The Sporting Kansas City Under-16 Juniors returned from Denver with four points from two matches against the Colorado Rapids this weekend. The U16's picked up their first win in Frontier Division play with a
3-1 victory on Saturday
at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. After falling behind in the 16th minute on a goal from Rapids player Gustavo Montes, Sporting Kansas City rallied back with two goals in a seven-minute span during the first half. Cole Stevenson put Sporting KC on the board first in the 29th minute, followed by Matt Bernard's eventual match-winner in the 36th (
). Sporting Kansas City playmaker Seo-In Kim capped off the win with a spectacular goal on a free kick in the 53rd minute (
).
The Rapids again struck first in Sunday's rematch with Kurt Young's goal in the 11th minute. But Sporting Kansas City capitalized on a man advantage following the ejection of Colorado's Daniel Devora as Steven Enna equalized in the 61st minute for a 1-1 draw. The unbeaten weekend improves the Under-16's to 3-3-5 overall and 1-1-2 in the Frontier Division, where they sit in first place with four games played.
The results weren't as favorable for the Sporting Kansas City Under-18 Juniors (5-5-1, 1-2-1) as they dropped their first two matches of the season in the Frontier Division against a U18 Rapids squad that is undefeated at 7-0-3 in the 2011-12 U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Despite goals from Eduardo Moreno and Derek Schrick, Sporting KC fell 3-2 on Saturday. The conditions in Colorado -- hot and at altitude -- took their toll on Sunday as the Rapids earned a 2-0 win, though Sporting KC remains in second place in the division after the weekend.
