Month: June 2021

Heat, fatigue, Laramie end Blue Devil soccer season, 3-0

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Heat, fatigue and once-beaten Laramie County proved too much for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s soccer team Friday.

Playing their second game in 24 hours in searing Georgia heat (90 degrees), the 10th seeded Blue Devils fell 3-0 to the No. 6 seeded Golden Eagles in the second round of the NJCAA Division I national tournament in Evans, Georgia.

The game was the first in the national tournament for Laramie County, which will play Eastern Florida State Saturday with the winner advancing to the national semifinals.

KCKCC’s first time in the national tournament, the loss ended the Blue Devils’ season at 12-4-1. Meanwhile, Laramie County improved to 14-1. The shutout was the 10th for the Golden Eagles, who have given up only six goals all season and not more than one in any game.

Because of the heat and fatigue of two games in 26 hours, KCKCC coach Shawn Uhlenhake went to his bench early and often with 15 Blue Devils seeing action.

“We battled as hard as we could but with it being 90 degrees, we just didn’t have much left,” Uhlenhake said. “After yesterday (a 9-1 loss to Eastern Florida), they could have easily packed it in but they played hard. We just didn’t have enough juice.”

Ellie MacKendrick put Laramie ahead 1-0 on a perfect 20-yard kick that just barely cleared a leaping KCKCC goalkeeper Susie Lopez. The goal came on an assist from Taylor Mayrick.

The Golden Eagles then put the game out of reach with a pair of goals in the first 30 minutes of the second half. Jenaya Brown scored on an assist from Erika Scivally 15 minutes into the second half and Beyonce Robinson added the third goal on an assist by Eli Olsen 14 minutes later.

The Blue Devils were credited with 10 shots (only two the first half) and just three shots on goal. Laramie County had 16 shots, eight on goal.

“At halftime, we only had two shots and I asked the girls to get off more shots and they did (8),” Uhlenhake said. “We controlled the first 20 minutes and then they scored on their first real shot of the game. The second half we changed formations to try to score. I’d rather lose 5-0 then not try to win. We just could not get the ball in the net. And Laramie is a good team although I think if we’d have been fresh, it would have been an even game.

“There were a lot of lessons learned, especially what it takes at this level to be a Top Five team. But we competed. We have nothing to be ashamed.”

Monarchs storm back in extras to take down Cleburne

Despite being down to their final out in the ninth inning, the Monarchs came back and won in extra innings over Cleburne 11-7 — extending the winning streak to three games.

Looking to take the series from Cleburne, Kansas City handed the ball to right-handed pitcher Justin Shafer for his third start of the season. In his previous two starts, Shafer ran into trouble in the second inning. However, on Saturday night, Shafer maneuvered through the first two frames without allowing a run.

In the top of the third, the Monarchs exploded at the plate.

Morgan McCullough led off the inning with his first home run of the season.

Two batters later, Darnell Sweeney connected for a two-run shot — making it 3-0.

The fireworks, though, didn’t stop there. Later in the frame, Casey Gillaspie rocked the third home run of the inning to give the Monarchs and Shafer a 5-0 lead.

Those five runs, as it came to be, wouldn’t be enough to keep Cleburne away.

In the bottom of the third, the Railroaders scratched across a run on an Alay Lago RBI-single.

In the ensuing inning, Cleburne needed one swing to climb back into it. Noah Vaughan, who scored on Lago’s single in the third, blasted a three-run homer to trim the deficit to one run.

Shafer finished the inning without surrendering the lead, but his night was over after the fourth. He allowed four runs on four hits with five strikeouts.

The first man out of the Monarchs’ bullpen was the newly acquired Jake Matthys. The right-hander tossed a scoreless fifth inning, but was roughed up for three runs in the bottom of the sixth — resulting in a 7-5 lead for Cleburne. Matthys ended up throwing 2 ⅓ innings, but allowed seven hits and three runs.

After the seven unanswered runs by the Railroaders, Kansas City inched back in the top half of the seventh. With the bases loaded, Ryan Grotjohn was hit by a pitch. Unfortunately for the Monarchs, that was all the bats could produce in the inning.

In the top of the ninth, Kansas City faced one of Cleburne’s top arms in Mason Melotakis.

Down to their final out with a runner on first, the Monarchs received their biggest hit to date from Colin Willis. After a wild pitch moved Jan Hernandez up to second base, Willis doubled to tie the game at seven.

In extra innings, the offense, once again erupted.

Johnny Field gave Kansas City the lead on sacrifice fly and Hernandez followed up with a three-run blast — extending the lead to 11-7.

Cody Mincey came on for the final three outs and locked down the win for the Monarchs.

The Monarchs will face the Cleburne Railroaders in the final game of the three game series at 6 p.m. Sunday night in Texas. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 5:40 p.m. and the video stream airing 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

KC NWSL plays Houston Sunday in KCK

For the second time in the 2021 regular season, and the third time in all 2021 competitions, Kansas City NWSL (0-2-2) faces the Houston Dash (1-1-2).

The latest meeting between the two sides is slated to take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas City is looking to rebound following a hard-fought 1-0 loss to league-leading Orlando Pride last Sunday, while the Dash are hoping to ride a wave of positive momentum following a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars last Saturday.

Teams played to a draw on May 23

These two teams met for the first time in the regular season on May 23 in Houston, as both sides played to a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Kansas City struck first with a well-positioned goal in the 13th minute. Midfielder Gaby Vincent started the move with an incredible long ball ahead of forward Mallory Weber, who outpaced Houston’s defense to get to the ball. She played a one-time pass across the 18-yard box to forward Amy Rodriguez, and Rodriguez capitalized with a sliding finish at the back post to give the visitors the lead.

Houston responded in the second half with two goals in quick succession. Forward Rachel Daly, who scored when the two teams met in the 2021 Challenge Cup, lofted a header over Kansas City goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart to level the game in the 60th minute. Six minutes later, Kansas City native Shea Groom headed in a corner kick to catapult Houston into the lead.

In the 69th minute, Kansas City defender Elizabeth Ball picked up her second yellow card of the match resulting in a red card and leaving the visitors down a player for the remainder of the contest.

Head coach Huw Williams made adjustments to KC’s on-field personnel in search of an equalizer, and an equalizer came in added time through defender Taylor Leach.

Forward Marianna Larroquette found Leach with an inch-perfect cross inside the box, and Leach headed it in. Leach’s goal came in two minutes into extra time and proved to be the last goal in the match.

Short-handed KC searches for first win

Kansas City’s quest for its first victory in franchise history will be a bit tougher due to key players being unavailable on Sunday. Midfielders Desiree Scott, Jordyn Listro and Victoria Pickett will be with the Canadian National Team for two friendlies. The trio features on Canada’s 29-player roster as the team prepares for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In addition, midfielders Chloe Logarzo and Lo’eau LaBonta remain out due to injury.

With the missing pieces in the midfield, an opportunity presents itself for several other Kansas City players to step up in the center of the pitch. Players like rookie midfielder Addie McCain, who played 90 minutes against Orlando last weekend, appear to be in line to step up in a critical spot.

Players to watch

Houston Dash: Midfielder Kristie Mewis — The standout midfielder is an important piece of the Dash’s midfield and could pose a threat to Kansas City’s midfield. Mewis scored the game-winning goal in Houston’s 2-1 victory over Chicago last weekend and has one assist to her name as well. Mewis notched two goals in the 2021 Challenge Cup. In the regular season. Mewis has thrived as a playmaker, with eight key passes and two successful crosses. Kansas City’s young midfield will need to slow Mewis down on Sunday afternoon.

Kansas City NWSL: Goalkeeper Abby Smith — In her first game back from injury, Smith made several key stops and was nominated for the NWSL’s Save of the Week against the Orlando Pride last week. Smith made three saves in the match. In the one goal conceded in the match, Smith was able to get a hand on it and nearly keep it from crossing the goal line.

Jessica Silva could provide offensive assistance

Forward Jéssica Silva signed with the club on May 10 and began training with the team this week. The 26-year-old Portuguese international joined KC NWSL from French side Olympique Lyonnaise (OL). Injuries hampered her time at OL, but Silva is a dangerous attacking threat when healthy. If Silva is able to enter the match for KC, she should provide a spark for her side’s offense.

Sunday’s match will be broadcast on Paramount+ and locally on SportsRadio 810 WHB. Mike Watts and Kacey White will provide coverage and analysis for the national broadcast on Paramount+ while Brad Porter and Aly Trost will bring the action to listeners on WHB.

Tickets are available for the match. More information can be found at KCWoso.com/tickets.