MLS Game #3
Saturday, April 2, 2011, 6:00 p.m. CT
English TV: KSMO
Spanish TV: Time Warner Cable Ch. 5
Spanish Radio: La Gran D 1340 AM
Empire Field | Vancouver, British Columbia
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 50 degrees
Attendance: 20,518
Video: Match Highlights
Score: 1 2 F
Sporting Kansas City (1-1-1, 4 pts) 1 2 3
Vancouver Whitecaps (1-1-1, 4 pts) 0 3 3
Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington, Julio Cesar (Shavar Thomas 82), Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza; Birahim Diop, Davy Arnaud © (Stephane Auvray 76), Milos Stojcev (Craig Rocastle 89); C.J. Sapong, Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara
Subs not used: Korede Aiyegbusi, Eric Kronberg, Scott Lorenz, Luke Sassano
Vancouver Whitecaps: Jay Nolly; Jonathan Leathers, Greg Janicki (Nizar Khalfan 63), Michael Boxall, Alain Rochat; Wes Knight (Davide Chiumiento 69), Terry Dunfield, Gershon Koffie, Blake Wagner; Atiba Harris, Camilo
Subs not used: Joe Cannon, Bilal Duckett, Kevin Harmse, Philippe Davies, Long Tan
Stats: SKCVAN
Shots 13 19
Shots on Goal 7 9
Saves 6 4
Fouls 15 8
Offside 5 3
Corner Kicks 6 5
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Michael Harrington (caution, Delaying a Restart) 64
SKC – Birahim Diop (caution, Dissent) 68
SKC – Teal Bunbury (caution, Delaying a Restart) 88
Scoring Summary:
SKC – Teal Bunbury 2 (Roger Espinoza 1) 46+
SKC – Teal Bunbury 3 (Milos Stojcev 1) 58
SKC – Kei Kamara 1 (C.J. Sapong 1, Milos Stojcev 2) 62
VAN – Atiba Harris 2 (Nizar Khalfan 1, Camilo 1) 73
VAN – Camilo 1 (Davide Chiumiento 3, Terry Dunfield 1) 92+
VAN – Camilo 2 (Nizar Khalfan 2, Atiba Harris 3) 93+
(April 2, 2011) – Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver Whitecaps FC ended an entertaining first encounter in a 3-3 draw on Saturday. Sporting KC striker Teal Bunbury tallied two goals in his first start of the season and fellow forward Kei Kamara gave Sporting Kansas City a 3-0 lead in the 62nd minute, but Vancouver scored twice in second half stoppage time to complete the three-goal comeback.
Bunbury, an Ontario-native, marked his first appearance in Canada since committing to the United States Men’s National Team during the offseason with Sporting Kansas City’s first two goals to continue his strong start to the 2011 season. After scoring last week in his return from a dislocated elbow suffered during the pre-season, Bunbury opened the scoring on Saturday in first half stoppage time. One minute after nearly scoring on a left-footed curler, Bunbury bent a right-footed shot around Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly on an assist from defender Roger Espinoza.
The timely goal, and a superb first half from goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen sent Sporting Kansas City into the locker room with a 1-0 halftime lead. Nielsen was called into action for a series of superb saves in the opening 45 minutes, beginning with a sprawling stop on a shot from Vancouver’s Camilo in the 28th minute. Less than a minute later, the 2010 MLS All-Star dove low to block a long-distance shot from Blake Wagner. The barrage of scoring chances for Vancouver kept coming, but Nielsen was up to the challenge as he turned away attempts from the Whitecaps striker tandem of Atiba Harris in the 33rd minute and Camilo again in the 36th minute.
Sporting Kansas City weren’t without additional scoring chances of their own in the first half as Kamara troubled the Vancouver defense, first directing a header inches over the crossbar in the 6th minute and later missing narrowly on a first-time shot aimed for the nearpost in the 26th minute. Captain Davy Arnaud also joined the attack, forcing a solid save by Nolly in the 11th minute on a shot from outside the penalty area.
The missed scoring opportunities for both sides loomed large as the two clubs combined for an offensive outburst with five goals in the final 45 minutes. Sporting Kansas City struck first in the 58th minute, doubling their lead courtesy of Bunbury’s second of the match. The 21-year-old striker received a well-placed pass into the penalty area from midfielder Milos Stojcev and cut inside Whitecaps defender Greg Janicki before burying his shot for his first career multi-goal game.
Four minutes later, Kamara recorded his first goal of the 2011 season after rookie forward C.J. Sapong raced down the left sideline and sent a pass back to the penalty spot with the outside of his foot. Kamara timed his run well and connected with the cross first-time, sending his shot off the post and into the back of the net to give Sporting Kansas City a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead with under 30 minutes to play.
But Vancouver put the first dent in Sporting Kansas City’s three-goal lead with Harris’ second goal of the season in the 73rd minute. Second-half substitute Nizar Khalfan set-up the scoring play with a cross from the left side that found Harris unmarked inside the six-yard box and the Saint Kitts and Nevis international was able to use his body to push the ball over the goalline.
Nielsen continued his inspired effort in goal for Sporting Kansas City in the 80th minute to deny Harris from scoring again, but the Danish goalkeeper could do little to stop either of the game’s last two goals in consecutive minutes in second-half stoppage time.
In the 92nd minute, Whitecaps midfielder Terry Dunfield played a long ball to teammate Davide Chiumiento over the top of the Sporting KC backline, allowing the Swiss winger to slip a pass to Camilo for an easy tap-in to set the stage for more of his own heroics one minute later. The 22-year-old Brazilian completed the comeback with a perfectly placed header into the top corner of the goal on a cross from Khalfan in the third of five minutes of added time.
The surprising stoppage-time equalizer made for a frantic final two minutes as Vancouver pushed forward behind a home crowd of 20,000+ at Empire Field. The game’s final chance would fall to Khalfan, but the Tanzanian international sent his shot high and wide seconds before the final whistle.
Sporting Kansas City will return to action on Wednesday in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match against the Houston Dynamo in College Station, Texas.
Fast Facts:
• With the draw, Sporting Kansas City is 1-1-1 in 2011 and is currrently tied for fourth position in the Eastern Conference, pending other results on Saturday.
• Sporting KC and Vancouver met for the first time on Saturday, as the Whitecaps are one of two new expansion teams in Major League Soccer in 2011 along with the Portland Timbers.
• With the draw, the first points allowed by Vancouver at home in their MLS era, Sporting Kansas City has now been the first team to earn points at a team’s home stadium five times in MLS history: San Jose Earthquakes in 1996, Houston Dynamo in 2006, Toronto FC in 2007, Seattle Sounders in 2009 and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2011.
• Sporting Kansas City striker Teal Bunbury scored for the second straight game, marking the second time in his young career with goals in back-to-back games. He also accomplished the feat with goals in wins over Chivas USA and Houston on September 19th and 22nd of last season.
• Sporting KC is 5-1-1 all-time in MLS play when Bunbury scores.
• Bunbury has three goals in 135 minutes of action this season and is tied for the League-lead with D.C. striker Charlie Davies despite missing a game and a half due to a dislocated elbow suffered during pre-season.
• Bunbury, in his second MLS season, has seven goals in his career.
• Saturday’s goals came in his first game in Canada since committing to the U.S. Men’s National Team during the off-season. Bunbury, an Ontario native, previously played for Canada at the U-17 and U-20 level before switching to the U.S. He debuted in November against South Africa and scored his first international goal in his second appearance for the U.S. against Chile in January.
• Bunbury’s goal was also his first goal on his native Canadian soil and second against a Canadian team. He also scored against Toronto FC on July 31st, 2010.
• Rookie striker C.J. Sapong was credited with his first career assist, providing the pass for Kamara’s goal in the second half on Saturday. Sapong now has three points in 2011, having played every minute for Sporting Kansas City this season.
• Midfielder Milos Stojcev recorded his first career point in MLS on Saturday, assisting on Bunbury’s second goal.
• Defender Roger Espinoza Espinoza’s recorded his 7th career assist on Bunbury’s first goal. The assist was Espinoza’s first since July 14, 2010, which was also on a Bunbury goal.
• Defender Michael Harrington made his first appearance of 2011, starting and playing the full 90 minutes at right back.
• Defender Shavar Thomas also made his first appearance of 2011, coming in at the 82-minute mark for central defender Julio Cesar.
• Sporting Kansas City was without striker Omar Bravo, MLS Player of the Week for week one, as the Designated Player served a mandatory one-game suspension for the red card he received in last week’s 3-2 loss at Chicago.
• Captain Davy Arnaud started the 200th regular season match of his MLS career on Saturday, breaking a tie with Preki for fourth on the team’s all-time chart.
• Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen assumed captain’s duties for Sporting Kansas City following the departure of midfielder Davy Arnaud in the 76th minute.
• Nielsen made six saves in the draw, one shy of his career-high, and now has 17 on the season.
• KSMO-TV will air highlights and reaction from Saturday’s match on the station’s weekly 30-minute soccer show “Off the Pitch with Sporting Kansas City” on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. CT.
