Month: December 2019

Houston to be home opener opponent for Sporting

The Houston Dynamo will be the home opener opponent for Sporting KC on Saturday, March 7, the club announced on Thursday.

The 2020 home opener will be at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Sporting KC will play at Vancouver on Saturday, Feb. 29, in the first game of the season, and the earliest start to a regular season in league history.

Season tickets are now on sale at SportingKC.com, and also multi-game ticket packages are available. Single tickets will be sold starting in early 2020.

All 26 MLS teams unveiled their home openers on Thursday. The full regular season schedules will be announced later.

The 2020 year will be MLS’s 25th season celebration and the 20-year anniversary of Sporting’s historic 2000 season, which won the club the MLS Cup title.

Sporting is unbeaten in its last five home games against the Dynamo, most recently claiming a 1-0 win at Children’s Mercy Park last August.

The rivals have squared off in several high-stakes matchups this decade, including four editions of the MLS Cup Playoffs (2011-2013, 2017) and four straight Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournaments from 2015-2018. Sporting has battled Houston 32 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent.

A visit to BBC Place on Feb. 29 will see Sporting open its MLS season in Canada for the first time ever. Manager Peter Vermes’ side has won its last two road games against the Whitecaps in convincing fashion, prevailing 4-1 in October 2018 and winning 3-0 last July.

Sporting owns a 9-3-4 regular season record in the series and has outscored Vancouver 14-2 across the last four meetings.

Sporting has won 13 season openers as an original member of MLS, tied for the most in the league. In addition to going 13-7-4 in annual curtain raisers, Sporting boasts a 14-3-7 record in home openers, including a 3-1-5 mark at Children’s Mercy Park.

  • Story from Sporting KC

KCKCC home Friday after 10 Blue Devils score at least 9 points each in win

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Balance can sometimes be an over-used term when it comes to basketball but not so in Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 97-57 win over Saint Mary junior varsity in Leavenworth Tuesday.

Ten Blue Devils played and all 10 scored at least nine points – but no one with more than 11. In addition, eight Blue Devils had rebounds and eight had assists.

The win, KCKCC’s second in its last three games, brings the Blue Devils home for the first time in nearly three weeks. On the road for their last five games and 9 of 11 this season, the Blue Devils are home for the final three games in December starting Friday against Washburn University junior varsity at 7 p.m.

Jaemaal Newton led KCKCC at Saint Mary, hitting 4-of-5 shots for 11 points. Three Blue Devils had 10 points, Robert Rhodes, Calvin Slaughter and Tyione Gilmore, and a half-dozen scored nine points each – Ezekiel Lopes, DeAngelo Ball, Jalen Davis, Jermaine Yarbough, Derin McDaniel and Tim Barbieri.

Offensively, the Blue Devils sizzled, shooting 73.5 percent from the field (36-of-49) and 60.0 percent from 3-point (12-of-20).

Gilmore was a perfect 5-of-5, Rhodes 5-of-6 and Lopes, Ball, Slaughter and Barbieri each 3-of-4.

Six Blue Devils had 3-pointers with Lopes and McDaniel each knocking down three and Davis and Barbieri two. Combined, the quartet was 10-for-12 from the perimeter.

KCKCC had 23 assists on 36 field goals; Lopes and McDaniel leading with five each and Slaughter with four.

With few rebounds to be had because of the torrid KCKCC shooting, the Blue Devils had only a 27-26 edge with Yarbough pulling down five and Lopes, Davis, Newson and Rhodes four each. Rhodes also had three blocked shots.

“A good team effort,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. “We’re building to finish strong the first semester and build momentum.”

Next week, the Blue Devils are home to State Fair on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Southwestern (Iowa) Saturday at 4 p.m. to wrap up the first half of the season.