molly dreska
Sporting Kansas City hosts the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, marking the second time in two weeks that the two clubs will compete. On Tuesday, Sporting KC will open their 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign versus the Des Moines Menace. In honor of Memorial Day on Monday, Sporting KC would like to open a forum for active military, veterans and family members to share a time when their military service and soccer has crossed paths.
Submit a memory for the chance to win tickets to either of Sporting Kansas City's next two matches as we honor our armed forces for their commitment to our country and celebrate their support of Sporting Kansas City. Winners will be notified via the contact information provided and some of the best stories will be selected for publication on SportingKC.com.
Sporting Kansas City central defender Matt Besler joined Nate Bukaty and Steven St. John on The Border Patrol this morning. The guys discussed an array of topics ranging from the incorrect offside call at D.C. to playing the Houston Dynamo twice in two weeks.
While Besler will be available for selection for Sunday's rematch against the Dynamo, the Kansas native with miss Sporting KC's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup third round match on Tuesday. Besler departs KC to join the U.S. Men's National Team in Cleveland on Monday morning.
After discussing the international selection, the guys ended the morning segment with a little movie chatter. Click here to listen to the full podcast and get to know Bes' taste in motion pictures.
Go in-depth for Sporting Kansas City's 1-1 draw at D.C. United on Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium with this match's Fast Facts.
- With the draw, Sporting Kansas City moves into sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference behind only the New York Red Bulls.
- Sporting KC is now 6-4-3 in 2013 and 3-2-2 on the road.
- Sporting Kansas City is 218-210-112 all-time and 74-133-64 all-time away from home.
- Sporting Kansas City's record against D.C. United moves to 19-18-10 all-time and 6-12-5 on the road in the series.
- Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in their last six matches against D.C. United. Prior to Sunday’s draw, Sporting Kansas City had won their last five matches in the series.
- D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen earned his first point against Sporting KC and is now 0-5-1 all-time against the club.
- D.C. United (1-8-1) is winless since their home opener on March 9. With the draw, D.C. United breaks a seven-game losing streak, the longest in team history and seventh longest in MLS history.
- Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes made two changes to the starting lineup from last Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Benny Feilhaber started the match in place of Oriol Rosell and Matt Besler was on for Aurelien Collin.
- Rosell and Collin missed the match due to yellow card accumulation. Sunday marked the first time that Rosell and Collin have not started during the 2013 season.
- Matt Besler and Ike Opara played their first competitive minutes together in central defense on Sunday.
- D.C. United made three changes to their starting XI from last weekend’s 2-1 loss at FC Dallas Stadium, including Bill Hamid returning in net to replace Joe Willis. Daniel Woolard started for James Riley and Taylor Kemp started in place of Raphael Augusto.
- Taylor Kemp made his professional debut on Sunday, playing the first 45 minutes of the match before being replaced by Chris Pontius for D.C. United.
- Chris Korb and Perry Kitchen have started all 11 games for D.C. United this season.
- Sporting Kansas City took the 1-0 lead on an own goal by D.C. United in the 60th minute of the match. It was the first own goal in a Sporting KC match in 2013.
- The goal came from a Graham Zusi corner kick and is the second goal Sporting KC has scored this season off a corner kick.
- All 15 of Sporting Kansas City’s goals in 2013 have come from inside the penalty area.
- D.C. United earned their first point of the season when conceding the first goal. Prior to Sunday, the team was 0-8-0 when allowing the game’s opening goal.
- D.C. United have given up 20 goals this season, most in MLS. Twelve of the 20 goals conceded have come at home, which is also a League high.
- D.C. United equalized five minute later on a goal from Kyle Porter assisted by Chris Pontius.
- The goal was the latest D.C. United has scored in a match this season. Five of the team’s six goals in 2013 have come at RFK Stadium.
- Sporting KC is 5-2-2 when wearing Sporting Blue and 5-1-3 versus the Eastern Conference in 2013.
- Jimmy Nielsen has appeared in 74 straight MLS matches, including postseason, for Sporting Kansas City, dating back to June 12, 2011. The streak covers a span of 6,660 straight minutes of MLS action.
- Jimmy Nielsen surpassed 10,000 minutes played with the club on Sunday (including playoffs). Nielsen becomes the second player on the active roster to surpass this milestone in a KC uniform.
- Seth Sinovic surpassed 7,000 regular season minutes played in his MLS career on Sunday.
- Sporting Kansas City outshot D.C. United 14-7. Sporting KC is 5-3-3 when outshooting an opponent this season.
- Sporting KC controlled 59% of the possession on Sunday and won 60% of the duels.
- Sporting Kansas City earned 12 corner kicks on Sunday, most in a single-match this season for the club.
- Graham Zusi took 11 of the 12 corner kicks. Zusi leads the League in corner kicks with 60.
- Zusi made 18 total crosses in the match, more than any other player on the field.
- Sporting Kansas City leads MLS in fouls suffered this season, but suffered a season-low nine fouls on Sunday.
- Sporting KC leads MLS all-time in shots with 7,374 and ranks first in MLS this season with 182 shots.
- Sporting Kansas City has allowed the fewest shots among all MLS teams this year with 109 shots against.
- Matt Besler returned to the starting lineup for the first time since April 27, 2013 after suffering a knee injury at training.
- Besler made 16 clearances in the match, more than any other player on the field and won seven of his nine aerial duels, also more than any other player in Sunday’s match.
- Besler and Seth Sinovic each had 76 touches in tonight’s match, tied for most of all players.
- D.C. United was without Young Designated Player Rafael due to concussion symptoms.
- The Boulevard Members Club at Sporting Park hosted a Watch Party for Sunday’s match. Sporting KC striker Soony Saad was in attendance to meet supporters.
Update: We had it all wrong. The offseason addition to Sporting Kansas City wasn't giving his veteran counter part answers, rather a sheer expression of emotion signifying their quickly cemented brotherly bond. Congratulations to Abbey Rhea for directing our attention to a dramatic passage from the 2008 science fiction novel, The Hunger Games.
Aurelien Collin scored the game-winning goal against Eastern Conference rivals the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium last weekend. Collin's central back PIC (partner in crime) on Sunday, Ike Opara put forth an exceptional performance to help Sporting Kansas City secure the club's seventh shutout of the season.
It looks like our man Aurelien has a question or two, but lucky for him Ike seems to be on top of things. Paint the scene for us - submit your best caption in the comment section of this post by 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday for your chance to win an 8x10 signed photo of your favorite Sporting KC player. Best of luck!
Go in-depth for Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 win the Houston Dynamo on Sunday night at BBVA Compass Stadium with this match's Fast Facts.
- With the win, Sporting Kansas City moves into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Houston Dynamo and the Montreal Impact.
- Sporting KC is now 6-4-2 in 2013 and 3-2-1 on the road. The team’s three away wins are tied for the most in MLS this season and the team’s .583 winninge percentage on the road is second best in MLS in 2013.
- Sporting Kansas City is 218-210-111 all-time and 74-133-63 all-time away from home.
- Sporting Kansas City's record against the Houston Dynamo moves to 4-6-6 all-time and 2-3-3 on the road in the series.
- Sporting Kansas City beat the Houston Dynamo in Houston for the first time since April 8, 2006. Since then, Sporting KC was 0-5-3 at Houston in MLS competition (including playoffs) entering Sunday’s match.
- The win hands the Houston Dynamo the club’s first loss at BBVA Compass Stadium since it’s opening a year ago today.
- The win also snapped a 36-game undefeated streak at home for the Dynamo in all competition, with 26 victories and 10 draws over that span.
- Houston’s 30-game home unbeaten streak in MLS regular season competition is the longest in MLS history.
- Sporting KC started the same starting lineup from their 4-0 victory over Chivas USA, making four changes to the lineup they started in their midweek loss against the Seattle Sounders. Claudio Bieler replaced C.J. Sapong, Paulo Nagamura replaced Benny Feilhaber, Seth Sinovic was in for Josh Gardner and Mechack Jerome was on for Chance Myers.
- The Houston Dynamo made one change to their starting lineup from their midweek victory over D.C. United, replacing Giles Barnes with Ricardo Clark.
- Ricardo Clark’s six fouls suffered on Sunday was a season high for a Houston player and most by a Houston player all-time in the series.
- Aurelien Collin notched the game-winning goal for Sporting Kansas City, heading in a long throw-in from Seth Sinovic.
- The goal was Sporting KC’s fourth scored by a header this season. All 14 of the team’s goals in 2013 have come from shots inside the penalty area.
- The goal is Collin’s second of the season and ninth of his career. Of Collin’s nine career MLS goals, six have been game-winners.
- Sporting KC is 8-0-1 when Collin scores.
- Seth Sinovic earned his first point of the year with the assist. The assist was the third of his career and first since May 19, 2012.
- The Sporting KC goal came on the team’s only shot on goal of the second half.
- Sporting Kansas City is 5-0-0 when leading in the 75th minute.
- Sporting Kansas City is 4-0-2 when allowing 0 goals and 3-1-0 when scoring one goal.
- Sporting KC is 5-2-1 when wearing Sporting Blue and 5-1-2 versus the Eastern Conference in 2013.
- In 35 minutes of action, Kei Kamara led all players in the match with eight aerial duels won. Kamara and Collin won a combined 15 of 15 aerial duels on Sunday.
- Kamara made his 100th regular season appearance in a KC uniform on Sunday. Kamara played for the Dynamo in 2008 and 2009.
- Jimmy Nielsen earned the 39th shutout of his career, most in club history, and seventh in 2013, most among all MLS goalkeepers this year.
- Nielsen’s six victories this year are tied for most in MLS.
- Nielsen’s 0.99 career goals against average is the best in MLS history among goalkeepers with a minimum of 4,000 minutes played.
- Sporting Kansas City’s 0.75 goals against average is the best in MLS in 2013.
- Tally Hall’s shutout streak ended on Sunday at 298 minutes, the third longest streak by a goalkeeper in MLS this season.
- Sunday's temperature was 82 degrees at kickoff, the hottest temperature for a Sporting KC game in 2013.
- Aurelien Collin and Oriol Rosell will miss the next Sunday’s match against D.C. United at RFK Stadium due to yellow card accumulation.
- Jimmy Nielsen has appeared in 73 straight MLS matches, including postseason, for Sporting Kansas City, dating back to June 12, 2011. The streak covers a span of 6,570 straight minutes of MLS action.
- Oriol Rosell committed four fouls on Sunday, a single-game career high for the midfielder.
- Sporting Kansas City has handed MLS opponents their first loss at a new stadium at six different stadiums: BBVA Compass Stadium, BMO Field, Qwest Field, Rio Tinto Stadium, Robertson Stadium and Spartan Stadium.
- Ike Opara logged 13 clearances on Sunday, leading all players in the category.
- Mechack Jerome led all players on Sunay with 12 duels won.
- Peterson Joseph was credited with three key passes on Sunday, most among all players on the field.
- Peterson Joseph’s five fouls committed on Wednesday were a single-game career high.
- Sporting Kansas City was whistled for 25 fouls on Sunday, a single-game high for the club this season and most by a team in MLS this season.
- Sporting Kansas City leads MLS in fouls suffered this season, but suffered a season-low 10 fouls on Sunday.
- The team’s 15 fouls in the second half were the most by an MLS team in a half this season.
- Sporting Kansas City outshot the Houston Dynamo 11-10. Sporting KC is 5-3-2 when outshooting an opponent this season.
- Sporting KC leads MLS all-time in shots with 7,360 and ranks second in MLS this season with 168 shots.
- Sporting Kansas City has allowed the second fewest shots among all MLS teams this year with 102 shots against.
- Matt Besler missed Sunday’s match due to injury.
- Sporting Kansas City faces the Houston Dynamo again on May 26 at Sporting Park.
Go in-depth for Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 loss against the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday at Sporting Park with this match's Fast Facts.
- With the loss, Sporting Kansas City falls to third in the Eastern Conference.
- Sporting KC is now 5-4-2 in 2013 and 3-2-1 at home.
- Sporting Kansas City is 217-210-111 all-time and 144-77-48 all-time at home.
- Sporting Kansas City's record against the Seattle Sounders moves to 1-6-1 all-time and 0-4-0 at home in the series.
- Sporting Kansas City beat the Sounders in the two clubs' first ever meeting and has not won a match since (seven straight matches without a victory).
- Sporting KC made three changes to their starting lineup for Wednesday after their 4-0 triumph over Chivas USA on Sunday. Josh Gardner started in place of Seth Sinovic, Chance Myers started for Mechack Jerome and C.J. Sapong for Claudio Bieler.
- The Seattle Sounders made four changes to their starting lineup from last weekend's 2-2 draw against the Philadelphia Union. Zach Scott came on for DeAndre Yedlin, Mario Roberto Martinez for Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso for Alex Caskey and David Estrada for Lamar Neagle.
- Sporting Kansas City allowed only two shots on goal on Wednesday. Seattle’s two shots on goal on Wednesday was a season low.
- Kei Kamara made his first appearance for Sporting Kansas City during the 2013 season, re-joining the team late Sunday night after being on loan with Norwich City in the Barclays Premier League.
- Since 2009, Seattle Sounders FC game-winning goals against Sporting KC have come in the 76th minute (2009), 92+ minute (2010), 78th minute (2010), 93+ minute (2011), 92+ minute (2011) and 94+ minute (2013).
- Of Seattle’s 11 goals scored all-time in the series, seven have come after the 76th minute. Seattle’s 11 goals in the series have come from 11 different players.
- Prior to Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City was 4-0-0 when leading in the 75th minute.
- Wednesday's temperature was 75 degrees at kickoff, the hottest temperature for a Sporting KC game in 2013.
- Wednesday marked Josh Gardner’s first start since joining Sporting Kansas City. The start was his first in MLS since April 4, 2012.
- Sporting Kansas City players Seth Sinovic, Paulo Nagamura and Claudio Bieler did not start for the first time during the 2013 season on Wednesday. Sinovic and Bieler entered the match as second-half substitutes.
- Seattle has fielded 12 different lineups in 12 matches in all competition this year.
- Seattle is unbeaten in 35-straight games when scoring first.
- Seattle boasts a five-game unbeaten streak in all competition.
- Attendance at Wednesday’s match was 18,602, marking 22 consecutive sellouts at Sporting Park.
- Ike Opara led all players on the field on Wednesday with 11 clearances and 11 interceptions. No other player had more than six in either category. Opara also led all players with eight aerial duels won on Wednesday.
- Oriol Rosell was credited with 15 possessions gained on Wednesday, most amongst all players.
- Jimmy Nielsen has appeared in 72 straight MLS matches, including postseason, for Sporting Kansas City, dating back to June 12, 2011. The streak covers a span of 6,480 straight minutes of MLS action.
- Seattle Sounders FC backup goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was dismissed for foul or abusive language in the 24th minute of the match. Wednesday was the third straight match between Seattle and Sporting KC with a player ejected or dismissed.
- Aurelien Collin committed six fouls in Wednesday’s match, tying his single-game career high. The six fouls committed is a season-high for a Sporting Kansas City player.
- Collin also committed six fouls in his last match against the Seattle Sounders FC on June 20, 2012.
- C.J. Sapong suffered four fouls on Wednesday, the most by a Kansas City player in the all-time series.
- Peterson Joseph’s four fouls committed on Wednesday was a single-game career high.
- Sporting Kansas City outshot the Seattle Sounders 11-9. Sporting KC is 4-3-2 when outshooting an opponent this season.
- Sporting Kansas City was without Paulo Nagamura on Wednesday due to suspension.
- The Seattle Sounders were without Lamar Neagle and DeAndre Yedlin on Wednesday. Both players were suspended for red cards received on Saturday against Philadelphia.
- Sigi Schmid earned his 174th win on Wednesday, most all-time among MLS coaches.
- Sporting KC leads MLS all-time in shots with 7,349.
- Joseph Serati was the Victory Suite honoree at Wednesday's match.
- Matt Besler missed Wednesday’s match due to injury.
- Graham Zusi started the 75th regular season match of his career on Wednesday and surpassed 7,000 regular season minutes played
UPDATE: Congratulations to Hugh Woolard for submitting the perfect shoutout combining the Wizard of Oz, Kansas City pride and EJ welcoming.
Sporting Kansas City takes on the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park tonight at 7:30 p.m. CT. Do you remember the last time Seattle made an appearance at Sporting Park? For starters, the weather forecast was eerily similar with scattered showers scheduled to clear up slightly before kickoff. And then of course, there were the rainbows.
How perfect. Got a double rainbow going to school. #sportingkc #SeattleVSkc
— Victoria Haas (@Tori_H) May 8, 2013
Not to mention, it's Sporting KC's nine-month anniversary since hoisting the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup trophy. GOOD OMENS, ALL DAY.
You have until 3:30 p.m. CT to submit your best caption for the image below, for a chance to win a special prize. Good luck!
