"This Week in Sporting," presented by The Smile Generation, is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City. To visit the series archive, click here.
1. Match Postponement
Major League Soccer announced Saturday that Sporting Kansas City’s regular season match at the Colorado Rapids, originally scheduled for Sunday at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park, has been postponed to a later date.
The postponement follows confirmed positive COVID-19 tests to one player and three staff members of the Colorado Rapids organization during a series of tests conducted last Thursday and Friday, Sept. Based on the number of positive test results, Major League Soccer has postponed the match to allow for additional testing and evaluation. A new date for the rescheduled match will be announced in the near term.
2. Houston on Tap
Third-place Sporting Kansas City (6-5-2, 20 points) will return to the pitch Saturday when they visit rivals Houston Dynamo (3-4-7, 16 points) at BBVA Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT with three hours of live coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports GO. The Western Conference clash will also air live locally on ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM, with The Final Whistle immediately following on 94.5 FM.
Sporting and Houston have met on three previous occasions this season. Alan Pulido, Roger Espinoza, Gadi Kinda and Khiry Shelton struck in a rampant 4-0 home-opening win at Children's Mercy Park on March 7, but Houston exacted revenge with a convincing 5-2 road victory on Aug. 25. The most recent meeting saw the Dynamo prevail 2-1 as goals from Alberth Elis and Mauro Manotas overcame Erik Hurtado's first-half tally.
3. Schedule Release
Sporting Kansas City announced last week the remainder of the club’s 2020 MLS regular season schedule, which will see Manager Peter Vermes' side play 10 times in 37 days between Oct. 3 and Nov. 8.
As the calendar turns to October, the two-time MLS Cup champions have officially entered the final phase of Major League Soccer’s 23-game regular season campaign in a dramatic push through MLS Decision Day 2020 presented by AT&T on Nov. 8.
Children’s Mercy Park will host four matches during the decisive stretch as Chicago Fire FC, Nashville SC, Colorado Rapids and Minnesota United FC each travel to Kansas City. Tickets for these four home games are now on sale at SeatGeek.com.
4. SKC II Closes Curtains
The decisive final week of the 2020 USL Championship regular season will begin Wednesday when Sporting Kansas City II (4-9-1, 13 points) visits Lucas Oil Stadium for the fourth time this year to battle playoff hopefuls Indy Eleven (7-5-2, 23 points) at 6 p.m. CT. The pivotal Group E clash will stream live on ESPN Plus with additional in-game updates available on Twitter via @SportingKCII.
Already eliminated from postseason contention, Sporting Kansas City II will embrace the spoiler role in their penultimate fixture of the abbreviated 16-game campaign. Indy Eleven, meanwhile, are looking to clinch the second and final playoff spot in Group E with a victory. Indy sits nine points behind Group E winners Louisville City SC and a point clear of third-place Saint Louis FC, having played one game less than their Missouri rivals.
Sporting KC II will then conclude their season Saturday with a trip to Louisville. Kickoff at the new Lynn Family Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with a live stream on ESPN Plus.
5. Academy in Action
Six Sporting Kansas City Academy teams took the field Sunday against Dallas-based Solar SC at Titan Sports and Performance Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, marking the continuation of the inaugural MLS NEXT fall season. By the end of the day, Sporting had plenty to feel good about as the club posted a 4-1-1 record highlighted wins for the U-17s, U-16s, U-15s and U-12s.
The strong showing came three days before Audi and Bleacher Report drop Episode 2 of “THE ACADEMY,” a five-part docuseries chrolicling the Sporting Kansas City Academy that will debut this Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. CT via @brfootball on Twitter and bleacherreport.com.
6. Tune In Tuesday
A new episode of the Sporting Kansas City Show will debut Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on Sports Radio 810 WHB. Hosts Nate Bukaty, Carter Augustine and Aly Trost will hear from a Sporting guest, recap a busy weekend of MLS action and preview Saturday's clash against Houston. Previous episodes of the Sporting Kansas City Show are available here.
