Month: September 2018

Sporting KC visits Philadelphia Sunday

Sitting atop the Western Conference with wins in six of their last seven matches, Sporting Kansas City (15-7-6, 51 points) will continue their playoff pursuit Sunday when the club visits the Philadelphia Union (13-12-4, 43 points) for a noon showdown at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The cross-conference clash will air live nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes with a live stream available on WatchESPN, while listeners can catch local radio broadcasts on Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM. In addition, The Final Whistle postgame show will air immediately after the match on 810 WHB.

Two teams who have lost just once in their last seven matches will lock horns this weekend as Sporting KC return to the venue where they hoisted the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. Manager Peter Vermes’ men own a one-point lead at the top of the West and will face a Philadelphia side that boasts a club-record 13 regular-season wins in 2018.

Sporting KC enters Week 30 with the chance to clinch a club-record eighth straight postseason berth, needing a win over Philadelphia plus help from Atlanta, Minnesota and second-place FC Dallas. The team will punch its ticket to the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs if:

• Sporting KC beats Philadelphia on Sunday, and
• Atlanta United FC beats or ties Real Salt Lake on Saturday (6 p.m.), and
• Minnesota United FC beats or ties the Portland Timbers on Saturday (7 p.m.), and
• FC Dallas beats or ties Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday (6 p.m.).

Forward Gerso Fernandes sparkled in Sporting KC’s 5-1 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday, becoming the third player in club history to record two goals and two assists in an MLS match.

Felipe Gutierrez, Ike Opara and Krisztian Nemeth also found the back of the net as Sporting KC bagged five goals in an MLS away game for the first time since April 2000.

With 54 goals through 28 games, Sporting KC are averaging 1.93 goals per game and remain on pace to break the team record for most goals in a regular season. That record stands at 61, set in the inaugural 1996 MLS campaign, meaning Sporting KC need seven goals over their final six games to tie the mark.

Entering the weekend, Sporting KC is the only side to have four players with at least seven MLS goals in 2018: Johnny Russell (eight), Diego Rubio (eight), Daniel Salloi (seven) and Felipe Gutierrez (seven).

Philadelphia atoned for a 4-1 home loss to the Montreal Impact last Saturday by posting a 1-0 away win over the Sounders on Wednesday, snapping Seattle’s historic nine-game winning streak. Fafa Picault slotted home in second-half stoppage time to move level with Cory Burke for the team lead on eight MLS goals.

Picault and Burke form part of a balanced Union attack that also features former Sporting KC striker C.J. Sapong (four goals) and Ilsinho (five goals). Head coach Jim Curtin wields a formidable midfield, as well, with the likes of U.S. international Alejandro Bedoya (two goals, four assists), Haris Medunjanin (two goals, six assists) and Czech playmaker Borek Dockal, who has five goals and an MLS-best 15 assists this season.

A crowded fixture list adds a layer of complexion for the Union, who will travel to face the Houston Dynamo in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final next Wednesday.

With just three days separating Sunday’s battle and the all-important Open Cup tilt, Curtin must decide whether to rest multiple starters this weekend. Philadelphia will be making their third Open Cup Final appearance in five seasons, having lost the championship on home soil in 2014 and 2015 to Seattle and Sporting KC.

Two Sporting KC leaders are on the brink of major milestones. Vermes has amassed 130 regular season wins at the helm, one shy of passing Frank Yallop for sole possession of fifth place in the all-time MLS charts.

Veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza could make his 250th competitive appearance for the club. The Honduran would be the seventh player in Kansas City history to reach that landmark, joining teammates Matt Besler (295) and Graham Zusi (285) as well as current assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin (291), Davy Arnaud (273), Nick Garcia (273) and Preki (254).

Sporting KC leads the head-to-head series with a 6-5-6 record in all competitions, but has just one win in their last seven matches with Philadelphia since 2014. The most recent meeting saw the sides play to a 1-1 draw in July 2017 at Children’s Mercy Park, with Rubio and since-departed Union midfielder Roland Alberg trading second-half goals.

– Story from Sporting KC

Appeals court upholds conviction from KCK

The Kansas Court of Appeals today upheld the conviction of Charles D. Bowser, 22, who was convicted of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and criminal possession of a firearm stemming from an incident in January 2015.

According to court documents, Bowser appealed, arguing that evidence was insufficient for his conviction for aggravated burglary, the Wyandotte County District Court erred in instructing the jury, the state committed prosecutorial error and that with cumulative errors he was deprived of a fair trial.

The appeals court stated today that while the district court may have erred in saying the state was required to prove Bowser knowingly committed aggravated burglary, the court would have to be firmly convinced that the jury would have reached a different verdict had the instruction been correct.

Today the appeals court stated it found no question about the reliability of a witness’s identification. “As a result, the district court did not err in failing to give an eyewitness identification instruction with respect to identification of Bowser,” the court stated.

The appeals court said the “prosecutor’s statements did not fall outside the wide latitude afforded to prosecutors in closing arguments and thus did not constitute error.”

Today, the appeals court ruled that the “district court erred by instructing the jury on the requisite culpable mental state for the crime of aggravated burglary. A single error, however, cannot constitute cumulative error.” The district court’s ruling was affirmed.

Former sheriff’s deputy charged with sexual battery

John Warczakoski, a former deputy of the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, has been charged with two counts of sexual battery, a misdemeanor, according to Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree.

The incidents allegedly involved a female co-worker in June and September of 2018, both on and off-duty.

According to the district attorney’s office, Warczakoski has been a deputy for 12 years and a certified law enforcement officer for five years, and he recently resigned. The case was investigated by the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department.

Dupree recently announced that he would enforce laws involving everyone, including law enforcement officers and public employees.