As Swope Park Rangers General Manager Kurt Austin pointed out the other day, Sporting Kansas City are one of only three teams to have both their MLS side and USL side in playoff contention. Both teams are in action this week with the Swope Park Rangers hosting their first playoff match in club history Friday night at Swope Soccer Village against LA Galaxy II. Sporting Kansas City will look to move one step closer to their sixth straight playoff berth when they travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution (Saturday, 6:30pm, 38 the Spot).
Nate Bukaty and Carter Augustine, along with their Cap Fed Guest Host, broke down both matches last night ahead of this crucial week for the Sporting KC organization. The hosts were joined by Swope Park Rangers head coach Marc Dos Santos who offered insight into how his team rebounded from the loss of starting midfielder Kevin Oliveira earlier this season. Oliveira had three goals and four assists before suffering an ACL tear in June.
"No individual is bigger than the team and everything we do we have to do together," Dos Santos said. "We were always focused on what the team could be. When you don’t focus on individuals and you think the most important thing is the collective side, when a player leaves, the collective continues to be the most important thing."
Sporting KC midfielder Roger Espinoza also joined the show to discuss Sporting KC's big win over the Earthquakes last weekend as well as the path that lies ahead for his squad.
"I don’t think we’ve gotten a result like that at all this year," Espinoza said of Saturday's victory. "We know we can go into a place and grind out a result. In year’s past we have done that and that is why in year’s past we are sitting at the top of the table. I thought that was a great game. Especially with three games left, that was great for our confidence."
Listen to both interviews as well as the full podcast of the radio show below:
