Amid freezing temperatures and falling snow, the Sporting Kansas City Academy continued its strong form with an undefeated weekend at the Swope Soccer Village. The U-18s defeated Lonestar Soccer Club 4-2 while the U-16s drew 3-3.
The U-18s are 3-0-1 in their last four games and are now in seventh place in the Central Conference standings. The team is also 0.1 points per game back of the final wild card spot with three months left in the season.
Four different players found the back of the net for the U-18s on Saturday. Niagara University commit Hector Solorio gave the home side a lead in the 14th minute and Nic Jaimes made it 2-1 in the 38th minute. After Lonestar SC leveled the match in the 61st minute, Sporting KC stormed back with two goals at the death. Daniel Salloi scored his team-leading tenth goal of the year to give Sporting KC a lead in the 90th minute, while Fernando Borges sealed the match with his first U-18 goal moments later. Borges has featured more than 15 times for the U-16s this year with two goals scored.
The Sporting KC U-16s got off to a fast start on Saturday with Will Little and Andrew McLeod tallying goals within the game's first 13 minutes. Adrian Rodriguez scored his first of two goals for Lonestar in the 20th minute to cut the visiting team's deficit before halftime. Ezra Armstrong added to the home side's lead in the 71st minute, but Lonestar scored two late goals to steal a point.
The Sporting KC U-16s are unbeaten in their last six matches and have scored 13 goals in their past four. Both teams will head to warmer climates this weekend with matches against Texas Rush (The Woodlands, Texas) on Saturday and Texans SC (Tomball, Texas) on Sunday. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram for updates.
