The Sporting Kansas City Under-14 Academy team was crowned champions at the 2014 Disney Soccer Showcase on Tuesday following a 5-2 victory over South Carolina United FC 99 Elite in the final. Johnny Klein opened the scoring in the championship match and fellow Columbia, Missouri native Abdu Kikhia scored three times in the second half -- following a hat trick on Monday -- to secure the tournament title in the U15 Boys age group.
Led by head coach Jon Parry, the Sporting KC U14's ended the 2014 calendar year with four wins in four days at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. The Disney Soccer Showcase -- rated the top youth tournament in the United States by a Soccer America survey -- began Saturday with a narrow 1-0 victory over Loudoun 99 Red (VA). Alex Brown secured the shutout and Colin Innes grabbed the goal, his first of two game-winners in back-to-back days.
Starting XI: Alex Brown; Jackson Wood, Kyle Reese, Dontell Gilyard, Kyle Ziegler; Johnny Klein, Roman Knox, Colin Innes (g); Mason Visconti, Abdu Kikhia, Jacob Hall
“We ended up scoring a nice goal," Parry told TopDrawerSoccer.com. "Our goalkeeper made some really good saves on them. It was good to get the win.”
After opening the competition on a positive note, the U14's kept the momentum going with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Lyons Township SC Union (IL) on Sunday to take control of their group. Mason Visconti put his name on the scoresheet twice to go along with goals from Dontell Gilyard, Colin Innes and Alex Jimenez.
Starting XI: Alex Brown; Jackson Wood, Kyle Reese, Kyle Ziegler, Dontell Gilyard (g); Johnny Klein, Roman Knox, Colin Innes (g); Mason Visconti (2g), Abdu Kikhia, Mike Keon
Needing a tie or better to advance to the final, the Sporting KC youth side secured their berth in the championship with a 4-2 win over FC Florida 99 Elite (FL) on Monday to finish atop the Red division with a perfect 3-0-0 record. Kikhia put three past the opponent's goalkeeper while Braeden Vermillion also found the back of the net for the U14's.
Starting XI: Alex Brown; Jackson Wood, Kyle Reese, Kyle Ziegler, Dontell Gilyard; Johnny Klein, Roman Knox, Colin Innes; Mason Visconti, Abdu Kikhia (3g), Mike Keon
Kikhia was once again the hat trick hero as Sporting Kansas City faced South Carolina United FC 99 Elite, the winners of the USYS NL Red division, on Tuesday morning. Klein became the seventh different goal scorer for the U14's with the opening goal of the game before the U14's broke out for four goals -- three from Kikhia and another from Gilyard -- in the second half en route to the 5-2 victory.
Starting XI: Alex Brown; Jackson Wood, Kyle Reese, Kyle Ziegler, Dontell Gilyard (g); Johnny Klein, Roman Knox, Colin Innes; Mason Visconti, Abdu Kikhia (3g), Mike Keon
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