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Salloi brace secures 2-1 Sporting win over Rapids

by Brian Turrel

A brace of Daniel Salloi goals led Kansas City to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids Wednesday evening at Children’s Mercy Park.

The Hungarian forward got Kansas City on the board in the 24th minute with a great move in the middle of three Colorado defenders.

Uri Rosell made a quick restart after a Colorado foul and got the ball to Salloi, who zig-zagged past Lalas Abubakar and Jack Price. Austin Trusty tried to slide over to help, but couldn’t get there before Salloi put his shot inside the near post.

Lucas Esteves evened the score for the visitors five minutes later when Sporting couldn’t clear a cross in front of the Kansas City goal. Goalkeeper Tim Melia and defender Andreu Fontas collided and hit the ground on the initial attempt, leaving an open target for Esteves on the rebound.

Kortne Ford set up the winning goal by delivering a well-placed ball to Salloi in a pocket of open space 20 yards from goal on the left side. Salloi closed on goal quickly and knocked the ball inside the far post, past the dive from Colorado goalkeeper William Yarbrough.

Kansas City pressed for a third goal until settling into a low block late in the half. Marinos Tzionis’s speed and footwork baffled the Colorado defense, and he narrowly missed on a couple of scoring chances.

Stoppage time was marred by the ejection of four players, starting with Colorado’s Aaron Trusty, who picked up his second yellow card on a hard foul in the first minute after regulation.

Esteves was given a yellow card for another rough foul a couple minutes later, and then a straight red card in the 6th stoppage minute for pushing Daniel Salloi to the ground from behind.

Esteves’s push was in retaliation for Salloi sweeping Nicolas Mezquida’s plant leg as he tried a quick restart.

Fontas was then sent off for going after Esteves. Finally, after a video review, Salloi was ejected for the foul on Mezquida that started the chain reaction.

Play continued with both sides down to nine players, but mercifully for just a few seconds before the referee blew the final whistle.

Kansas City is in a stretch of seven games in 22 days that will test the durability and depth of the roster. The team will play on the road at San Jose on Sunday, then at home on Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo in a U.S. Open Cup match starting at 7:30 p.m.

Turner kindergarten teacher Maddy Shackelford, second from right, was recognized on the field before the match as the Blue KC Sporting Samaritan for May. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Wyandotte County resident Arianna Gonzalez was the Victory Project honoree for the match. Arianna was diagnosed with leukemia in January. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Daniel Salloi hyped up the crowd after scoring his first goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Forward Marinos Tzionis crossed the ball in from the right side. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Colorado midfielder Jack Price pursued midfielder Remi Walter. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Daniel Salloi got the better of three Colorado defenders to score his first goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Members of Sporting Kansas City youth clubs paraded across the field at halftime. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

The Cauldron fan area had a new junior member on the drums. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Some young fans asked for a birthday present from French midfielder Remi Walter in his native language. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Members of the KC Fusion soccer team celebrated Daniel Salloi’s second goal. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

UG Commission to meet tonight on infrastructure

The Unified Government Commission will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 19, to discuss infrastructure and capital maintenance improvement projects.

According to the agenda, it is a special session that will be conducted in a hybrid format.

The public may observe or listen to the special meeting on YouTube or UGTV or through Zoom.

The public also may view the special session from the fifth floor conference room, Suite 512, of City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86918483066?pwd=wpiQg7tbHjHaLcdJ6GL-lo8MywKKXv.1.
The passcode is 209309.

The public may join the meeting by telephone, toll-free, at 877-853-5257 or 888-475-4499.

For more information, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Engage-With-Us/Calendar-of-Events/Full-Commission-Special-Session.

New state House, Senate maps receive Kansas Supreme Court approval

by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the validity Wednesday of the newly drawn boundaries for state House and Senate districts.

The decision comes two days after justices heard oral arguments in response to a petition filed April 25 by Attorney General Derek Schmidt requesting the court review the maps contained in Senate Bill 563. The state constitution requires this petition to be filed within 15 days of map publication in the Kansas register and gives the court 30 days to consider the matter from the time of filing.

Opponents of the maps raised issues with a perceived lack of consideration given to communities of interest and other redistricting guidelines. But Schmidt asked the court to look past the process to the eventual product, which he said violated no law.

By ruling in favor of the new legislative districts, the panel of justices appeared to concur with the attorney general’s line of thought.

“Because the Constitution requires this court to enter judgment within 30 days from the filing of the petition, today we announce our decision unanimously upholding the validity, under article 10, section 1 of the Kansas Constitution, of the state senatorial and representative districts,” wrote Justice Caleb Stegall in the decision.

Stegall, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, added that a full opinion with “the facts, rationale, and holdings” was forthcoming.

Because new boundaries were not established before May 10, the filing deadline for for the Aug. 2 primary election for U.S. House, state House and Board of Education races was pushed back from June 1 to noon on June 10. Statewide offices and districts without changes to their districts still must file by June 1.

Up for grabs in 2022: one of the two U.S. Senate seats, all four U.S. House seats, all six Kansas government statewide offices, all 125 Kansas House seats and five of the 10 Kansas Board of Education seats.

Schmidt, the presumptive GOP nominee for governor, applauded the decision.

“We have successfully defended every Kansan’s right to equal protection of the law in exercising their right to vote, as well as the public’s right to establish new districts through their elected representatives,” Schmidt said. “I am grateful for the expeditious manner in which the court announced the outcome of the case, and this year’s candidate filings and election preparations can now proceed.”

Many Kansans filed written testimony to the Supreme Court, including the League of Women Voters co-president Martha Pint, who said the Legislature’s allocation of the House districts and 40 Senate districts intentionally fractured communities of color, weakening minority voting strength. Communities of note included Wichita, Olathe, Kansas City, Kansas, Leavenworth and Lawrence, the latter two of which were the subject of complaints from an intervening party during oral arguments.

Mark Johnson, a Kansas City area attorney, represented Democratic Sen. Tom Holland of Baldwin City, who was placed in a new district where he would have to run in 2024 against incumbent Republican Sen. Beverley Gossage of Eudora. Under the bill, Senate district lines would remain the same until 2024, but Johnson argued unsuccessfully that the new maps would leave Kansans confused and misrepresented.

“I think you need to look at the process that led to the district lines that are at issue here, rather than simply the procedure by which the legislation was passed,” Johnson told justices Monday. “It’s a broader question.”

Under the state constitution, the Legislature must produce updated maps for the 125 Kansas House districts, 40 Kansas Senate districts, the Kansas Board of Education and the state’s four U.S. House districts every 10 years. The bill containing the new maps was approved 83-40 in the House and 29-11 in the Senate before Gov. Laura Kelly signed it.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/18/new-state-house-senate-maps-receive-kansas-supreme-court-approval/