Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg fractured the fourth metacarpal bone on his left hand during training on Wednesday at the Swope Soccer Village. Surgery is not required and Kronberg is expected to miss approximately eight weeks due to the injury, the club announced today.
Kronberg, 31, has started all 17 MLS matches for Sporting Kansas City during the 2014 season and leads Major League Soccer with seven shutouts and a 0.88 goals against average. The reigning MLS Player of the Month, Kronberg currently ranks third at his position in MLS All-Star fan voting behind only World Cup participants Nick Rimando (USA) and Julio Cesar (Brazil).
Sporting Kansas City selected Kronberg in the fourth round of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of California. Now in his ninth professional season, Kronberg is the club's longest-tenured player and has remained with his current club longer than any active MLS goalkeeper. Only one player (Davy Arnaud) in club history has been with the team for more than nine seasons and only three other active MLS players have longer tenures with their teams: Logan Pause (12), Landon Donovan (10) and Gonzalo Segares (10).
The club also announced on Wednesday that goalkeeper Jon Kempin has been recalled from his loan to USL PRO affiliate OKC Energy FC. The Leawood, Kansas native has five shutouts and 37 saves with a 1.38 goals against average in 13 games played during OKC Energy FC's inaugural season.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper was Sporting Kansas City's first Homegrown player upon signing in 2010 at age 17 and is now in his fifth professional season. Kempin made his competitive debut for Sporting KC during the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and made 34 saves in nine games while on loan with USL PRO champions Orlando City SC in 2013.
Kempin was a member of the U.S. Soccer Under-17 Residency Program at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and has extensive experience for the United States at the Youth National Team level. He most recently joined the United States Under-21 Men's National Team in April and has also trained with the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team.
Kempin joins Andy Gruenebaum as the two available goalkeepers for Manager Peter Vermes during Kronberg's absence. Gruenebaum, an Overland Park, Kansas native, played his first eight professional seasons with the Columbus Crew before joining Sporting Kansas City prior to the 2014 season. He started both matches for Sporting Kansas City in the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
