The Sporting Kansas City under-16 and under-18 Juniors returned from Colorado with three draws from four matches over the weekend. The U16's picked up two points on the road with a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rush on Saturday behind a penalty kick from David Leichty. The Shawnee Mission South junior struck again on Sunday, along with Rockhurst sophomore Luke Stanley, as the squad came back from a two-goal deficit against Real Colorado to earn a 2-2 draw. Jon Parry's team now sits in fifth place in the Central Conference's Frontier Division with a a 2-2-4 record and a 4-4-7 mark overall during the 2011-12 U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
The U18's fell 2-0 on Saturday as Joshua Mascolo got the game-winning goal in the 35th minute (video here) for the Colorado Rush and the team's leading scorer Matt Marchena sealed it late with his strike in the 87th minute. On Sunday, Paul Rideout's team responded with a hard fought 0-0 draw against Real Colorado despite going down a man when Nate Opperman received his second caution of the match. Jacole Turner, who was featured on KSMO's Off the Pitch on Sunday, earned the clean sheet in net. The U18's (1-5-3, 5-8-3) now sit in seventh position in the division with five games to be played.
Both teams will next face St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro on Saturday, May 12 at the SLSG Facility.
