SPORTING KC'S SEASON ENDS AFTER LONGEST SHOOTOUT IN MLS HISTORY
Sporting Kansas City's 2015 season ended in heartbreaking fashion last Thursday at the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference Knockout Round. Kevin Ellis sent the single-elimination match to extra time with the game-tying goal in the 87th minute and Krisztian Nemeth lifted Sporting KC into the lead with a stunning strike in the first of two 15-minute periods.
However, the Timbers rallied with a late equalizer of their own in the 118th minute to level the match at 2-2 and survived the longest penalty kick shootout in MLS postseason history. Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey converted his penalty kick in the 11th round and then made the decisive save to send the Timbers into the Western Conference Semifinals.
Homegrown goalkeeper Jon Kempin, who entered with six minutes remaining in regulation, made three saves in the shootout and four Sporting KC players — Paulo Nagamura, Soni Mustivar, Jacob Peterson and Amadou Dia — all converted attempts with the match on the line. Nevertheless, Sporting KC were eliminated on the road in the Knockout Round for the second straight year as all four home teams advanced in this year's opening round of postseason play.
Sporting KC will now turn the team's attention to a 2016 season in which the club will seek a sixth straight playoff berth and defend the U.S. Open Cup title won last month, while also competing in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League. The Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs will resume on Sunday with four Conference Semifinal second legs on the road to the 2015 MLS Cup on Dec. 6.
FEILHABER AND MELIA NOMINATED FOR END-OF-SEASON MLS AWARDS
Two Sporting KC players have been named finalists for Major League Soccer’s end-of-year awards, the League announced on Tuesday. Midfielder Benny Feilhaber is one of three players nominated for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, while goalkeeper Tim Melia is a finalist for MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
The Comeback Player of the Year award will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 18, while the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Feilhaber, 30, set MLS career-highs in 2015 with 10 goals and 15 assists, ranking second in MLS in the latter category and becoming one of four players across the League to reach double-digits in both goals and assists. He added two goals and five assists in Sporting KC’s run to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship, becoming the club’s all-time assist leader in the tournament.
Across all competitions in 2015, Feilhaber started 36 of 38 appearances and recorded a club-record 20 assists, including five of the game-winning variety in MLS. Sporting KC’s 2015 MVP, he played a part in 32 of his team's 64 goals in all competitions and helped lead the club to its fifth consecutive appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Melia, 29, enjoyed a breakout sixth MLS season in 2015 after previously backing up MLS All-Stars Nick Rimando at Real Salt Lake (2010-11) and Dan Kennedy at Chivas USA (2012-14). He was waived by Chivas USA in July 2014 and served as a League Pool Goalkeeper during the latter half of the year. After earning emergency call-ups from Sporting KC, FC Dallas and D.C. United, he signed for Sporting KC in December.
Melia secured a starting role in May and became the first goalkeeper in MLS history to record six shutouts in his first nine League matches for a new club. He ended the season with nine clean sheets and a 15-8-5 record in all competitions, making two saves in Sporting KC’s victorious penalty shootout win over the Philadelphia Union in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
FIVE SPORTING KC GOALS UP FOR MLS GOAL OF THE YEAR
MLSsoccer.com opened voting for the 2015 AT&T Goal of the Year last Wednesday. Unlike past years, the 2015 competition features a March Madness-style bracket competition broken down by regions. Sporting KC's goals were placed in the Midwest Region along with those from the Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew and Montreal Impact.
Five Sporting KC goals are in the competition that runs through Dec. 2, with the Goal of the Year winner announced on Dec. 3. Each of Sporting KC's nominees won their respective MLS Goal of the Week competitions.
- Benny Feilhaber’s game-tying goal against the Houston Dynamo in Week 8
- Dom Dwyer’s chest-trap, spin and finish against the New England Revolution in Week 12
- Krisztian Nemeth’s dazzling run against the Portland Timbers in Week 31
- Benny Feilhaber’s long-distance strike against Real Salt Lake in Week 21
- Krisztian Nemeth’s top-shelf finish against Orlando City in Week 28
Voting for the Midwest and West Regions closed on Sunday. The East and South Regions will be open through Friday with the second round kicking off next Monday, Nov. 9. Visit MLSsoccer.com for more information on Goal of the Year voting.
NEMETH AND HUNGARY TO FACE NORWAY IN EURO 2016 PLAYOFF
Sporting KC forward Krisztian Nemeth and the Hungary Men's National team will meet Norway in a two-game, aggregate goal playoff to be held Nov. 12 (Oslo, Norway) and Nov. 15 (Budapest, Hungary) with only one of the two teams booking a berth for the 24-team field at UEFA Euro 2016 next summer in France.
Hungary's quest for their first UEFA European Championship since 1972 will likely see Nemeth return to his national team after the 26-year-old appeared in each of their final five qualifiers. He is one of three MLS players in contention for a role in the Euro 2016 playoffs along with the Irish duo of Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) and Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids).
The games will be played during the FIFA fixture window from Nov. 9-17, during which time CONCACAF's World Cup qualifying campaign will resume with both the United States (Matt Besler, Graham Zusi) and Canada (Marcel de Jong) in action on Nov. 13 and Nov. 17. The Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs accommodate the international break with the conference semifinals concluding on Nov. 8 and the conference championships kicking off on Nov. 22.
Nemeth contributed 16 goals, including the game-tying goal in the U.S. Open Cup Final, to go along with seven assists across all competitions in his first season with Sporting KC. His 23 combined goals and assists were the most by a Kansas City newcomer since the team's inaugural 1996 season.
THIRD ANNUAL TRUCE TOURNAMENT SET FOR DEC. 26
Sporting Club and the National World War I Museum and Memorial will host the third annual Truce Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 26. The Kansas City soccer community is invited to participate in the 3-v-3 tournament — which will be played on Liberty Hill — attend an English Premier League Watch Party inside the WWI Museum and enjoy the official Truce after-party at The Soccer Lot (2525 Jefferson St.), located just minutes from the museum.
For more information on the Truce Tournament or to register a team, visit www.TheTruceKC.com. Teams can take advantage of the early bird registration fee of $225 through Friday, Nov. 13, while the regular registration fee of $250 per team will run from Nov. 14 through Dec. 20. In addition, participants can visit this link to RSVP to the English Premier League watch party.
Following a tradition that began in 2013, the 2015 Truce Tournament comes on the 101st Anniversary of World War I and pays homage to the time-honored story of the Christmas Truce. According to legend, WWI battles temporarily ceased around Christmas 1914 as members of both warring armies ventured into No Man’s Land to exchange gifts, sing carols and play soccer.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP KICKS OFF TODAY AT SWOPE SOCCER VILLAGE
The 2015 Big 12 Soccer Championship kicks off with the quarterfinal round today at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City. A semifinal doubleheader will be played Friday and the tournament will culminate with Sunday's championship game.
Tickets for the event are now available at Big12Sports.com/buytickets or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. Single day passes are on sale for $10 with three-day championship passes available for $15. A 15-ticket team pack is also available for $120.
Sporting Club and the University of Kansas will again co-host this year's championship, which will feature the Big 12's top eight teams competing for the Conference's postseason title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship.
In conjunction with the Championship, the Kansas City Sports Commission will be hosting a free soccer clinic for boys and girls ages 6-12 on Saturday. The clinic will be held from 8:30-10:30 a.m. as a part of their youth clinic series at Swope Soccer Village. In addition to a free t-shirt and goodie bag, all clinic participants will receive a voucher for free admission to the Big 12 Championship match on Sunday. To register for the clinic, visit SportKC.org.
The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the championship will be streamed live on Big12Sports.com, while the championship match will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1. This year's championship at Swope Soccer Village will be the third straight hosted in Kansas City.
TWO SKC ACADEMY PLAYERS PICKED FOR U.S. U-15 NATIONAL TEAM CAMP
Sporting KC Academy defender Jaylin Lindsey and forward Mason Visconti are participating in the U.S. U-15 Boys’ National Team training camp that began this weekend and runs through Sunday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The 60-player training camp is the final camp for players born in 2000 before they move into the U.S. U-17 Residence Program.
Lindsey has been part of the U.S. Soccer youth national team system since September 2013 and most recently featured for the U.S. U-15 national team when they won the Tournament delle Nazioni in Austria. The Blue Valley Northwest High School sophomore has featured in all six regular season matches this season for a Sporting KC Academy U-16 program that is currently in second place in the Frontier Division. Lindsey was recently named TopDrawerSoccer.com’s No. 4 prospect for players graduating high school in 2018.
Visconti is off to a strong start in his second season with the Sporting KC Academy program after joining via open tryouts in 2014. The 14-year-old striker featured for the Sporting KC U-15s at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship and was named to the tournament’s Best 11 for the under-15 boys age division. Visconti has appeared in all six league matches for the Sporting KC Academy U-16s this season with two goals scored. He also added two goals during the 2015 U-17 Generation adidas Cup that was held at Swope Soccer Village last month.
SPORTING KC U-18S MOVE INTO FIRST PLACE WITH WIN ON SATURDAY
The Sporting KC Academy split a pair of matches against Real Colorado on Saturday at Fort Hays State University Soccer Stadium in Hays, Kansas.
The Sporting KC U-18s rode a strong second-half performance to a 3-0 victory, moving atop the standings in the 2015-16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Frontier Division. The triumph lifted the U-18s (5-2-0, 15 points) into first place in the 11-team division, two points ahead of Dallas Texans, Texas Rush and FC Dallas.
The second match of Saturday’s doubleheader saw the U-16s suffer a narrow defeat as Real Colorado emerged with the 3-2 victory and moved a point ahead of third-place Sporting KC (5-2-0, 15 points) in the Frontier Division table.
The U-16s and U-18s return to league action this weekend with two games each in the Rocky Mountains. Both sides are set for a rematch with Real Colorado on Saturday in Highlands Ranch before facing Colorado Crush on Sunday in nearby Denver. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram for all Sporting KC Academy updates throughout the 2015-16 season.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR 2015 NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE CUP AT SPORTING PARK
Tickets are now on sale for the 2015 NCAA Men's College Cup at Sporting Park via Ticketmaster.com. Ticket packages start as low as $27 for admission to the semifinal doubleheader on Friday, Dec. 11 and the national championship match on Sunday, Dec. 13 with passes also available for access to the Ameritas Shield Club and Boulevard Members Club.
FORMER KANSAS CITY STRIKER EDDIE JOHNSON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Former Kansas City Wizards and U.S. Men’s National Team striker Eddie Johnson announced his retirement from professional soccer on Sunday. Johnson leaves the game as one of the most accomplished American soccer players of his generation, having scored 19 goals in 63 international appearances and more than 80 goals during a 15-year club career.
Johnson made 46 MLS appearances for the Kansas City Wizards between 2006 and 2007. He tallied 17 goals and seven assists across two seasons and was part of the 2007 squad that advanced to the Western Conference Final. He became the first player in MLS history to score hat tricks in back-to-back games when he scored a combined six goals against the New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution on May 26 and June 2, 2007. He is also the only Kansas City player ever to record multiple hat-tricks for the club.
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.
