The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 Juniors finished first in the U13 MLS Pre-Academy group at the 2012 SLSG Boys College Showcase, while the Under-14 Sporting KC Juniors were runners-up in the U14 MLS Pre-Academy Division.
The U13's were scheduled against familiar foes St. Louis Scott Gallagher for all of their matches and walked away with three victories, handing each of the host sides their only loss of the tournament. Oliver Bihuniak's volley was the highlight of a 2-0 win in the opening match against SLSG Elite 98/99, followed by a Josh High hat trick in a 4-1 win over SLSG Arsenal. In the tournament finale, the U13's fell behind 1-0 early but fought back for a 2-1 victory behind Israel La Rocha's goal and assist.
"We look forward to taking these results into our very tough NPL schedule, starting next week," said head coach Matt Trumpp. "The 13's sit at 5-0 in NPL and will need some good results to make the playoffs."
The U14's went 2-1-0 at the tournament, kicking it off with a 2-0 win over SLSG Metro on Saturday. The victory "was a great performance all the way around by the boys" according to head coach Dustin Ottesen with goals coming from Logan Lucas and Guillermo Carrasco. The team's only loss of the weekend came against highly-rated SLSG Elite 97/98 on Saturday evening. After a back-and-forth, scoreless first half, the home side capitalized on a set piece and added a second in the game's final minutes with the SKC Juniors pushing forward for an equalizer.
The weekend came to close on a winning note with a 5-0 victory over CSC Pride 97/98 Blue on Sunday. Cole McLagan tallied a hat trick, while Dominick Parry and Dorian Hernandez also added strikes.
"We now have a week off before hitting it hard for a very challenging NPL season," Ottesen said. "We are currently in 4th place in the league and need some good results to make a playoff push."
