The Sporting Kansas City Academy opened up their 2014-15 USSF Development Academy season last weekend in impressive fashion. The U-14, U-16 and U-18 squads combined for 3-1-2 record against the Colorado Rapids Academy at the Swope Soccer Village.
The Sporting KC U-18s kicked things off on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over the Rapids. Five different players found the scoresheet including Bryce Gibson, Dominick Parry, Daniel Salloi, Nic Jaimes and Hector Solorio. University of Notre Dame commit Ryan Krutz earned his first shutout of the season in the 5-0 win. The U-18s looked primed to complete a six-point weekend after John Leisman opened his scoring account in the 17th minute on Sunday, but Nicholas Porter scored in stoppage time for the visitors to split the points at Swope.
The Sporting KC U-16s took a 2-0 deficit into the half on Saturday before fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw against the Rapids. John Klein and Paul Whitener tallied for the home side. The squad was unable to re-capture their magic on Sunday, however, falling 2-0.
The Sporting KC U-14s put in a strong performance last weekend, going 2-0-0 and defeating the Rapids by a combined 8-3 scoreline. Abdu Kikhia picked up where he left off in the United States Youth Soccer Regional II Tournament, tallying two goals in Saturday's 5-2 victory. He was joined on the scoresheet by Dontell Gilyard, Max Rugova and Colin Innes. Kikhia added his third goal of the weekend in Sunday's 3-1 win over Colorado. Innes tallied his second of the weekend, scoring the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute and Luke Rafanan opened the scoring for Sporting KC in the 18th minute.
The U-14s are off this weekend, but the U-16s and U-18s will head to Tulsa for their first road games of the year against Solar Chelsea SC. The Solar Chelsea U-18s opened their season with a 3-1 loss to FC Dallas last weekend, while the U-16s lost 4-1 to their MLS rivals.
Visit SportingKC.com/Academy or follow their social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram for more information.
