To a man, the Galaxy knew this season had to be better.

Last season, the Galaxy allowed a whopping 67 goals and finished in 13th place in the Western Conference. There really wasn’t anywhere else to go this year but up.

That’s what has happened through the first six games of the 2024 season, heading into the first city rivalry match against the Los Angeles Football Club.

The Galaxy sits on top of the Western Conference standings (3-0-3, 12 points) and are tied for the MLS lead in points.

“Stronger mindset, just sticking to the plan and sticking in games even when a few things go against us,” Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado said. “Getting results makes everything better, changes the energy in the building, people are happier, walking around with a smile on their face, joking around for no reason, just getting results changes everything and makes a difference in everyone’s attitude.”

Through the first six games, the Galaxy have gotten results, leaning on some of that resiliency. The Galaxy trailed 2-0 against Nashville SC, but scored in the 67th and 82nd minute to get a draw. Against Sporting Kansas City, the Galaxy trailed 2-0 at halftime, but scored in the 72nd, 75th and 80th minutes for a 3-2 win.

“We’ve started really well, from preseason to now, I think you see this team, we’re all a unit, everybody is working hard defensively ... and we have some good attacking threats,” midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “It’s one of those things that sometimes we go down and we all still believe we can come back and I think that’s huge.

“We’re at the top of the league and we want to stay there, but (today) is another big game and if we want to stay there, it’s another challenge for us that we need to accomplish and I think the squad is definitely up for it.”

— Damian Calhoun

Korda keeps hopes alive in Las Vegas

Nelly Korda almost certainly kept her hopes alive for a fourth consecutive LPGA Tour victory by shooting a 3-under 69 on Friday for a three-day total of 1-under par in the T-Mobile Match Play in North Las Vegas.

The top-ranked Korda was tied for fifth place with Narin An when she finished her round, and the top eight advance to today’s match play. The cut line was 2 over when Korda walked off Shadow Creek Golf Course.

It was quite a leap for Korda, who shot 73 in each of the first two rounds, but high wind Thursday afternoon also brought the field back to her. Korda played in the morning that day when the weather conditions were much calmer, and no one with an afternoon tee time broke par.

The weather worsened Friday. In addition to wind gusts of 30 mph, rain hit the course in the afternoon and the high was 59 degrees, a 19-degree drop from the previous day’s top temperature.

Korda is attempting to become the first player to win four in a row since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Panthers lock up Pro Bowl D-lineman

Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown is staying in Carolina after agreeing Friday to a four-year, $96 million extension that includes $63.1 million in guaranteed money, according to his agents.

Brown is coming off a year in which he set an NFL record for tackles by a defensive lineman with 103, breaking the mark of 98 set by Miami’s Christian Wilkins in 2022. Tackles became an official NFL stat in 1994.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Brown rarely came off the field last season, playing in 89% of the team’s snaps.

Brown had shown signs of a breakout season.

Coming off a 2022 season in which he set a Panthers record for tackles by a lineman with 67, he took his game to a different level last season after the Panthers switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme under coordinator Ejiro Evero.

• Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is returning to Baltimore after agreeing on a two-year, $9 million contract with the Ravens, the AP reported, citing a source. Van Noy had a career-high nine sacks in 14 games last season.

Pegula back in semis at Charleston Open

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula saved four match points in a third-set tiebreaker and beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7) Friday to reach the Charleston (S.C.) Open semifinals.

The fifth-ranked Pegula also reached the semifinals in Charleston last year but lost to Belinda Bencic.

Pegula will play Daria Kasatkina today for a spot in the final. The 11th-ranked Kasatkina defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3.

In the other two quarterfinal matches, Elise Mertens will face Danielle Collins and 2021 Charleston winner Veronika Kudermetova will play seventh-ranked Maria Sakkari.

Tour de France champion injured

Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain a day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during the Tour of Basque Country.

The Danish rider’s Visma-Lease A Bike team said Friday tests revealed the Vingegaard also suffered a collapsed lung and a pulmonary contusion. The team said that cycling’s leading star was “stable and had a good night” but remains in a hospital in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

The accident comes less than three months before the start of the Tour on June 29 when Vingegaard is scheduled to to again face off against top rival Tadej Pogacar. That highly anticipated rematch is now in doubt.