Month: October 2017

KCKCC blanks Garden City in first home playoff contest

Garden City’s Peter Lvusic had no place to go as he’s pinched between KCKCC’s Ricardo Angelo and Guilherme Grave (9) in a battle for ball possession in opening Region VI playoff action won by the Blue Devils 4-0 Thursday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

A long time coming but Kansas City Kansas Community College’s first home soccer playoff was worth the wait.

Unable to hold past playoff games because the previous soccer field was not regulation size, the Blue Devils wrote a 4-0 blanking of Garden City into the record book Thursday night. The win ended a four-game Garden City win streak.

The win advanced KCKCC into the Final Four of the Region VI playoffs and sent the Blue Devils (9-3-1) to Cloud County in Concordia Sunday at 1 p.m. The West champion at 14-2, Cloud opened playoff action with a 3-1 win over Johnson County Thursday.

The game was played with winds gusting 20-30 miles an hour out of the north and a chill factor in the 30’s, giving a distinct advantage to the team with the wind at its back. However, the Blue Devils scored just one goal with the wind the first half and the three into the wind the second half.

“We wanted to take advantage of the wind and score more goals in the first half but it didn’t happen,” KCKCC coach Ruben Rodriguez said.” At halftime, we told the team we faced a tough challenge in the second half and they really stepped up to the plate.”

Sophomore Guilherme Grave scored the lone first half goal on a leaping shot past Garden City goalkeeper Louis Sharp. The goal came on a pass from Harmon sophomore Jesse Calderon 18 minutes into the first half.

The Blue Devils then broke the game open with two goals in the first nine minutes of the second half. Sophomore Ricardo Angelo scored the first on a pass from freshman Gustavo Palmeiri at the 52-minute mark and two minutes later freshman Reed Axthelm made it 3-0 on an assist from Grave. Dubai freshman Abdulrahmen Khalid got the final goal with four minutes left on an assist from freshman Hector Valles.

Sophomore Youssef Gadelkerim of Dubai pitched the shutout for the Blue Devils, stopping three shots on goal while the Blue Devils peppered Sharp with 10 shots.

“A good win; I was happy for the boys,” Rodriguez said. “Now we have to get ready for our next game with Cloud.”

In other first round action Thursday, East champion Neosho County (15-3-1) defeated Northwest Kansas Technical College 4-1 and will play Barton County Sunday. Barton (13-5-1) was a 5-4 winner over Cowley. Sunday’s two winners will collide Tuesday with the winner advancing to the four-team NJCAA Plains Division championship in Topeka Nov. 2-3.

A leaping Guilherme Grave gave Garden City goalkeeper Louis Sharp no chance Thursday as he fired a shot that gave Kansas City Kansas Community College its first goal in a 4-0 opening playoff win. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

Trick-or-treating at a recreation center event

Trick-or-treaters visited tables for candy treats on Saturday evening at a Halloween party at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. The event was sponsored by the Leavenworth Road Association, Multiply Church and the Unified Government – Wyandotte County Parks. (Photo by Lou Braswell)

by Lou Braswell

A fun and safe Halloween party was presented Saturday evening by Leavenworth Road Association with partners Multiply Church and the Unified Government – Wyandotte County Parks.

It was a toss-up, who had the most fun, the volunteers and sponsors or the kids. The gym was filled with activities of all kinds, games, prizes, cotton candy, photo booth, great volunteers from Multiply Church and of course youth having lots of fun.

Across hall were the LRA members and sponsors handing out treats as the little goblins went from table to table (similar to door to door) knocking for treats and free hot dogs. We had a total of 15 sponsored trick-or-treat tables.

With our hot dog chef tending to the grill outdoors and our crew inside adding the bun and wrapping the hot dogs, we had all bases covered, inside and outside of Eisenhower Recreation Center, 2901 N. 72nd.

Did I mention Santa stopped by to join the fun? He said it was his last stop before going back to the North Pole to help his elves get ready for his next trip to Kansas City, Kansas, in late December. So glad he was able to have some fun before his busy season.

Community pride working together, makes for another of those “feel good feelin’ kind of day.” Can’t wait for 2018 safe Halloween event.

Lou Braswell is the executive director of the Leavenworth Road Association.

Multiply Church volunteers held a planning meeting before the Halloween party on Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
Sylvester Smith grilled hot dogs for the Halloween party on Saturday evening at Eisenhower Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
Dr. Seuss and Ms. Kitty were a couple of the characters found at the Halloween party Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo from LRA)
Santa Claus arrived at a Halloween event Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
One youngster wore an elephant costume Saturday evening at the Halloween event at the Eisenhower Recreation Center. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
Another child dressed as a bumble bee for the Halloween event Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
One child dressed as a leopard for the Halloween event Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
Three children enjoyed the Halloween event Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
Many Halloween activities were located in the gym at Eisenhower Recreation Center on Saturday evening. The activities in the gym were sponsored by Multiply Church. (Photo by Lou Braswell)
A spider race was one of the Halloween activities on Saturday evening at the Eisenhower Recreation Center. (Photo by Lou Braswell)

Swope Park Rangers win 1-0 over Sacramento at conference final soccer match in KCK

The Swope Park Rangers (18-8-8) advanced to the Western Conference Final with a 1-0 victory over Sacramento Republic FC (13-13-8) on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kharlton Belmar scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season less than a minute into the second half and Adrian Zendejas made four saves for his ninth clean sheet of the year.

The Rangers, who won the Western Conference Final a year ago to reach the USL Cup Final in the team’s inaugural season, will now await Saturday night’s winner between OKC Energy FC and San Antonio FC for their opponent in the Conference Final, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4.

In the first half, SPR twice came close to opening the scoring. Lebo Moloto, who created a game-high five chances on Saturday, found Belmar behind the Sacramento backline however the Republic FC goalkeeper Evan Newton came off his line for an important and impressive early save.

Amer Didic was then inches from scoring in his second straight postseason match when he connected with a corner kick from Felipe Hernandez only to see his header strike the woodwork.

On the opposite end, the Rangers defense held the visitors to only two shots on target in the first half and both came on long-range attempts. Villyan Bijev tested Adrian Zendejas from 30 yards out before Sammy Ochoa tried his luck from midfield minutes later.

The game’s decisive moment came 52 seconds into the start of the second half when New Zealand international James Musa, who returned to the SPR lineup for the first time in a month, clipped a pass into the path of Tyler Pasher.

Despite being brought down by two defenders, Pasher managed to direct his shot goalward and off the hand of Newton to set up Belmar for the opportunistic finish on the rebound with an alert header into the empty net. Belmar’s 15 goals this season are a career-high and rank fourth most in the USL.

Pasher continued to be a spark for SPR and nearly doubled the Rangers’ lead in the 50th minute, racing onto a through ball from Moloto and skipping his shot wide of the far post.

The Republic FC responded with three promising scoring chances, all through Bijev. The Portland Timbers 2 loanee had his header saved in the 64th minute, followed by a first-time effort in the 71st minute that bounced narrowly past the post and a well-struck shot in the 75th minute that required a diving stop by Zendejas.

Ultimately, it would be the home side that looked the more likely to score in the game’s late stages with second-half substitutes Nansel Selbol and Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal each threatening in a span of 15 seconds. Selbol danced through the defense and forced a final save from Newton before his fellow Sporting KC Academy product unleashed a dipping shot from distance that missed the target by the slimmest of margins.

Given one last look on a free kick in stoppage time, Sacramento Republic FC failed to capitalize on the opportunity as centerback Christopher Christian sailed the set piece a dozen rows deep into the South Stand.

The Swope Park Rangers will play in the Western Conference Final on Saturday, Nov. 4, versus the winner between second seed San Antonio FC and sixth seed OKC Energy FC. As the fourth seed in the Western Conference, SPR would be the host of OKC Energy FC should Jimmy Nielsen’s squad pull off the upset and SPR would travel to Texas if the USL’s best defensive team advances.
– Story from Swope Park Rangers