Sporting KC continues its partnership with OKC Energy FC for the 2015 season, loaning midfielder Mikey Lopez to our USL affiliate. Additionally, homegrown goalkeeper Jon Kempin and rookie defender Saad Abdul-Salaam have been loaned to the San Antonio Scorpions of the North American Soccer League. Each week, we’ll recap the performances of the Sporting KC players in our Loan Lowdown series.
Saad Abdul-Salaam started and played the full 90 minutes in the San Antonio Scorpions 3-2 road win over FC Edmonton (1-3-2, 5 pts) at Clarke Field on Sunday. The victory was San Antonio's first in Edmonton in six all-time trips and snapped a 10-game home unbeaten streak for the hosts.
With their second straight win, the Scorpions (2-3-1, 7 pts) move up to a tie for sixth in the NASL's spring season standings with four games remaining.
Sunday's match-up featured an FC Edmonton side that leads the NASL in both goals scored (11) and goals allowed (15) but was resting several starters for a fixture sandwiched between a home-and-away semifinal series against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Amway Canadian Championship.
The visiting Scorpions took advantage with Omar Cummings opening the scoring in the 21st minute with his league-leading fourth goal of the season. San Antonio's Billy Forbes and FC Edmonton's Daryl Fordyce each scored twice in the second half with Forbes' game-winning goal coming in the 82nd minute.
Abdul-Salaam has now started five of San Antonio's six matches in 2015. The 23-year-old rookie was selected 12th overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Akron.
San Antonio will continue their road trip on Saturday, May 23 when the Scorpions face the league-leading New York Cosmos (4-0-3, 15 pts) at James M. Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The Cosmos' roster is headlined by Spanish striker Raul, who is Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer with 323 goals.
NASL matches can be streamed live on NASL.com and ESPN3. For more, follow @SAScorpions on Twitter and Facebook.
Saad Abdul-Salaam (San Antonio Scorpions)
2015 NASL Stats
<strong>Games Played</strong> |
<strong>Minutes Played</strong> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
<strong>Assists</strong> |
5 |
450 |
0 |
0 |
