SPORTING KC LOOKS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN SATURDAY VS. REAL SALT LAKE
Following two straight wins over Eastern Conference opponents, Sporting Kansas City will host Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets for the 2013 MLS Cup rematch are available at Ticketmaster.com, and the first 10,000 fans inside the gates will receive Sporting KC spirit sleeves courtesy of UMB Bank.
Saturday's contest will be televised throughout the Midwest on SKCTV—available locally on KMCI-TV 38 the Spot—with three hours of coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Radio partners Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish) will also broadcast the game live from Sporting Park.
Sporting KC (2-1-2) and Real Salt Lake (2-0-2) enter the match tied for third place in the Western Conference with eight points apiece. Both clubs have scored six goals in 2015, tied for third most in MLS, and are coming off narrow victories last Sunday. Sporting KC downed the Philadelphia Union 3-2 in dramatic fashion as Jalil Anibaba and Krisztian Nemeth scored their first goals for the club in second half stoppage time. Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes at the new Avaya Stadium. Veteran midfielder Javier Morales' impressive 25-yard strike just before halftime was enough to separate the sides.
Real Salt Lake has zero wins and just one goal in four trips to Sporting Park (1-5-3 all-time in Kansas City), including the 2013 MLS Cup final in which Sporting KC won a 10-round penalty kick shootout after a 1-1 stalemate through 120 minutes.
SPORTING KC STRIKES TWICE IN STOPPAGE TIME TO SINK PHILADELPHIA UNION
Sporting KC erased a late deficit to earn a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday with two goals in second half stoppage time. Jalil Anibaba pulled the home side level in the 91st minute to set the stage for Krisztian Nemeth's game-winner—the club's 1000th goal in team history across all competitions—in the 94th minute.
Playing their 600th all-time regular season match and 300th at home, Sporting KC fell behind in the third minute after an own goal from Jacob Peterson. Dom Dwyer opened his 2015 scoring account in the 16th minute for his 25th career MLS goal, but Philadelphia restored their lead three minutes later through Designated Player Fernado Aristeguieta.
The Union would hold their lead until the 91st minute when Roger Espinoza lofted a pass into the penalty box. Anibaba directed his header downward inside the post for his fifth career MLS goal and first since October 2013. The late-game heroics culminated in a milestone moment when Benny Feilhaber's corner kick, flicked on by Matt Besler, was turned over the line by Nemeth. A second-half substitute, the Hungarian newcomer's first MLS goal enters the record books as the team's historic 1000th goal in all competitions.
Nemeth’s 94th-minute strike was the latest game-winning goal Sporting KC has ever scored at Sporting Park. In addition, Sunday's 3-2 win was just the seventh in MLS history by a team that trailed entering stoppage time.
SPORTING KC LOANS SAAD ABDUL-SALAAM TO SAN ANTONIO SCORPIONS
Sporting KC announced last Wednesday that the club has loaned defender Saad Abdul-Salaam to the North American Soccer League’s San Antonio Scorpions.
The 23-year-old rookie joined goalkeeper Jon Kempin on loan with the reigning NASL champions ahead of their 2015 season opener on Saturday, when the Sporting KC duo played 90 minutes in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Toyota Field in San Antonio. The Scorpions will regroup with a Week 2 bye and return to action on April 18 against Indy Eleven.
Abdul-Salaam logged three goals and 12 assists in 54 games over three seasons at Akron, including a team-high six assists in 2014, and was an All-MAC First Team honoree. Sporting KC selected him 12th overall in the first round of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and he appeared in three preseason matches for the club.
LOPEZ STARTS AS OKC ENERGY FC NOTCH FIRST USL WIN OF 2015
Mikey Lopez made his second straight start for head coach Jimmy Nielsen as OKC Energy FC (1-0-1) secured a 2-1 win over Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (0-2-0) in the expansion side's first-ever home match at Sand Creek Stadium. Danish forward Danni König scored both goals for OKC with the game-winner coming in the third minute of second-half stoppage time on an assist from former Sporting KC midfielder Michael Thomas.
OKC Energy FC has an early bye in prep for the team's home opener at the newly renovated Taft Stadium on April 18 against the Seattle Sounders 2 (2-0-0).
SPORTING KC U16'S TAKE 6TH PLACE IN 2014-15 GENERATION ADIDAS CUP
The Sporting KC Academy concluded the 2014-15 Generation adidas Cup with a shootout win over Pumas UNAM (Mexico) on Saturday at the Toyota Soccer Center at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The U16's twice took the lead in regulation before prevailing 7-6 in the penalty kick shootout to secure a sixth-place finish in the 12-team Champions Division.
Jared Crist scored twice in five games at the tournament and was one of six different goal scorers for Sporting KC during the competition along with Adam Collinsworth, Fernando Borges, Chase Bromstedt, Will Little and Paul Whitener. The U16's posted a 2-2-1 record in the competition, finishing third in Group A behind eventual champion River Plate (Argentina) and Toronto FC before playing placement matches against Real Salt Lake and Pumas.
This year's Generation adidas Cup was also held in conjunction with the league's inaugural under-12 tournament. Led by head coach Matt Trumpp, Sporting KC's U-12 Academy squad were one of eight MLS academies participating along with youth sides from Mexico's Queretaro FC and Club America USA. Sporting KC's youngest youth side split results over the course of a six-game schedule -- winning three, losing three -- in three days time to finish in seventh place in the 12-team tournament.
Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.
FC KANSAS CITY TO KICK OFF 2015 SEASON SUNDAY AT SPORTING PARK
On Sunday, reigning National Women's Soccer League champions FC Kansas City will kick off their 2015 season at 3 p.m. CT at Sporting Park against Sky Blue FC. Tickets start at $10 for the season opener and are available online at Ticketmaster.com. The match-up could feature as many as six players currently on the U.S. Women's National Team ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup this summer.
H&R BLOCK TO HOST SETH SINOVIC MEET-AND-GREET ON THURSDAY
On Thursday, Sporting KC defender Seth Sinovic will make a special appearance at H&R Block (15254 W. 119th Street) in Olathe, Kansas for a meet-and-greet from 6-7:30 p.m. CT. Sporting Kansas City and H&R Block have teamed up for a video series during tax season with the first two spots featuring Matt Besler and Ike Opara.
SPORTING CLUB NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA CONTEST RUNNING THIS WEEK
Sporting Club Network members can enter to win Chipotle gift cards or tickets to a Sporting KC match through the #1Crest1Club contest by posting a picture of the SCN Price Chopper patch on their jersey to Twitter or Instagram before Friday. Tag @SportingKC_SCN and use the #1Crest1Club hashtag to be entered; daily winners will be announced and voting begins on Saturday for the grand prize.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR CONCACAF GOLD CUP DOUBLEHEADER ON JULY 13
Tickets are now on sale via Ticketmaster.com for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader to be played at Sporting Park on July 13. The United States Men's National Team will face Panama at 8:30 pm. CT in the Group A finale after Haiti takes on either Honduras or French Guiana at 6 p.m. CT. CONCACAF announced the group stage matchups for the 12-team tournament on March 12.
All tickets provide entry to both matches with prices starting at $35 for general admission seating in the South Stand or Members Stand. Sporting KC could feature players on three of the teams competing at Sporting Park that evening—Matt Besler and Graham Zusi of the U.S., Haitian midfielder Soni Mustivar and Honduran midfielder Roger Espinoza.
The Gold Cup is the region’s marquee national team tournament and the headline competition for the United States Men’s National Team in 2015. This year’s tournament carries additional significance as it will determine CONCACAF's representatives at the Centennial Cup America in 2016 and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.
SPORTING KC TO HOST OPEN TRYOUTS JUNE 13-14
Sporting KC will host the team's 2015 open tryouts on June 13-14 at Swope Soccer Village (6310 Lewis Road) in Kansas City, Missouri. Online registration is now open and will be available to the first 200 players who are 18 years or older.
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The club first organized open tryouts in the buildup to the team's inaugural season in 1996. More recently, Sporting KC has welcomed prospective professionals each year since 2008 when two players, Nelson Pizarro and Kevin Souter, were signed by Vermes and went on to appear in 14 matches across all competitions.
Participants must pay all expenses (registration fee, travel costs, etc.), but discounted hotel rooms are available for out-of-town players. For more information, visit the 2015 Open Tryouts webpage on SportingKC.com.
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR SPORTING KC YOUTH CAMPS IN 2015
Sporting KC is offering a series of youth camps to foster the next generation of soccer players in the region. Camp registration is now open at SportingKC.com/camps, and more information on the youth camps available to boys and girls is available at SportingKC.com.
FOLLOW SPORTING KC ONLINE
Sporting KC fans looking to keep up with the club online have a place to go. The Social Media page on SportingKC.com features Twitter account information for the team, its players and several staff members. Supporters may also take advantage of the Media Recap page for all the latest independent news coverage.
