in this cold weather and I know I am looking forward to Spring. 

There is a lot going on in Sports. The Olympics started on Friday. The Opening Ceremony was on Friday and I thought it was exciting. As I mentioned last week, I am looking forward to watching skiing, hockey, and ice skating. Unfortunately Lindsey Voonn got really hurt and wasn’t able to finish her event and I hope she gets better soon. In Hockey the US Men’s team plays their first game on Wednesday Let’s go USA. 

In other sports The Islanders had a really good week and the Islanders beat the Devils and that was their last game before the Olympic break. 

In Football the Superbowl is going on as I am writing this article. The Seahawks are winning 9-0. I think the Seahawks will hold on but we will see. 

Next week more about the Olympics and more from Baseball as the teams get ready for spring training. Have a great week.   

Welcome back to the sports report. Before we talk about sports, is everyone enjoying the cold weather? I know I am looking forward to the spring weather. 

It is a little quiet in the sports world but there are still interesting things in sports. To start, the Islanders won two games against the Rangers this week.  The Islanders won every game against the Rangers this season. That almost never happens. 

In Basketball, the Knicks are having a great season. Right now we are watching the Knicks play against the Lakers and it is very close and I hope the Knicks win. 

No major news with the Mets and the Yankees. Both teams are getting ready for spring training. 

The Winter Olympics are starting very soon and this is very exciting because this only happens every four years. There are many exciting events like Hockey, Skiing, Ice skating, and snowboarding. I am very excited to see Hockey. I hope the USA wins a lot of gold medals. What events are you looking forward to? 

Have a great week and stay warm.   

1/26/26

This is the sports report for the weekend. There was a snow storm and 12 inches of snow but football still played. The Seattle Seahawks played and beat the LA rams by a score of 31 to 27. It was an exciting game. The Denver broncos lost to the New England patriots with a slow game at 10 to 7. So the superbowl will be the Seahawks against the New England patriots. My sister watched the game with the daughter of the patriots coach.

Is there going to be a PTW Superbowl? Just a joke. 

   Who does everyone want to win?

In baseball news the Mets got a pitcher Fredy Peralta Tobias Meyers and Craig Kimbrel we lost . We lost Brandon Sproat and Aucna.

A lot happened in baseball and football. The Islanders lost a few games

-Matthew

1/21/26

Welcome back to the sports report. It was a great week of sports. It is the middle of January and the focus of this report is going to be Football. 

Monday night was the National Championship of College Football. Two great teams, Indiana, met up with Miami. It was a very exciting game and Indiana held on to win. Fernando Mendoza is the quarterback for Indiana and he was able to lead his team to victory. Congratulations to the Hoosiers. 

In pro football the playoffs are in full swing and there were some great games this weekend. The Bills lost a heartbreaker in Denver and the Rams won a thriller in Chicago. 

And here in New York the Giants got a new coach and hopefully next year the Giants will make the playoffs. 

In Baseball the Mets got Bo Bichette. I think he will be a great player for the Mets. The Mets need to get more pitchers and then hopefully they can go to the World Series. 

Next week we can talk about the Islanders. Have a great week and I hope everyone stays warm in this cold weather.   

Welcome back to the sports report. Our winter sports are in mid season and the Islanders and the Knicks are both making their push to the playoffs. In the coming weeks we will keep watching them and we will have more to report on. 

Our focus of this sports report will be on football. In college football Indiana played Oregon in one semifinal. In a very surprising result Indiana won a blowout by a score of 56-22. Indiana was never a great team but now they are a great team. 

In the other semifinal Miami defeated Ole Miss in one of the greatest college games in football. The championship game will have Miami against Indiana. That game will be on January 19. I think Indiana is going to win that game but I think it will be a great game. Who do you think will win? 

In Pro football the Jets and Giants didn’t make the playoffs. There were a lot of great games this weekend. Early on Sunday the Buffalo Bills won a very exciting game against Jacksonville. The Rams and the Bears are also moving on. Hopefully next year the Giants will make the playoffs. 

That’s all for today’s sports report. Have a great week.

It’s now the middle of December and this is our last sports report in 2025. I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the highlights of the year and how our teams did. 

In baseball The Mets and Yankees had disappointing years. The Mets started the season well and in June they started losing. Pete Alonso and Juan Soto both had a good season but they didn’t make the playoffs. The Mets need to keep Pete Alonso and get better pitchers and we hope they make the playoffs in 2026. The Yankees did make the playoffs but they didn’t go far. They need to make some changes too. If they want to make the playoffs in 2026. 

In football the Giants and the Jets are both bad teams. They need good changes if they want to make the playoffs next year in 2026.

In hockey the islanders are off to a good start.  Matthew Schaeffer has brought a lot of excitement to this team. This week the islanders won 3 games in a row.  We hope they finish strong in 2026 and make the playoffs.

We hope everyone has a great holiday and a Happy New Year,  and we will be back for more sports in 2026. - Matthew

The State of Soccer: Fall 2025 

A special edition of Matthew’s Sports Report (by Joseph A. Lambert)

November 2025 was an important month for both men’s and women’s soccer around the world as it featured both the end of the main phase of qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the playoffs for both the MLS Cup and the NWSL championship title.

It was the final month of qualification for the FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted across Canada, the United States, and Mexico in the summer of 2026. This tournament will feature 48 teams, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Uruguay, all of which have qualified after participating in the previous tournament in 2022, as well as debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. Notable countries returning to the World Cup after a break of one to three tournaments include Algeria, Colombia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, and South Africa. What is also notable about this tournament is that it will feature the return of Austria, Norway, and Scotland to the global stage after their most recent participations in 1998, while Haiti returns for the first time since 1974. 

While all 39 direct qualification places (minus the hosts) have been secured, there are still six playoff slots up for grabs, four of which are reserved for UEFA teams (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland, and Wales in path A; Albania, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine in path B; Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, and Turkey in path C; Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, and North Macedonia in path D). The remaining two slots will be determined in an inter-confederation playoff in the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey in March 2026, which will involve the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jamaica, and New Caledonia in path 1 of the playoff, and Bolivia, Iraq, and Suriname in path 2 of the playoff.

Shifting our attention to the MLS Cup Playoffs and the NWSL championship, NWSL club Gotham FC narrowly made the playoffs by finishing eighth in the NWSL regular season by one point over the North Carolina Courage. They upset the regular season champion Kansas City Current 2-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals on November 9 and defeated the Orlando Pride 1-0 in the semifinals on November 16 to advance to the championship game, where they faced the season runner-up Washington Spirit on November 22. After a scoreless first half, Rose Lavelle scored in the 80th minute to give Gotham FC a 1-0 lead, and this would turn out to be the only goal of the game, securing the club’s second NWSL title, their second championship in a single year (after their continental cup title win), and their fourth championship in franchise history. 

MLS club New York City FC finished in fifth place in the Eastern Conference in the MLS regular season and defeated Charlotte FC 2 games to 1 in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs between October 28 and November 7, which included a 0-0 draw coupled with a 6-7 loss on penalties at Yankee Stadium on November 1. Their playoff run would continue with a 1-0 upset win in the quarterfinals over the regular season champion Philadelphia Union on November 23, but they would be eliminated on November 29 after a 5-1 loss to Lionel Messi’s club Inter Miami CF in the semifinals. On December 6, Inter Miami CF defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in the MLS Cup championship game to win their first championship title. Rodrigo De Paul and Tadeo Allende scored in the final 20 minutes of the game to seal the win for Inter Miami CF, and Lionel Messi himself would be named the championship game’s most valuable player as he secured his 20th major title and his first one not involving a European team or his home country of Argentina.

December 5 was the most important day on the global soccer calendar as this was the day where the groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup were drawn at a special ceremony in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C. The results of the draw were as follows:

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, UEFA Playoff Path D

Group B: Canada, UEFA Payoff Path A, Qatar, Switzerland

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland

Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, UEFA Playoff Path C

Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador

Group F: Netherlands, Japan, UEFA Playoff Path B

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay

Group I: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff Path 2, Norway

Group J:  Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

Group K: Portugal, FIFA Playoff Path 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia

Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

The final qualification matches for the World Cup will take place in the spring of 2026 to determine the last six countries for the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19.

Until then, ¡GOL!

12/1/25

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I spent a lot of time with my family and we watched football, I went shopping and I had a great holiday weekend.

We are getting closer to the end of the football season and getting closer to the playoffs. We don’t think the giants or the jets are going to make the playoffs but in a shocking result the jets actually won a game. The giants play tomorrow night and we hope they can get a win also. 

The islanders had a tough week. The islanders lost a few games this week and one of their star players, Kyle Palmieri got hurt and he is out for the season. Get better soon Kyle. 

Basketball season is going strong and the Knicks are off to a great start. We will write more about the knicks in next week’s article. 

The holiday season is here and I am looking forward to a great December of sports. 

-Matthew

11/23/25

Welcome back to the sports report. We have breaking news starting with the Mets. The Mets traded Brandon Nimmo, he was one of my favorite players. He was one of my favorites because he would play very and very hard. We will miss him a lot. The good news is we got a good player back in the trade. I think the Mets are going to do more in the offseason. Switching over to hockey the Islanders are playing very well. The Islanders went on a long road trip and they did good. After a tough loss on Saturday they won in a shootout on Sunday. Matthew Schaefer and Matthew Barzal are playing very well and they are very exciting. The giants and the jets both lost again. Both teams are having very bad seasons. Maybe next year they can get very good again. Next week we will talk more about the knicks and the nets. Goodbye Brandon Nimmo and we will miss him. 

Welcome back to Matthew’s Sports report. 

Baseball season is over but there is still a lot to talk about. The Mets have a lot of decisions to make if they want to make their team good. The Mets will have to decide what to do with Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz. They are great players but they want to get more money. I hope they both stay on the Mets. David Stearns is the general manager of the Mets and he has a lot of decisions to make. 

The Islanders had a great week. They won 3 overtime games against really good teams. Matthew Schaefer scored the game winner against Utah. Matthew Schaefer is a really great player. 

The Jets and Giants both lost again. The Giants were winning and then they lost. It is a really bad year for our Football teams. 

At least the Knicks are off to a really great start. We will talk more about the Knicks next week. 

 Matthew

Matthew’s Sports Report!