"This Week in Sporting,” is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City.
1. Sporting draws with Columbus
Last Saturday, Sporting Kansas City drew with the Columbus Crew in a scoreless match at Children’s Mercy Park. Over 76 minutes of soccer were played before lightning in the area brought the match to a halt. Neither side found the winner following the delay as Tim Melia and Sporting earned their third clean sheet of the season.
2. FC Dallas comes to town
This Saturday, Sporting will host Western Conference enemies FC Dallas at Children’s Mercy Park. The two rivals have faced each other on six occasions in the last two seasons, with Sporting posting a 2-3-1 record vs. the Texas team. Most recently, Sporting knocked off Dallas 3-1 on the road with Daniel Salloi bagging a brace and Johnny Russell adding a third.
After finishing the 2021 season towards the bottom of the table, Dallas flipped the script early in 2022, occupying fourth place in the west. They have struggled on the road this season, while Sporting’s strength has been at home. Sporting is 2-1-1 at home with a league-best three home clean sheets while Dallas has yet to score on the road going 0-2-1 away from Toyota Stadium. Tickets for Saturday’s match are available for purchase at SeatGeek.com as Sporting looks to improve that early home record.
3. FC Dallas comes to town pt. 2, Open Cup edition
Tickets for another match against FC Dallas are on sale now as Sporting KC was paired up with FC Dallas at the Round of 32 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup drawing last Friday. Children’s Mercy Park will be the backdrop for Sporting’s opening round of the 107th rendition of the Open Cup as the club looks to capture their fifth tournament title.
The Round of 32 matchup is set for Tuesday, May 10th with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. CT. Fans can purchase tickets via SeatGeek.com and all Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Member Packages already include the match.
4. Kortne Ford selected to the MLS Week 8 Team of the Week presented by Audi
Sporting KC defender Kortne Ford received a nod to the MLS Team of the Week following his performance in Sporting’s shutout against Columbus. Ford led the team in clearances and made two crucial plays that allowed Sporting to hang onto the clean sheet. In the 15th minute, he made a sliding effort to block a shot, hurried to his feet and deflected the second effort away from goal. Late in the match, he had a late intervention on a cross that looked destined for goal. This is Ford’s third career selection to the MLS Team of the Week.
5. SKC II’s inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season rolls on
Thursday, it was announced that Sporting KC II would play the remainder of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season without center back Aljaz Dzankic. Dzankic started the first three matches of the season before suffering an injury in the match with Houston Dynamo 2. The following day, Guy Michaeli and Braxton Arpachinda signed amateur contracts with the club after spending time with the Sporting KC Academy.
After a busy midweek, first-year head coach Benny Feilhaber took his team across the U.S.’s northern border for a match with Whitecaps FC 2. Despite early pressure, WFC2 grabbed two goals against the run of play in the first half, Mikey Lenis scored his first professional goal but the Whitecaps took all three points away from the match. SKC II returns to Rock Chalk Park this Sunday for a match with FC Dallas affiliated North Texas SC.
6. MLS All-Stars vs Liga MX All-Stars
The MLS All-Stars are set to square off with the LIGA MX All-Stars in the 2022 All-Star Game presented by Target at Allianz Field in Minnesota on August 10. A rematch of last season's All-Star Game, the MLS All-Stars defeated the Mexican league’s best in penalties with Sporting KC winger Daniel Salloi converting his kick from the spot. The match will be broadcast on ESPN and Univision and is slated to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT.
7. Sporting KC represented on the Youth-International stage
Two Sporting KC Academy products and members of the first team joined U.S. Youth National Team camps this week. Defender Kayden Pierre joined the U-20s for a domestic camp at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, from April 22-30 while forward Ozzie Cisneros is with the U-19s in Carson from April 22-May 1. Pierre joined the U-20s for the Revelations Cup in Mexico last November and has been a part of the U-14 and U-16 national teams. This marks Cisneros’ first time with the U-19s, but the 18-year-old spent time with the U-15s from 2018-2019.
8. Earth Day celebration
In celebration of Earth Day, Sporting KC announced a partnership with Kansas City Community Gardens for a day of service. The club’s players and front office staff volunteered and helped expand an existing garden by building additional raised beds for plants to grow. The food from the gardens goes directly to the local community’s pantries as well as to youth education enrichment programming.
