Month: July 2014

Sporting KC to play rival Chicago at 2 p.m. Sunday in KCK

Sporting Kansas City will play host to Eastern Conference rivals Chicago Fire on Sunday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The match will be nationally televised on ESPN, WatchESPN and ESPN Deportes. Local coverage is on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Gran D 1340 AM.

A limited number of tickets may be available, including standing room only tickets beginning at $20, and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or the Sporting Park box offices on game day.

Sporting KC enters the weekend atop the Eastern Conference with 25 points and a regular season record of 7-5-2.

Most recently, Sporting KC defeated the Portland Timbers 1-0 at Providence Park despite only traveling 16 players due to injuries and international competition. Lawrence Olum scored the game-winner in the 24th minute, his first goal of the 2014 season.

The Sporting KC defense secured the club’s seventh clean sheet of the season. Kronberg’s seven shutouts — including two in the month of June for a 242 minute active shutout streak — and 0.88 goals against average are League bests among goalkeepers with minimum of 400 minutes played in MLS this season and yielded MLS Player of the Month honors for the veteran goalkeeper.

Chicago visits Kansas City after a midweek draw with Toronto FC at Toyota Park. The Fire fell behind just before the halftime intermission. A 29th-minute red card shown to Toronto’s Luke Moore gave Chicago a man-advantage for nearly 60 minutes and rookie Harry Shipp was able to notch the equalizer with his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Chicago sits towards the bottom of the MLS standings but has lost only once in its last six matches.

In that six-match stretch, Chicago earned two victories in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play by defeating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the Columbus Crew to advance to the quarterfinals of the 101st edition of the tournament.

The Fire will be without Quincy Amarikwa on Sunday as he serves a mandatory one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Amarikwa has scored five goals and added three assists for the Fire this season. Sporting KC midfielder Antonio Dovale will also serve the final game of his suspension for a red card received in a 2-0 win at Houston last month.

All ticket holders are encouraged to arrive early on Sunday to welcome back Matt Besler and Graham Zusi as part of a special ceremony prior to the match. Besler and Zusi spent the last seven weeks with the U.S. Men’s National Team for preparation and participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
– Story from Sporting KC

KCK race driver supports benefit for Wreaths Across America

Jennifer Jo Cobb, a race car driver from Kansas City, Kan., and her racing team have joined with the Used Truck Association to encourage fans to sponsor a remembrance wreath for a fallen veteran at the Arlington National Cemetery for $15 each.

All proceeds will go to Wreaths Across America as a charitable donation.

For every wreath sponsored between now and Veterans Day through the UTA website or at a Cobb appearance, Cobb will sign the name of each donor on a wreath decal and place it on her truck. Cobb has been racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year.

“We felt it was appropriate to kick this off on the 4th of July and we’re going to offer this opportunity through Veteran’s Day weekend. We will add the donation wreath decals to each truck I will race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series between now and the race on November 7 at Phoenix International Raceway.” Cobb said. “I’d love to meet our goal to Cover Arlington as well as cover our #10 Driven2Honor race truck with remembrance wreath decals and names of donors.”

Approximately half of Arlington National Cemetery was covered last year and Cobb and the UTA announced in February a goal to cover the remaining grave sites at Arlington with remembrance wreaths through WAA.

Approximately 100,000 more donors are needed to cover Arlington than what participated in 2013.

Wreaths Across America Day is Dec. 13. WAA is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charity in Columbia
Falls, Maine, that delivered more than 540,000 such wreaths in all fifty states last year to veteran cemeteries including 142,700 at Arlington. Fans who sponsor a wreath will also be recognized with a personal thank you on the Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Facebook page as well as the honorary wreath decal. To learn more, go to www.uta.org/driven2honor or to sponsor a wreath go to www.uta.org/driven2honor/join_our_group.

Offense struggles in T-Bones loss

The T-Bones stranded 13 runners Friday night, falling 2-1 to Sioux Falls on the fourth of July series opener in front of 8,117 fans at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Offensively Kansas City was anything but stagnant, recording nine hits in the loss. It was the lack of timely hits and extra-base hits (two) that resulted in the T-Bones leaving 13 batters stranded. The T-Bones threatened in nearly every inning including loading the bases in the ninth with one out before Nick Schwaner grounded into a game-ending double play.

The Canaries needed just enough offense to take game one. That offense came first in the top of the third. With an 0-1 count, Canaries shortstop Stephen Branca launched a leadoff solo home run over the left-field wall giving Sioux Falls a 1-0 lead.

Sioux Falls tacked on another run in the fourth inning. Both Carlos Mendez and Chris Valencia hit back-to-back doubles, starting things off in the inning, driving in one run.

Both starters went deep into the game, giving their bullpens much needed rest. Kansas City starter Daniel Barone (5-2) received the loss after getting shook up in the third and fourth. Barone went 7 innings, striking out six allowing two runs off eight hits.

Sioux Falls starter Kyle Vazquez (4-3) picked up the win after shutting down the Kansas City offense. He tossed 6 scoreless innings, allowing only seven hits, and striking out a pair of batters.

Alan DeRatt notched his 10th save of the year despite giving up the lone T-Bones run in the ninth when David Espinosa singled past short, bringing home T.J. Mittelstaedt.

The T-Bones (22-25) and Canaries (20-27) continue their four-game series with a doubleheader starting Saturday at 5:05 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Providence Medical Center Box Office at CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 913-328-5618.

Box score: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=177919
– Story from T-Bones