Month: May 2021

Plenty of reasons to give at-large soccer berth to KCKCC women

Barton scores with 2:09 left to edge Blue Devils 2-1 in regional playoffs

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Has the best women’s soccer team in Kansas City Kansas Community College earned an at-large berth in the NJCAA Division I national tournament? The facts say a resounding yes.

An automatic bid eluded the No. 10-ranked Blue Devils Saturday when they dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker in the Region VI semifinals, Barton County scoring the winning goal with 2:09 remaining.

The win advanced Barton (12-3-1) into Sunday’s championship game against Butler, a 1-0 upset winner over Hutchinson in the regional played in Stryker Arena in Wichita.

Three at-large berths are up for grabs for the national tourney to be played in Owens, Georgia.

“I think we have a decent chance of getting one,” KCKCC coach Shawn Uhlenhake said. Here’s what the Blue Devils have going for them:

  1. They were the top ranked team (No. 10) in one of the best conferences in the nation with five teams – No. 17 Cowley, Barton, Butler, Hutchinson and KCKCC ranked in the Top 20 at one time or another.
  2. The Blue Devils defeated both regional finalists, Barton and Butler, along with Cowley and tied with Hutchinson.
  3. The Blue Devils’ record of 12-2-1, the best in KCKCC history percentage wise, ranks among the best in the nation. The losses to Barton and Coffeyville were each by one goal.
  4. KCKCC scored more goals (46) and gave up fewer goals (12) than any team in the Jayhawk Conference and the Blue Devils’ 11-game winning streak was one of the NJCAA’s best.

If an invitation is to come, it won’t be until Wednesday.

“I’ve given the team off Monday, we’ll practice Tuesday, train on Wednesday and then wait and see,” Uhlenhake said. “It’s probably harder to get an at large bid losing in the semifinals.”

One has to go no farther than this year’s NJCAA Division II women’s national basketball tournament to see what can happen. Beaten by KCKCC in the regional championship game, Johnson County got an at-large bid to the national tourney and finished second.

The 2-1 loss to Barton came just when it looked like the two teams were headed for overtime only to have the Cougars’ Kedin Stinson ward off a defender and score from 12 yards out with 2:09 remaining. It was Stinson’s 13th goal of the season.

Barton broke a 0-0 deadlock when Seulgi Lee headed in a corner kick 10 minutes into the second half but the Blue Devils got even 13 minutes later when freshman Katharina Oelschlaeger drilled a 28-yarder just inside the far post.

“We just kept waiting for the second one,” Uhlenhake said. “You could just feel the tension. This team has come character. We’ve come from behind twice before this year but we just couldn’t get the one pass or one touch we needed.”

The Blue Devils came inches from a go-ahead goal when Melissa Siegel’s long free kick late in the game was barely tipped away by Cougar goalkeeper Maria Guiterrez.

“That was the play of the game,” Uhlenhake said. “Melissa could not hit that ball any better. It would have put us up 2-1. Barton is a good team, a real, good team. We made adjustments; they made adjustments. I think the best two teams were in the regional. We just ran out of time.”

Hernandez shines on Monarchs win

The sun shined through for the Kansas City Monarchs’ first Bark in the Park at Legends Field and for the team’s second win of the regular season. The Monarchs defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 2-1 Sunday.

Jan Hernandez was the late game hero for the Monarchs. The outfielder broke a 1-1 tie in the home half of the eighth inning with a solo shot to left field off the RedHawks Michael Hope (0-1).

In the next inning, Hernandez made a running catch down the right field line to the corner of the ballpark for the final out of the game.

The Monarchs started off hot in the bottom of the first, scoring an early run to start off 1-0 on an RBI single to left field by designated hitter Gabby Guerrero scoring centerfielder Johnny Field.

Then, Colin Willis was hit by RedHawks pitcher Tyler Pike, loading the bases. Kansas City failed to capitalize after a pop-fly to right by Anibal Sierra. The Monarchs loaded the bases again in the bottom of the second but failed to add to their lead.

The two left-handed starters locked into a tight game the rest of the way. Pike worked five innings surrendering one run while Eric Stout worked seven innings and struck out 10 on the way to a no decision.

In the top of the sixth, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks’ Manuel Boscan drove in Sam Dexter with a RBI double off Stout. The Monarchs left-hander would induced the team’s third double play of the game in the bottom of the sixth, shutting down the RedHawks to keep the game even at one.

Kansas City pitcher Brian Ellington found himself in a jam in the top of the eighth, starting with three back-to-back walks then followed by two strikeouts with bases loaded. Carlos Diaz (1-0) relieved Ellington and finished the job for the Monarchs, getting a fly ball out to end the top of the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jan Hernandez got the Monarchs rolling again, blasting a homer that reached the left field bleachers and proveed to be the game winner.

Diaz got the first out of the ninth then an infield single by John Silviano and a walk to Kevin Krause put runners at first and second.

Diaz got the second out on a Dylan Kelly fly out to center, then faced Nick Shumpert with two on and two out. Shumpert hit a looping fly down the right field line that Jan Hernandez tracked down to close out the game with a clutch catch near home run hill.

The Kansas City Monarchs will hit the road to face the Sioux City Explorers on Tuesday; first pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Mercy Field at Lewis and Clark Park. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

  • Story from Dan Vaughan, Kansas City Monarchs

Sporting defeats San Jose 3-1 in comeback

Sporting KC won a come-from-behind game 3-1 over San Jose on the road Saturday.

Defender Jaylin Lindsey scored his first professional goal and forwards Alan Pulido and Daniel Salloi scored for the second straight game for Sporting KC.

After Eduardo Lopez lifted San Jose into an early lead, Lindsey provided a first-half equalizer and Pulido fired Sporting ahead with a stunning effort in the 60th minute.

Salloi sealed the game with 15 minutes to play as Sporting collected its second straight victory and moved into second place in the Western Conference.

Saturday’s game saw Sporting improve to 7-1-3 in its last 11 competitive meetings against San Jose and claim its league-leading third win from a losing position this season.

Injuries in the Sporting Kansas City backline prompted manager Peter Vermes to make two changes to the starting 11 from last weekend’s 3-0 home win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Lindsey stepped in for right back Graham Zusi, who was sidelined with a quad ailment, while center back Andreu Fontas missed out with an adductor strain and was replaced by 19-year-old Kaveh Rad.

San Jose scored first inside four minutes on a strike from Lopez. The 26-year-old settled Cristian Espinoza’s corner kick at the top of the box and curled a 20-yard effort into the top left corner for his second tally of the season and the earliest goal Sporting has conceded in 2021.

An unlikely goal scorer pulled Sporting level in the 15th minute. Pulido drew a pair of San Jose defenders and flicked a diagonal ball to the Lindsey, who took a touch on the right side of the box and slotted low across Earthquakes goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski and into the far corner to open his MLS scoring account.

Pulido notched his sixth career MLS assist on the play and continues to lead the league with 0.99 goals and primary assists per 90 minutes since the start of 2020 (regular season and playoffs, minimum 750 minutes).

In the remainder of the half, both sides exchanged attacking punches. In the 23rd minute, 18-year-old Gianluca Busio made a foray into the final third before spreading it right to Pulido, who lashed his shot wide of the near post.

Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia produced a save less than a minute later, diving left to cast aside 17-year-old Cade Cowell’s bending attempt.

Shortly thereafter, an intricate passing combination from Sporting culminated with Pulido cutting the ball to an unmarked Gadi Kinda, who forced Marcinkowski into a save of his own.

Melia remained busy at the opposite end, sprawling to thwart Lopez in the 31st minute, before Marcinkowski denied Pulido from close range in the 39th minute after Salloi won possession off a San Jose giveaway.

The second stanza belonged to Sporting, although the Earthquakes threatened twice within 15 minutes of the restart. Espinoza’s long-range turf trimmer was palmed away by Melia and although Cowell was well positioned for the rebound, his shot was blocked by the sliding Lindsey in the 52nd minute. A few moments later, Andy Rios fluffed an open header after running onto a pass lobbed across the face of goal from San Jose captain Jackson Yueill.

Pulido struck in emphatic fashion on the hour mark, breaking the tie with a goal that ultimately stood as the match winner. The 30-year-old received a diagonal pass from Salloi and uncorked a sledgehammer that took a slight deflection and caromed into the net off the underside of the crossbar. Pulido has three goals in his last two games and his four strikes on the season are tied for third most in MLS.

The in-form striker thought he had bagged his second goal of the night in the 63rd minute, but Pulido’s blast into the roof of the net from a tight angle was nullified for Kinda’s offside infraction in the buildup. Kinda had a chance himself in the 71st minute, and although he was unable to make clean contact on the breakaway, Sporting retained possession and Luis Martins’ cross was headed marginally wide by Salloi.

In the 75th minute, Salloi made no mistake by curling a jaw-dropping shot inside the far post from the edge of the penalty area. The 24-year-old Sporting KC Academy product has three goals and two assists this year after recording one goal and one assist in the previous two seasons combined.

The game was stretched in the dying embers, with Yueill seeing his shot smothered by Melia at close range and Marcinkowski tipping Kinda’s audacious 35-yard belter over the crossbar. Sporting preserved its 3-1 advantage until the full-time whistle, handing San Jose its third consecutive home loss at PayPal Park.

With momentum firmly on its side, Sporting will return home next Saturday to play host to rivals Houston Dynamo FC (3-2-2, 11 points) in the first full-capacity match at Children’s Mercy Park since March 7, 2020. Tickets for the match are available at SeatGeek.com.

  • Story from Sporting KC