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Sporting KC travels to LA today

Coming off back-to-back wins over the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City will travel to play the LA Galaxy at 7 p.m. on Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The Western Conference clash will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. In addition, UniMas and TUDN will nationally televise the match and provide an English-language live stream on Twitter. Radio coverage of Sunday’s showdown will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

A pair of MLS charter clubs, Sporting Kansas City and the LA Galaxy are historically two of the most successful teams in Major League Soccer. Both sides have reached the MLS Cup Playoffs on 19 occasions in the past 26 years – tied for the second most postseason appearances behind the New York Red Bulls – despite the Galaxy missing the playoffs in four of the past five seasons.

Most wins all-time

LA Galaxy 374
NY Red Bulls 351
Sporting KC 347

Sporting swept the Galaxy in 2021 with a pair of 2-0 wins and most recently earned a 4-2 victory over LA on Aug. 6 to level the all-time series at 26-26-15 in 67 all-time regular season encounters. SKC is 7-2-4 against LA in the last 13 regular season meetings since 2015, including a 3-1-1 record in the team’s last five visits to Dignity Health Sports Park.

The club returns to Carson, California, for the first time since July 4, 2021 when Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton scored late as Tim Melia made seven saves for the shutout. With Melia sidelined by a hamstring injury, Sporting KC goalkeeper John Pulskamp – a member of the LA Galaxy Academy from 2017-2019 – has played in each of the team’s last eight matches.

Sporting Kansas City will kick off a slate of four matches in September on Sunday after going 3-1-0 in August. Sporting scored 12 goals across those four fixtures, ranking second in MLS along with the Galaxy with a 3.0 goals per game average for the month.

Defensively, Sporting Kansas City enters Sunday’s contest coming off the club’s first clean sheet since May 7 after shutting out San Jose last weekend in a 1-0 win at Children’s Mercy Park. Daniel Salloi, whose new four-year contract was announced recently, scored the decisive goal and in doing so tied the all-time club record with 13 career game-winning goals in the regular season.

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes will participate in his 663rd MLS match as a player or coach on Sunday, moving him past Jason Kreis for the most in league history. Vermes played seven seasons in Major League Soccer from 1996 to 2002 and has become the longest tenured head coach with one club in MLS history as Sporting’s manager for 14 seasons since August 2009.

The LA Galaxy – five-time MLS Cup champions – are riding a four-match unbeaten run and have moved within a point of playoff position after securing a pair of road results against Eastern Conference opponents. Manager Greg Vanney’s side recorded a 2-1 win at New England last Sunday and a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Toronto on Wednesday as newcomer Riqui Puig – signed from FC Barcelona last month – opened his MLS scoring account in impressive fashion with a long-range equalizer in the 89th minute.

The Galaxy roster is headlined by club captain Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, whose 26 non-penalty goals are second most in MLS over the past two seasons. The MLS All-Star has five goals in his last five matches, including a brace against SKC, and leads all LA players with 12 goals on the season.

Second in scoring on the squad is Serbian striker Dejan Joveljic with 10 goals, all of which have come at Dignity Health Sports Park where he has a goal or assist in eight consecutive home matches. Joveljic and Puig, both 23, are part of a youthful Galaxy contingent that also includes young designated player Kevin Cabral, 20-year-old Mexican international Efrain Alvarez and 21-year-old right back Julian Araujo who leads the team with seven assists.

Story from Sporting KC

Record-setting long balls deliver win for Monarchs

Jalen Miller of the Kansas City Monarchs delivered a pitch in the Monarchs 3-2 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Saturday night at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)

Alexis Olmeda of the Kansas City Monarchs hit the record-setting home run for the club in a 3-2 win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Saturday night at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)

by Dan Vaughan Jr., Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (63-35) dialed up a pair of home runs and rode a solid outing from starter Jalen Miller (2-0) to take a 3-2 win Saturday in game two of the four-game series over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (64-34).

The Monarchs used the long ball right off the bat in the first inning.

Mallex Smith singled to start the game off left-handed hurler Peyton Wigginton (9-3).

Then, with two outs, Jacob Robson hit his eighth homer of the season to center to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead. The home run tied the franchise mark for home runs in a season at 162.

In the home half of the fifth, Alexis Olmeda hit a solo home run to right, his seventh, to give the Monarchs a 3-0 lead and to set a new franchise single-season record. The Monarchs’ old record came in 2010 when the club played in the Northern League.

Miller surrendered just two hits in 5.1, but the RedHawks worked six walks on the evening. Miller added six strikeouts and exited in the sixth with one out. The right hander got stronger as the game went on, and in the fourth and fifth inning he walked the lead-off batter, then retired the next three batters to keep Fargo at bay.

In the sixth Joran Martinson came into the game with one on and one out. Rymer Liriano singled but was retired trying to stretch the single to a double on an outfield assist from Smith. Martinson got the final out on a fly out off the bat of Alec Olund to keep the Monarchs in the lead at 3-0.

Fargo-Moorhead cut into the Kansas City lead in the top of the seventh. Martinson struck out Nick Novak but hit Christian Correa with a pitch.

Peter Maris followed with an infield single to put two on for the RedHawks. Martinson struck out Manuel Boscan but hit Drew Ward to load the bases. Leo Pena hit a single to drive in two runs, but Martinson got John Silviano to fly out to center to end the stanza.

Brandon Koch worked a 1-2-3 eighth including two strikeouts to take the game to the top of the ninth. Alex Valdez struck out pinch hitter Ben Livorsi but issued a free pass to Maris. Boscan hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing out Maris at second for the second out of the inning. Valdez struck out Drew Ward looking to earn the save (2) in a 3-2 Monarchs win.

The win pulled the Monarchs to one game behind the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks for the West Division lead in the American Association with two games to play. The RedHawks magic number to win the West is two. The RedHawks will clinch the division crown with one more win while the Monarchs will need to win the last two games to claim their third regular season division title in a row.

Both teams are playoff bound and will face off in game three of the four-game series at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Sept. 4, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 2:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

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

Sabres’ Harrison scores 3 touchdowns in opener

Senior running back Antonio Harrison scored on a 14-yard run up the middle in the third quarter. Harrison scored three touchdowns in the Sabres’ 21-0 win over Washington. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Sumner Academy Sabres kicked off the 2022 football season with a 21-0 win over the Washington Wildcats. Fans packed the stands on a balmy evening at Schlagle Stadium, making a festive atmosphere.

The Sabres’ strong running attack was led by senior Antonio Harrison, who scored all three touchdowns in the game. Harrison ran for 208 yards in the game on 29 carries.

Sumner got on the board in the first quarter. Backed up beyond midfield by a penalty, the Sabres sprung Harrison free around the right end, and he outpaced the secondary in a race to the end zone.

Washington nearly evened the score in the second quarter, converting a fourth-and-five with a fake punt, but a fumble on the play handed the ball back to the Sabres on their own 13-yard line.

The Sabres added on to their 7-0 halftime lead midway through the third quarter. Sumner kept a long drive going with passes from quarterback Camron Johnson to Howard Peoples and Javeare’ Akanda.

With the ball at the Washington 14-yard line, Harrison broke through the middle of the Wildcats’ defensive line for a touchdown.

The Sabres scored again on their following drive, with Harrison plowing through on a short run set up by an Akande reception.

Washington ran the ensuing kickoff back to the end zone, but a downfield penalty cost them the touchdown, and a fumble on the following play ended the opportunity.

Johnson was 9-for-17 for a total of 98 passing yards, connecting best on mid-range passes to the boundaries. Marco Contreras converted all three extra point opportunities, but was short on a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Sumner and Washington are now playing in the Meadowlark Conference, a rebranded version of the Kansas City – Atchison League with the addition of Topeka’s Highland Park High School.