SPORTING KC TO HOST COLORADO RAPIDS SATURDAY AT SPORTING PARK
Sporting KC (3-2-5, 14 points) begins a two-game home stand Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT when they host the Colorado Rapids (1-2-7, 10 points) at Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com and the first 5,000 fans inside the stadium will receive cooling neck wraps courtesy of Providence Medical Center.
The match will be shown live locally on KMCI-TV 38 the Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Following the match, a Special Olympics Unified Sports exchange game will be held at Sporting Park between Special Olympics Kansas and Special Olympics Colorado.
Peter Vermes’ side has yet to lose at Sporting Park this season and face a Rapids club that has one win in their last 24 MLS matches dating back to July 2014. Despite sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference, Colorado has avoided defeat in eight of their first 10 games en route to a league-leading seven draws. Pablo Mastroeni’s team has recorded four consecutive 1-1 draws entering Saturday and opened the season with three straight 0-0 stalemates in March. Gabriel Torres (four goals) and Dillon Powers (four assists) lead the Rapids going forward, while Clint Irwin is tied for second in MLS with four clean sheets.
Recent history in the head-to-head matchup favors Sporting KC, who are unbeaten in 10 straight MLS matches against Colorado dating back to 2009 with a 5-0-5 record (including postseason). In addition, Kansas City has not lost to the Rapids at home since September 2002, a run of 13 straight MLS matches without a defeat (9-0-4 record including postseason).
SPORTING KC AND D.C. UNITED BATTLE TO 1-1 DRAW AT RFK STADIUM
Sporting KC secured a 1-1 draw against Eastern Conference leaders D.C. United last Saturday at RFK Stadium. Forwards Jairo Arrieta (42’) and Dom Dwyer (45’) traded goals three minutes apart in the lone regular season meeting between the two sides this season. With the road result, Sporting KC remains unbeaten (3-0-2) in 2015 versus teams from the East while D.C. United extended the club’s home unbeaten streak to 17 games in all competitions.
D.C. United was held to only two shots in the opening 45 minutes but capitalized with their lone shot on goal in the 42nd minute. Perry Kitchen started the scoring sequence with a diagonal ball for Chris Pontius, who settled with his chest and immediately laid a pass back for Arrieta. The Costa Rican international made no mistake with a first-time finish for his second goal of the season and 19th of his MLS career.
Sporting KC responded with the game-tying goal just three minutes later when Dom Dwyer was on the receiving end of an assist from Roger Espinoza. The Honduran international took on two D.C. United defenders on the dribble and split the double team with a pass that set up Dwyer for a left-footed strike past Hamid from eight yards out.
ERIK PALMER-BROWN SELECTED TO U.S. ROSTER FOR 2015 FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP
Sporting KC defender Erik Palmer-Brown has been selected to the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team roster for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be held from May 30 – June 20 in New Zealand. Following Saturday’s match against Colorado, the 18-year-old Palmer-Brown will join the U-20 squad in Australia for training ahead of their first match of the tournament on May 30.
Palmer-Brown has appeared in eight matches for Sporting KC across all competition, including a 90-minute outing in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at D.C. United, since signing as a homegrown player in August 2013. He made his MLS debut in 2014 at age 17 and remains the youngest player to appear in a Major League Soccer match in club history. A Lee’s Summit, Missouri native, Palmer-Brown is a product of the Sporting KC Academy and graduated from Archbishop O’Hara High School this month. He is the third player in Sporting KC’s history to represent the U.S. at a FIFA U-20 World Cup while playing for the club along with Francisco Gomez (1999) and Mikey Lopez (2013).
Palmer-Brown debuted with the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team as a 16-year-old in January 2014. He participated in the 2014 Dallas Cup with the U-20’s and has since participated in three of the team’s international training camps in Argentina (September 2014), England (March 2015) and Austria (April 2015).
The United States is one of 24 countries to qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Coached by Tab Ramos, the Yanks were drawn into Group A alongside Myanmar (May 30), New Zealand (June 2) and Ukraine (June 5). The top two teams in each of the six groups – along with the top four overall third-placed teams – advance to the Round of 16 in the tournament’s Knockout Stage.
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 last month.
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 PARK TO HOST WATCH PARTIES FOR USWNT DURING 2015 WORLD CUP
The Boulevard Members Club at Sporting Park will welcome U.S. Women’s National Team fans for 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup watch parties hosted by WIN for KC in conjunction with Sporting KC, FC Kansas City and the NSCAA.
2015 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: U.S. WNT SCHEDULE
Mon., June 8 at 6:30 p.m. CT: vs. Australia in Winnipeg (RSVP)
Fri., June 12 at 7 p.m. CT: vs. Sweden in Winnipeg (RSVP)
Tues., June 16 at 7 p.m. CT: vs. Nigeria in Vancouver (RSVP)
The U.S. WNT watch parties at Sporting Park will be free to attend and open to fans of all ages. Food, drink and merchandise will be available to purchase at each event in addition to exclusive raffle giveaways and appearances by FC Kansas City and/or Sporting KC players. Doors open one hour prior to kickoff and parking will be available in Lot D.
The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in six cities across Canada from June 6 through July 5. All 52 games during the 24-team tournament will be nationally televised live on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 in the United States, in addition to live streams on FOX Sports GO and FOXSportsGO.com.
Reigning NWSL champions FC Kansas City are represented by four players on the United States’ World Cup roster: defender Becky Sauerbrunn, midfielder Lauren Holiday, midfielder Heather O’Reilly and forward Amy Rodriguez.
ACADEMY U16'S AND U18'S WIN COMFORTABLY AT SWOPE SOCCER VILLAGE
With three games remaining in their 2014-15 U.S. Soccer Development Academy campaigns, the Sporting KC Academy under-16 and under-18 squads show no signs of slowing down with just one loss in their last 24 games combined. The late-season run continued on Sunday at Swope Soccer Village with a pair of victories over Andromeda FC (Texas) in a Mother's Day doubleheader.
The U-18's (13-7-4, 5th place), unbeaten in their past 12 USSDA matches dating back to January, moved up to third in the wildcard standings with a 4-0 win. The U-16's (6-7-10, 8th place) set a season-high with seven goals, including five in the first half, in a match that ended 7-2 despite a three-hour weather delay at halftime.
Both teams will now have two weeks to prepare for the final road trip of the regular season when they head west to play Real Colorado on May 23 and Colorado Rush on May 24. Follow
and
for all the latest updates.
ACADEMY DEFENDER CAMERON DUKE WITH THE U.S. U-14 BOYS' NATIONAL TEAM
Sporting KC Academy U-14 defender
Cameron Duke is with United States Under-14 Boys' National Team
for a training camp in Zagreb, Croatia. The U.S U-14's played their first of three international friendlies Monday as Duke played the full match in a 3-1 win over Croatia. Duke and the U.S. play another match today against NK Bravo Ljubljana before facing Serbia on Friday to conclude the training camp.
DOM DWYER TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS AT RALLY HOUSE ON THURSDAY
Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer, who scored the game-tying goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw at D.C. United, will make a special appearance at Rally House North Kansas City (8650 N. Boardwalk Ave.) from 6-7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday for a meet-and-greet with fans. For more information on the free autograph session (limit one autograph per person), visit
RallyHouse.com
.
2015 VICTORY PROJECT SOCCER CLINIC REGISTRATION ENDS FRIDAY
Registration ends Friday for
The 2015 Victory Project Soccer Clinics
, held at Sporting Park on May 26-27 and open to children ages 6-12. Select Sporting KC players along with Sporting Club Network staff will run one-hour clinics on the field for local youth, followed by a meet-and-greet autograph session. All in attendance will get an exclusive tour of the Sporting Park locker rooms and a clinic t-shirt. The $75 clinics are limited to the first 100 registrants. For all the latest information on The Victory Project, visit
VictoryKC.org
and follow on
or
.
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.
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.
