The 2023 Sporting Kansas City Media Game saw 33 members of the local press fight out an intense eight-and-a-half minute showdown at Children’s Mercy Park during halftime of Wednesday’s match against Real Salt Lake.
For the second year in a row, Sporting Indigo took all the bragging rights after emerging with a 3-1 victory over Sporting Blue during a sweltering contest out in KCK.
The tone for the match was set early as KSHB 41’s Aaron Ladd – goalkeeper for Sporting Blue – blatantly handled outside the penalty area and Carlos Chicas from Nuestra Vision Arkansas stepped up to curl the free kick through the grasp of Ladd to open the scoring.
Sporting Indigo doubled the lead when former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver and current Sports Radio 810 WHB personality Gehrig Dieter knocked the ball down to teammate Bryan Simmons who calmly finished into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
Two minutes later, Sporting Indigo added a third to their unassailable lead as Chicas raced onto a through ball from Sports Radio 810 WHB’s Jack Johnson and slotted home his second of the night.
Undeterred, Sporting Blue attempted a comeback, led by the energetic duo of Daniel Sperry of the Kansas City Star and Emmily Infante from La Grande 1340 AM. They managed to pull one back through the KC Soccer Journal’s Robert Rusert who received a pass from Jared Koller of KCTV5 and saw his strike from a tight angle deflect beyond FOX4’s Marcus Officer and into the back of the net to make the final score 3-1.
2023 Sporting KC Media Game
Sporting Indigo 3-1 Sporting Blue
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, KS
Attendance: 17,924
Weather: 90 degrees and partly cloudy
Sporting Indigo:Â Marcus Officer, Harold Kuntz, Dan Kooser, Chad Smith, Jillian Carroll Letrinko, Peyton Headlee, Edwin Zepeda, Carlos Chicas, Jack Johnson, Josh Brisco, Todd Leabo, Dave Borchardt, Ely Martinez, Andre Pillon, Adan Manzano, Gabriel Ornelas, Gehrig Dieter, Bryan Simmons
Sporting Blue:Â Alex Gold, Cody Tapp, Jimmy Mack, Daniel Sperry, Thad Bell, Cody Bradley, Robert Rusert, Jared Koller, Neville Miller, Tod Palmer, Aaron Ladd, Walfri Rodas, Ed Reyes, Emmily Infante, Steve Walls
Scoring Summary:
IND – Carlos Chicas (Unassisted) 1’
IND – Bryan Simmons (Gehrig Dieter) 3’
IND – Carlos Chicas (Jack Johnson) 5’
BLU – Robert Rusert (Jared Koller) 6’
