"This Week in Sporting,” is a weekly series that highlights the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City.
1. Sporting faces Colorado at home in border battle
Sporting Kansas City returns to Children’s Mercy Park for a midweek matchup with their neighbors to the west, the Colorado Rapids. Wednesday’s MLS regular season showdown will mark the second straight midweek match for Sporting, with another one on the horizon next week. Coming off a road loss at Portland, Sporting will look to keep their streak of three consecutive home results intact.
In 2022, Sporting is 3-1-2 in all competitions at Children’s Mercy Park. In those six matches, they have scored nine and conceded six. Tim Melia and the Sporting defense have held opposing offenses scoreless on three occasions this season in front of the home fans. Tickets for Wednesday’s Western Conference clash are available for purchase at SeatGeek.com and the match will be broadcasted on 38 The Spot.
2. Sporting looking to shake up the San Jose
Following Wednesday’s home match, Sporting KC will be back on the road, taking on the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Stadium on Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. CT. Two teams with lots of familiarities, Sporting and San Jose have faced off 62 times in the MLS regular season, dating all the way back to the origins of MLS. Sporting is 7-1-2 against the Earthquakes in their last 10 meetings, and 3-1-1 in their last five visits to the Bay Area.
3. Open Cup craziness
The wildness and magic of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was alive and well in Kansas City last Tuesday. Sporting KC welcomed FC Dallas back to Children’s Mercy Park in the Round of 32, as both teams looked to advance into the Round of 16 in America’s oldest soccer competition.
Dallas took a 2-0 lead into the halftime locker room, but Sporting did not back down. Nikola Vujnovic cut the deficit in half with his first Sporting KC goal and Marinos Tzionis scored the latest regulation goal in Sporting KC history to force extra time. Forward Khiry Shelton forced an own goal in the first half of extra time and put the cherry on top with a goal of his own in the 113th minute to seal the match for Sporting KC.
4. Round of 16 tickets on sale now
Sporting’s exhilarating comeback against Dallas means they will be moving onto the Round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup. After Thursday night’s draw, the bracket is set with Sporting hosting the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are now on sale at SeatGeek.com and all Sporting Season Ticket Members receive complimentary tickets to the match. If Sporting wins, they will host either Union Omaha of USL League One, or Minnesota United in the Open Cup quarterfinals.
5. SKC II’s back-to-back comebacks
Late Sunday night, Sporting KC II pitched an improbable comeback on the road against Portland Timbers2. After a slow first half, T2 scored just five minutes into the second half. SKC II would find the equalizer 21 minutes later off Julian Vazquez’s second goal in as many games. Sporting KC Academy product Mateo Bunbury fired home giving a 10-man SKC II side their first lead of the match in the 88th minute. Head coach Benny Feilhaber has the boys buzzing as they look to carry this momentum into a match with Earthquakes II on Friday at 8 p.m. CT.
6. Sporting KC Academy competes in MLS NEXT Flex
The Sporting KC Academy has kicked off their MLS NEXT Flex campaign as the U15s, U17s and U19s hunt for a spot in the MLS NEXT Playoffs with three group stage matches at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, MD. The U15s are off to a hot start winning their first two matches against New York Soccer Club and Santa Barbra Soccer Club. The U17s suffered back-to-back defeats with the U19s earning a point against Toronto FC. The Sporting U15s will look to earn a playoff berth when they take on Weston FC Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. CT. Fans can follow along at @SKCAcademy on Twitter.
