Sporting Kansas City (2-4-2) fell 2-0 in MLS Reserve League action on Tuesday at the Houston Dynamo (5-1-1) in a Central/Mountain Division match-up held at Houston Amateur Sports Park.
Houston forward Cam Weaver scored both goals for the home side, opening the scoring in the 17th minute on a header past Eric Kronberg and converting a penalty kick to seal the victory in the 80th minute.
Weaver -- a fourth-year pro acquired in June 2009 from San Jose in exchange for Chris Wondolowski and a 2010 SuperDraft pick (Earthquakes selected Steven Beitashour) -- now has a team-leading six goals in Reserve League competition this season.
Kronberg, making his 2012 Reserve League debut, did well to deny Weaver on two separate occasions in the second half -- first with a sprawling save on a near-post header in the 56th minute and again turning away the 29-year-old attacker in the 65th minute -- but was sent off in the 78th minute after taking down Weaver inside the penalty area.
The man of the match, Weaver sent the ensuing PK past League pool goalkeeper Scott Angevine to secure the victory and move Houston into a tie with the Colorado Rapids for first place atop the Reserve League division.
Sporting Kansas City will next host Real Salt Lake on Tuesday, Sept. 11 in the team's home finale in the 2012 Reserve League season. The match is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT at the Sporting Club Training Center in Swope Park and will be free to attend for the general public.
Scoring Summary
HOU: Cam Weaver 5 (Colin Clark) 17
HOU: Cam Weaver 6 (penalty kick) 80
Disciplinary Summary
KC: Kevin Ellis (caution, reckless tackle) 29
KC: Oriol Rosell (caution, reckless tackle) 68
KC: Eric Kronberg (ejection, denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity) 78
KC: Korede Aiyegbusi (caution, reckless foul) 87
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; Kofi Sarkodie, Warren Creavalle, Nathan Sturgis, Christian Gonzalez; Josue Soto, Ricardo Clark (Christian Diaz 82), Luiz Camargo (Alan Arellano* 82); Alex Dixon, Cam Weaver (Colin Rolfe 81), Colin Clark
Subs not used: Erich Marscheider, Brian Ownby
Sporting Kansas City: Eric Kronberg; Korede Aiyegbusi, Neven Markovic (Joey Piatczyc* 46), Konrad Warzycha, Kevin Ellis; Oriol Rosell, Michael Thomas (Trialist 3* 80), Kyle Miller; Eduardo Moreno (Trialist 2* 66), Trialist 1* (Scott Angevine* 78), Soony Saad
Academy player
Guest trialist
**League pool goalkeeper
Fast Facts:
- Kevin Ellis and Konrad Warzycha both started in Tuesday's match and are the only two Sporting Kansas City players to appear in all eight MLS Reserve League matches this season for Sporting KC.
- Eric Kronberg made his first Reserve League apperance of 2012. Prior to Tuesday, Homegrown goalkeeper Jon Kempin had started Sporting Kansas City's first seven matches in the Reserve League.
- Neven Markovic and Oriol Rosell also made their Reserve League debut after signing with Sporting Kansas City during the summer transfer window.
- Sporting KC Academy forward Eduardo Moreno appeared in his second MLS Reserve League match on Tuesday, making his first start for Sporting KC.
- Fellow U18 teammate Joey Piatczyc replaced Markovic at halftime on Tuesday. Piatczyc appeared in one Reserve League match for Sporting KC last season.
- He becomes the fourth Academy player to see time in the Reserve League in 2012, along with Moreno, David Leichty and Erik Palmer-Brown.
- Sporting Kansas City's lineup on Tuesday had a combined six games started in MLS regular season play this year, with Michael Thomas' three starts leading the way.
- Sporting Kansas City have scored eight goals in eight Reserve League matches this season, while conceding 13.
- Sporting Kansas City are 1-2-1 on the road in the MLS Reserve League this season and 2-4-2 overall.
