SPORTING KC TRAVELS TO FACE D.C. UNITED SATURDAY AT RFK STADIUM
Sporting KC will travel to the nation's capital to face Eastern Conference leaders D.C. United at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday at RFK Stadium. The match will be shown live locally on KMCI-TV 38 the Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV with three hours of on-site coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Tied for fourth place in the Western Conference, Sporting KC (3-2-4, 13 points) will seek their fourth inter-conference victory of 2015 after previously defeating New York City FC, Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire. Sporting KC went 6-0-1 against D.C. United between 2011 and 2013, including two triumphs at RFK Stadium, but failed to win any of three matches between the clubs in 2014. Neither team has scored more than one goal in each of the last five meetings at RFK Stadium, a stretch that includes three shutouts and just two goals conceded for Peter Vermes' men.
Last year's first place finisher in the Eastern Conference regular season, D.C. United (5-1-2, 17 points) is off to their best eight-game start in club history. Ben Olsen's side leads MLS with just 0.75 goals allowed per match and has recorded three shutouts in five contests at home, where the team is undefeated in 15 straight games across all competitions dating back to June 2014. Forward Chris Rolfe leads D.C. with two goals and three assists, while veteran midfielder Davy Arnaud—who played 273 matches for Kansas City from 2003-2011—has contributed a pair of game-winning assists.
SPORTING KC KNOCKS OFF CHICAGO FIRE 1-0 AT SPORTING PARK
Sporting KC moved into fourth place in the Western Conference with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Sunday at Sporting Park. Paulo Nagamura came off the bench to score the game's lone goal with a header in the 75th minute, while Tim Melia made three saves for his first career MLS shutout and first career MLS win in his Sporting KC debut.
In front of the stadium's 58th consecutive MLS sellout crowd and a national television audience on ESPN2, Sporting KC donned their new all-white third kits for the 50th all-time regular season meeting against the rival Fire. Chicago entered with wins in each of their last three matches, but saw that streak snapped by a Sporting KC side that has held the Fire scoreless in four of the past five meetings in Kansas City.
After attempting 11 shots in the first half, Sporting KC was limited to only three shots in the second stanza. Manager Peter Vermes inserted Nagamura as his first of three substitutes in the 65th minute and the move paid dividends 10 minutes later as the Brazilian provided the breakthrough moment with the first headed goal of his 11-year MLS career.
Fellow newcomer Jalil Anibaba delivered the cross from the right flank and Nagamura did the rest, snapping his header inside the far post to finish off a 12-pass sequence for the 13th goal of his career and his first game-winning goal since 2009. Graham Zusi was credited with the secondary assist on the play, claiming sole possession of second place on the club's all-time charts with 17 game-winning assists.
BENNY FEILHABER NAMED ETIHAD AIRWAYS MLS PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber was voted Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month for April, the league announced Monday. The veteran midfielder finished the month with two goals and three assists, including the first brace of his five-year MLS career.
Feilhaber, 30, is tied for first in MLS with five assists in 2015. During a month in which Feilhaber played every minute in Sporting KC's four games, he started strong by setting up two goals with corner kicks in a 3-2 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Union on April 5. Named the BurgerFi Man of the Match in a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake on April 11, Feilhaber then became the second fastest Sporting KC player all-time to reach the five-assist mark in a season—doing so in his seventh league appearance—when he provided the final pass for Krisztian Nemeth's equalizer at the LA Galaxy on April 18.
Feilhaber capped off April with his first two-goal performance in a wild 4-4 draw against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Down 3-2 in the 80th minute, Feilhaber leveled the match with a well-placed penalty kick past goalkeeper Tyler Deric. After the Dynamo regained the lead minutes later, Feilhaber's stoppage-time blast, which was voted MLS Goal of the Week, gave Sporting KC its fifth consecutive result in Houston.
TIM MELIA NOMINATED FOR MLS SAVE OF THE WEEK
Following the first shutout and first victory of his six-year MLS career on Sunday, Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia is now in contention for his first MLS Save of the Week honor. The 29-year-old is one of five finalists for the weekly award with voting open online at MLSsoccer.com through 11:59 p.m. PT on Thursday.
Melia is nominated for his first of three saves in the 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire at Sporting Park. Guly do Prado came close to giving the Fire the lead with a well-struck shot from the top of the penalty area but Melia dove low to his left to push away the effort in the 13th minute.
Melia went on from there to make four punches, the most by an MLS goalkeeper in 2015, and he was also credited with five accurate keeper sweepings to set a new MLS season-high. His performance earned BurgerFi Man of the Match honors, as well as a place on MLSsoccer.com's Team of the Week.
TIM MELIA ONE OF FOUR SKC PLAYERS TO EARN TEAM OF THE WEEK HONORS
In his club debut at Sporting Park, goalkeeper Tim Melia recorded the first win and shutout of his six-year MLS career as Sporting KC blanked the Chicago Fire 1-0. His solid outing between the posts, punctuated by three sure-handed saves, earned him Team of the Week honors from MLSsoccer.com and SI.com.
Three of Melia’s teammates also received Team of the Week recognition for their roles in a victory that lifts Sporting KC into a fourth place tie in the West. Benny Feilhaber, Major League Soccer’s Player of the Month for April, created three excellent scoring chances and joined Melia among MLSsoccer.com’s best XI while also getting the nod from NBC Pro Soccer Talk.
Elsewhere, Captain Matt Besler was a Team of the Week selection on NBC Pro Soccer Talk and Goal.com, leading all MLS players last weekend with 13 clearances. His backline partner, former Chicago defender Jalil Anibaba, was named among Bleacher Report’s top performers after he limited Harry Shipp’s impact on the match and supplied a perfect cross for Paulo Nagamura’s game-winning goal.
SPORTING STYLE POP-UP STORE OFFERING NEW MERCHANDISE THROUGH SATURDAY
Sporting KC new all-white third kit debuted Sunday and fans can secure their signature argyle merchandise at the Sporting Style pop-up store in the Boulevard Members Club at Sporting Park from 12-6 p.m. CT through Saturday, May 9. In addition to the alternate jersey—available in women's and youth sizes, as well as short and long-sleeve authentic styles—other new items include an anthem jacket, henley shirt and team scarf. All merchandise can also be purchased at Shop.SportingKC.com.
ACADEMY U-16S AND U-18S SWEEP WEEKEND SERIES IN TEXAS
The Sporting KC Academy U-18s recorded two wins in Texas over the weekend to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games in the 2014-15 U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
After defeating the San Antonio Scorpions 2-1 on Saturday and cruising past Lonestar SC 4-1 on Sunday, the U-18s (12-7-4) jumped from eighth to fifth place in the Development Academy wildcard standings. The top 11 clubs in the wildcard pool—determined by points per game—will join 21 other academy sides for the playoffs in June.
The Sporting KC U-16s (6-7-10) continued their strong run of form as well, recording an impressive 3-2 comeback win over San Antonio on Saturday before topping Lonestar SC 2-1 to round out the weekend sweep in Texas. The U-16's have just one loss in their previous 13 games dating back to December.
Up next for the Academy clubs is a doubleheader against Andromeda FC this Sunday at Swope Soccer Village. The U-18s will play at 9 a.m. before the U-16s kick off at 11:30 a.m. CT, and both games are free for the public to attend. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.
ACADEMY'S JAYLIN LINDSEY AND U.S. U-15'S WIN TOURNAMENT DELLE NAZIONI
Sporting KC Academy U-16 defender Jaylin Lindsey appeared in all five matches at the 12th Tournament delle Nazioni as the United States Under-15 Boys' National Team was crowned champion last Friday with a 3-2 win over Austria in the final.
The United States opened the tournament with emphatic wins on back-to-back days, defeating Costa Rica 4-1 on April 25 and cruising by Croatia 6-2 on April 26, before falling 3-2 to Slovenia in the group stage finale on April 27. The results set up a semifinal meeting with hosts Italy on April 29 in an encounter that ended scoreless after extra time and saw the Americans prevail 5-4 in a six-round penalty shootout.
The offense returned in Friday's championship as the United States built a 3-0 lead behind a first-half brace from Andrew Carleton (Georgia United) and the game-winning goal from Tim Weah (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.), son of former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah.
Lindsey, a freshman at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, Kansas, made his fourth start of the tournament in the final and was among 20 players on the squad led by former Philadelphia Union head coach John Hackworth. Lindsey has been a part of the U.S. Soccer youth national team system since September 2013. He represented the U.S. U14’s on five occasions and now returns from his third trip with the U.S. Under-15 Boys' National Team.
MIKEY LOPEZ STARTS IN OKC ENERGY FC'S 2-2 DRAW AT AUSTIN AZTEX
Mikey Lopez returned to his home state of Texas last Friday and was once again in the starting lineup for head coach Jimmy Nielsen as OKC Energy FC (2-1-2) earned a 2-2 draw at the Austin Aztex (3-3-1) in a USL match-up between Western Conference foes. The 22-year-old midfielder played 61 minutes in his fifth straight start for Sporting KC's USL affiliate in front of 2,696 fans at House Park.
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 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.
