Category: Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City will look to move into first place in the Western Conference with a victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The cross-conference foes will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on 38 the Spot and SKCTV across the Midwest.

A limited number of tickets may be available and may be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or the Sporting Park box offices on game day.

The home side is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak in all competitions and earned all three points on the road at first place Vancouver last weekend. Homegrown defender Kevin Ellis notched the game-winner from a Krisztian Nemeth cross.

Currently, Sporting KC sits in sixth place in the West just two points behind the conference leaders.

Montreal is also coming off a victory, defeating the Columbus Crew SC 3-0 in their last outing. The Canadian club is led by Ignacio Piatti, who boasts a club-best five goals and four assists including the game-winning assist last weekend.

Impact head coach Frank Klopas acquired Kyle Bekker via a trade with FC Dallas this week and the Canadian international will be available for selection on Saturday.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early on Saturday and the first 10,000 inside the gates will receive a commemorative Graham Zusi poster.

Members Stand ticket holders and the first 500 Sporting KC season ticket holders are welcome to attend a U.S. MNT watch party in the Boulevard Members Club to cheer on Graham Zusi and the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2015 Gold Cup quarterfinals. USA-Cuba kicks off at 4 p.m. on FOX, which will unveil the official MLS All-Star gameday roster during the halftime show.

Sporting Kansas City’s three players — Zusi, Matt Besler and Benny Feilhaber — on the 2015 MLS All-Star Fan XI are the most of any team. Zusi will be unavailable on Saturday due to his international duty, though Marcel de Jong has returned after representing Canada in the Gold Cup.

In-game updates are available on SportingKC.com/GameOn, via @SKCGameday on Twitter and through the Sporting Club Uphoria mobile app.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City’s Matt Besler, Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi were named to the MLS All-Star Fan XI ahead of the 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 29.

The MLS All-Stars will face English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at 8 p.m. on July 29 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

Sporting Kansas City’s three selections are the most of any MLS team.

The MLS All-Star Fan XI picks include Nick Rimando, RSL, goalkeeper; Omar Gonzalez, LA, Matt Besler, SKC, DaMarcus Beasley, HOU, defenders; Kaka, ORL, Michael Bradley, TOR, Benny Feilhaber, SKC, Graham Zusi, SKC, midfielders; Clint Dempsey, SEA, David Villa, NYC ,Obafemi Martins, SEA, forwards.

Besler and Zusi each earned MLS All-Star honors for the fourth time. Feilhaber is a first-time MLS All-Star during a career-year in which he ranks second in MLS with nine assists while also contributing five goals.

Besler, 28, has led Sporting KC to a league-high nine shutouts in 2015. The club captain is in his seventh season and has won MLS Best XI (2012, 2013), Defender of the Year (2012) and Breakout Player of the Year (2012) awards in recent years. The World Cup veteran has 25 career appearances for the U.S. Men’s National Team since his debut in 2013 and helped lead the U.S. MNT to the CONCACAF Gold Cup title in 2013.

Zusi, a fellow designated player and 2009 MLS SuperDraft pick, is the only MLS player with at least five goals and seven assists in each of the last four regular seasons. He has led the club in assists every year since 2011 and earned team MVP honors each of the last three seasons to go along with MLS Best XI (2012, 2013) and Breakout Player of the Year (2011) recognitions. The 28-year-old has 31 international caps for the United States with three goals and six assists, including two assists at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Feilhaber, 30, was named Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month for April and has 13 assists across all competition in 2015, five shy of the club’s all-time record. A five-year MLS veteran, Feilhaber began his professional career with Hamburg (Germany), Derby County (England) and AGF Aarhus (Denmark) in Europe before joining the New England Revolution in 2011.

Feilhaber has played 41 times for the U.S. Men’s National Team, highlighted by his game-winning goal in the 2007 Gold Cup final and roles in the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The MLS All-Stars will face English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at 8 p.m. CT on July 29 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The annual showcase will air live on FOX Sports 1 and UniMas in the United States.

Major League Soccer will announce the official 22-player MLS All-Star Gameday Roster on Saturday, July 18, featuring Commissioner’s Picks Frank Lampard (New York City FC) and Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy). All-Star head coach Pablo Mastroeni of the Colorado Rapids will select the remaining 20 players.

– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City recorded the team’s fifth shutout in the past six MLS matches with a 1-0 road win over the first place Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday at BC Place.

Defender Kevin Ellis scored the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute on an assist from Krisztian Nemeth and goalkeeper Tim Melia matched his career high with six saves in the clean sheet.

Melia, who lowered his league-leading goals against average to 0.56 and improved to 6-1-2 in 2015, was called into action early by a Whitecaps side that had scored in each of their past six matches and had only been shutout once at home all year.

In the ninth minute, Melia dove low to his left to punch away a header from Octavio Rivero then quickly recovered to turn away Cristian Techera’s follow-up effort with his right foot.

Two minutes later, Melia raced off his line to block away an attempt from Kekuta Manneh at close range then was rescued by Benny Feilhaber’s goalline clearance on a header from Tim Parker shortly thereafter.

Sporting Kansas City continued to weather a series of squandered scoring opportunities from the home side with rookie outside back Amadou Dia playing a large part, first recovering to intervene on a breakaway by Techera in the 16th minute and again denying the Uruguayan with a last-minute clearance off the goalline in the 61st minute.

Sporting Kansas City’s best chance to breakthrough in the first half came via a set piece in the 23rd minute. Feilhaber’s delivery found Dom Dwyer at the backpost, however his header was directed narrowly wide of the post.

No MLS team has scored more headed goals in 2015 than Sporting KC (9) and Ellis added to the team’s aerial prowess with his second career MLS goal in the early stages of the second half. Jacob Peterson did well to win a corner kick through his pressure on Jordan Harvey near the endline and the hustle ultimately set up the decisive goal when Ellis timed his run perfectly and met a pinpoint pass from Nemeth with a glancing header inside the far post.

The lead almost doubled in the 58th minute as Nemeth and Feilhaber combined for a give-and-go before Nemeth struck a first-time shot from 30 yards out that beat Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted only to then hit the post.

Peterson was first to the rebound but sent his first-time shot whistling wide before coming close again in the 70th minute. The 10-year MLS veteran nearly capped off a 14-pass sequence with his first goal of the season if not for a sprawling save by Ousted.

The Whitecaps’ search for an equalizer in the final 15 minutes was limited to two shots on target as a result of set pieces. Techera, who led all players with three shots on goal in the game, put a free kick on frame in the 76th minute that was tipped over the crossbar by an alert Melia. Then in the 90th minute, Parker’s header was bound for the back of the net until Melia extended to his right at full extension to preserve the victory.

Sporting Kansas City – which earned the club’s first conference road win of the year on Sunday – now leads all MLS teams with 1.76 points per game at the halfway juncture of the club’s regular season. Sporting KC sits in sixth place in the West, two points back of the conference leaders entering next Saturday’s home match against the Montreal Impact.

A limited number of tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com for the match, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Sporting Park Kansas City, Kan. This match will be shown on KMCI-TV and SKCTV affiliates. The first 10,000 fans inside the gates will receive a commemorative Graham Zusi poster.

– Story from Sporting KC