The Sporting Kansas City Academy traveled to Oklahoma last weekend for a pair of matches against Dallas-based club Solar Chelsea Soccer Club. The club came away with a pair of impressive results, as the U-18s defeated the home side 5-0 and the U-16s earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
Historically, the Solar Chelsea U-18s have been one of the more dominant Developmental Academy teams in the nation. The club entered Sunday's match against Sporting KC with a six-game unbeaten streak. But that streak came to an end in a resounding way, as the Sporting KC U-18s scored early and often en route to a 5-0 victory at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma.
Sporting KC jumped out a 2-0 halftime lead behind goals from Bryce Gibson and Daniel Salloi. Three more players got on the scoresheet in the second half as Tucker Stephenson, Nic Jaimes and Dominick Parry all found the back of the net in the commanding victory. Miyoshi Nagoya put in a strong performance in net for his second shutout of the year.
The Sporting KC U-18s currently sit in fourth place in the Central Conference but hold the No. 1 overall Wild Card spot with a 1.86 points per game through seven matches.
In the second match of the afternoon doubleheader, the Sporting KC U-16s snapped the Solar Chelsea U-16s' three-game winning streak with a 1-1 draw. Sunday's match was the first time the Solar U-16s had been held to fewer than two goals all year. Rockhurst High School junior John Leisman put the visitors ahead in the 36th minute before Malik Shaheed leveled the match for the home side less than three minutes later.
Winter Showcase Schedule |
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|---|---|
Sat., Nov. 29 |
New England vs. SKC U-18s |
Sun., Nov. 30 |
Crew Soccer Academy vs. SKC U-18s<br>
Portland vs. SKC U-16s |
Mon., Dec. 1 |
SKC U-16s vs. Crew Soccer Academy |
Tues., Dec. 2 |
SKC U-18s vs. BW Gottschee |
Wed., Dec. 3 |
Strikers FC vs. SKC U-16s |
Both teams will now travel to Florida this weekend for the USSDA Winter Showcase. The U-16s will play the Portland Timbers, Crew Soccer Academy and Strikers FC (Irvine, California). The U-18s will play the New England Revolution, Crew Soccer Academy and BW Gottschee Academy (Middle Village, New York).
The Sporting KC U-14s and U-12s were at Swope Soccer Village last weekend for a pair of friendlies against the Minnesota Thunder Academy. The U-14s won 7-1 on Saturday and 8-1 on Sunday. Abdu Kikhia led the way with six goals combined in the two matches. The U-12s also went unbeaten last weekend, defeating Minnesota 4-0 on Saturday before drawing the visitors 2-2 on Sunday. JP Pascarella, son of Sporting KC goalkeeper coach John Pascarella, scored two goals in Saturday's victory.
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