Sporting Kansas City faces the Montreal Impact in the final group stage match of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic on Wednesday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The match will be kickoff at 7 p.m. CT and be streamed live on SportingKC.com.
Sporting KC and the Columbus Crew are the only teams to have a perfect record after the first two matches in tournament play. Sporting KC defeated the New York Red Bulls and Fluminense FC U23’s while the Crew notched victories over Toronto FC and the Philadelphia Union.
Sporting KC defeated the Red Bulls 1-0 with the lone goal courtesy of Jacob Peterson, as he forced a turnover from New York and was able to slot the ball past homegrown goalkeeper Santiago Castano. Sporting KC faced the Fluminense FC U23's in their second match at the Pro Soccer Classic and earned a 3-0 victory over the Brazilian side. Veteran midfielder Paulo Nagamura struck twice and second-year Colombian midfielder Jimmy Medrana also tallied a goal in the Sporting KC victory.
The Impact defeated the Fluminense FC U23's 1-0 in their tournament opener. Impact midfielder Sanna Nyassi capitalized when Fluminense goalkeeper Klever Rodrigo Gomes Rufino blocked Hassoun Camara's shot. The rebound fell right into the path of Nyassi for the easy finish. The Impact most recently lost 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls.
Montreal enters 2014 without two of the club's leaders from the 2013 season. Alessandro Nesta retired at the conclusion of the 2013 season and midfielder Davy Arnaud was traded to D.C. United.
With a win or draw on Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City will advance to the finals of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. The Championshp match will be streamed live on WatchESPN. If Sporting KC lose Wednesday's match, their fate will be determined by tie breakers. The Eastern Conference opponents will meet again early in the MLS regular season at Sporting Park on April 19.
Sporting KC will scrimmage Indy Eleven for the second time during the 2014 preseason at 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Sporting KC is undefeated during 2014, facing a collection of NASL, PDL, MLS and international opponents.
In-game updates of both matches will be available @SKCGameday on Twitter.
