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by William Crum
Atlanta FC United is visiting Sporting Kansas City tonight at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
At the game tonight, they celebrated the Sporting KC proud heritage.
With 39 minutes into the first quarter, Atlanta scored to make it Atlanta United 1, Sporting 0.
Josef Martinez with Atlanta United made the first goal.
Atlanta made two more goals in the match, pulling ahead 3-0.
The final score was Atlanta 3, Sporting KC 0.
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College has advanced to the NJCAA Region VI semifinal playoffs in Topeka.
A come-from-behind 6-4 win and a 9-0 shutout in a sweep of Cloud County in first round playoff action Saturday propelled the No. 7 seeded Blue Devils (36-18) into the four-team District D regional against No. 2 Hesston (34-11) next Saturday. The game will be played at 10 a.m. on the South Field at Topeka’s Hummer Park.
In the double elimination tournament, a win would send the Blue Devils against the Johnson County-Murray State winner at 2 p.m.; a loss and KCKCC would meet the JCCC-Murray State loser, also at 2 p.m.
Shortstop Hannah Redick provided the heroics in the 6-4 opener; Mackenzie Pinkerton hurled a two-hit pitching gem in the 9-0 nightcap played before the biggest crowd of the season as fans lined the right field line and watched from behind the left field fence.
Trailing 4-2, the Blue Devils rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the first game.
Brittney Beck singled with one out and scored all the way from first on Jennica Messer’s single to right and a throwing error. Britney Smith beat out a bunt for a hit and both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch before Redick delivered the game’s biggest blow – a ringing double to right-center to score the tying and lead runs. Pinkerton then added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.
“Hannah has been a good hitter all season; a nominee for freshman of the year,” KCKCC coach Lana Ross said. “She’s been a great leadoff for us.”
With the lead, freshman Shay Grosstephan shut the Thunderbirds down in the seventh aided by a double play started by Smith at second, who tagged a runner and threw to first. Grosstephan allowed six hits, walking two and striking out two. Cloud took a 1-0 lead in the first on a pair of two-out doubles but Grosstephan retired 12 of the next 14 hitters before the T-Birds took advantage of a two-out error to score three runs in the fifth and go ahead 4-2.
Grosstephan helped her own cause in the first inning with a run-scoring double after a Devin Purcell single and a Pinkerton single and Smith two-out double gave KCKCC a 2-1 lead in the fourth.
Pinkerton faced only 17 hitters in her 2-hit gem in the 5-inning second game.
“Both pitchers pitched well and we did a good job of coming from behind, something we’ve done all season and worked on in practice this week,” Ross said. “Our base-running was also good, something we worked on.”
Sophomore Kaylee Arnzen’s 10th home run, a 3-run no doubter to left, was the final touch in the 5-inning nightcap. KCKCC took a 2-0 lead in the first on singles by Redick, Purcell and Grosstephan and a ground ball and added two in the third on Pinkerton’s 2-run double following singles by Arnzen and Alexis Rymer.
Singles by Beck and Smith ignited a 5-run fourth with Beck scoring on Smith’s single and Redick’s squeeze bunt scoring Smith. After a double by Purcell and single by Grosstephan, Arnzen launched her home run to left.
A marquee MLS matchup beckons Sunday night as Sporting Kansas City, first-place finishers in the Western Conference last season, plays host to defending MLS Cup champion Atlanta United FC at 8 p.m. at Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas.
Tickets for the highly anticipated Retro Night showdown are available at SeatGeek.com, including a Cinco de Mayo Tailgate Package. The first 10,000 fans through the Children’s Mercy Park gates will also receive a free 1999-2019 team poster.
Sunday’s contest will air live nationally on FS1, FOX Deportes and SiriusXM FC, while Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM will transmit local radio broadcasts. Fans can also catch a live stream on FOX Sports GO and receive additional in-game updates on the Sporting KC App, available for free download on the App Store and Google Play.
Sporting enters Week 10 of the MLS campaign with the second-best scoring offense in the league, having bagged 19 goals through eight matches.
Manager Peter Vermes’ men have been particularly lethal at Children’s Mercy Park, where they have scored 15 times in four league games and 23 times in seven competitive matches overall.
Sporting is unbeaten in 10 straight regular season home games dating back to last August and boasts a 29-3-15 regular season home record since June 2016.
Last weekend’s 4-4 draw with the New England Revolution saw Felipe Gutierrez and Krisztian Nemeth notch two goals apiece.
Nemeth has a team-best 10 goals in all competitions this year, needing 14 more to tie the club record for most goals in a single season.
Indeed, Sporting has had little trouble on the offensive side in recent weeks. The bigger challenge has been limiting the opposition, as the club has conceded four goals in consecutive MLS matches for the first time since 2002.
To complicate matters, Sporting currently has nine players on the club’s injury report heading into Sunday. Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, Gerso Fernandes, Erik Hurtado, Jaylin Lindsey, Jimmy Medranda and Rodney Wallace are all out, while Andreu Fontas and Ilie Sanchez are listed as questionable with calf issues.
Atlanta United FC was the toast of MLS last year, improving on a solid 2017 debut with a rampant 2018 campaign that culminated with an MLS Cup victory over the Portland Timbers.
Reigning MLS MVP Josef Martinez amassed a record-breaking 30 regular-season goals, playmaker Miguel Almiron landed a transfer to Newcastle United in the English Premier League with his midfield displays, and head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino hoisted the trophy before taking the same job with the Mexican national team.
However, Atlanta’s bid to repeat is off to a rocky start. Martino has been replaced by Frank de Boer, and an offense that ranked first in MLS last season has a league-worst six goals through seven matches in 2019.
The Five Stripes currently occupy 10th place in the Eastern Conference, and while midfielder Ezequiel Barco has impressed in the early stages-he leads the team with three goals and 14 chances.
Sporting is 1-0-1 in two previous meetings against Atlanta, earning a 1-1 home draw on Aug. 6, 2017, and prevailing 2-0 on the road on May 9, 2018.
Gerso and fellow forward Daniel Salloi scored second-half goals in last year’s victory as Sporting became the first team ever to shut out Atlanta in a regular season match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Continuing a long-standing Retro Night tradition, fans will have the opportunity to purchase the club’s new retro jersey at SportingStyle locations inside the stadium on Sunday while supplies last.
A comprehensive throwback experience at Children’s Mercy Park will feature 1990s pregame music and videoboard graphics paying homage to the old-school Kansas City Wiz rainbow.