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Sporting Kansas City Advances to 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with Dominating Win

May 25, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City advanced to the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 5-0 victory over the New England Revolution at the Blue Valley District Activities Complex in Overland Park, Kansas on Wednesday. Sporting KC strikers Chance Myers and C.J. Sapong each scored twice, while goalkeeper Eric Kronberg posted his third career shutout in Open Cup competition.

Amidst a steady downpour of rain, over 1,200 fans turned out to see Sporting Kansas City's first home match of the year after the club played their first nine games on the road while LIVESTRONG Sporting Park is prepared for it's grand opening on June 9th on ESPN2.

Myers opened the scoring on Wednesday with the game's first two goals. In the 9th minute, Designated Player Omar Bravo cut the ball back across the penalty area for Myers, whose sliding first-time shot beat New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Ten minutes later, Bravo created thescoring chance on the left side of the field, beating his defender and firing far post. Shuttleworth did well to make the initial save, but the rebound fell to Myers for the simple finish.

Sporting Kansas City continued to attack, finding a third goal within five minutes courtesy of Sapong. Sporting KC defender Seth Sinovic, making his first appearance for Sporting Kansas City since signing last month, played a cross into the penalty area for Sapong to re-direct low past Shuttleworth.

With a comfortable 3-0 lead for much of the second half, Sporting Kansas City added two goals late for the final 5-0 scoreline. Defender Aurelien Collin headed in a corner kick from playmaker Ryan Smith in the 81st minute and Sapong capped the convincing victory with the best goal of the evening, shooting from a wide angle to put the attempt past New England's second-half substitute in goal, Tim Murray.

Kronberg made three saves in the shutout, including a solid stop in the 69th minute, and matched former KC goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi for the most shutouts U.S. Open Cup competition amongst Sporting Kansas City players with three.

Sporting Kansas City now advance to the third round of the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, with matches amongst the final 16 teams scheduled to start on June 28th. Sporting Kansas City will be one of eight MLS teams represented in the third round and will face a non-MLS team.

Sporting Kansas City will continue MLS play on Saturday with their third game in an eight-day span as the team returns to the road to face theColorado Rapids at 8:00 p.m. CT at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Fast Facts:

* After playing the team's first nine games of the season on the road, Sporting Kansas City hosted their first home match of the 2011 season on Wednesday at Blue Valley District Activities Complex in Overland Park, Kansas. * Sporting Kansas City has now played six Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches at BVDAC, with a 5-1-0 record at the venue. Prior to Wednesday, the club last played at BVDAC for a 2007 pre-season doubleheader. * Sporting Kansas City collected monetary donations at Wednesday's match to support the relief effort for residents recovering from the recent tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Individuals who contributed money will be entered to win two Field Side Reserve tickets, a $250 value, to the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park home opener on June 9th for every $10 given toward the cause. * All funds raised will go to four Midwest Select Soccer families in Joplin who lost their homes in the disaster. * Sporting Kansas City's 5-0 victory on Wednesday matched the team's largest margin of victory in U.S. Open Cup competition, equaling the club's 6-1 victory over the Des Moines Menace in 2005. * Sporting Kansas City is 2-2-1 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying and 12-11-4 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Sporting Kansas City is 5-8-1 all-time against MLS teams in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Sporting Kansas City is 7-4-1 all-time at home in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Sporting Kansas City has outscored competition 53 to 37 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Sporting Kansas City striker Chance Myers and Designated Player Omar Bravo recorded their first career points in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition when they combined for the game's opening goal in the 9th minute. * Myers also scored Sporting Kansas City's second goal in the 19th minute, finishing a rebound from Bravo's shot. It marks Myers second multi-goal game of the season, after he also netted twice in Sporting Kansas City's MLS Reserve League match against Real Salt Lake. * Myers has three goals in the 2011 MLS Reserve League, tied for most among all players. * C.J. Sapong scored in his second straight Lamar Hunt U.S. Open qualifier, beating Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth in the 24th minute and adding another in the 88th minute. Sapong also garnered the game-winning goal in Sporting Kansas City's previous Open Cup match against the Houston Dynamo in College Station, Texas. * Sapong's three goals in U.S. Open Cup competition rank him fourth all-time on Sporting Kansas City's U.S. Open Cup goal-scoring chart, putting him in a tie with Ivan Trujillo, who also scored three goals in two games. * Sporting Kansas City defender Seth Sinovic earned his first point for Sporting KC after signing last month. Sinovic earned the assist on Sapong's goal in the 24th minute. * Sinovic made his first appearance for Sporting Kansas City's first-team, starting and playing 90 minutes on Wednesday. Sinovic had previously appeared in the team's last two MLS Reserve League matches. * Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg has allowed six goals and posted three shutouts in six games played in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Kronberg is now tied with Bo Oshoniyi with three shutouts in U.S. Open Cup competition all-time, most among all Sporting Kansas City goalkeepers. * Sporting Kansas City has posted nine shutouts in U.S. Open Cup competition all-time. * Kronberg made his fifth start in all competition for Sporting Kansas City in 2011. The sixth-year goalkeeper has played in two MLS Reserve League matches, as well as a regular season start against Los Angeles and the club's previous Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifier against Houston. * Sporting Kansas City defender Michael Harrington appeared in his ninth Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match, moving into a tie with Jack Jewsbury for seventh on the club's all-time games played chart in Open Cup competition. * Harrington has appeared in the second-most U.S. Open Cup games amongst active Sporting Kansas City players, behind captain Davy Arnaud (12). Harrington has appeared in each of Sporting Kansas City's last nine U.S. Open Cup matches, dating back to April 2007. * Sporting Kansas City has had 31 different goal scorers in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup history. * Wednesday's match was the final game of qualifying for Major League Soccer teams into the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Of the ten teams vying for the two available berths, Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire will join Columbus, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake and Seattle in the third round, scheduled to start on June 28th. * Chicago secured their spot on Tuesday after advancing past the San Jose Earthquakes on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw in regulation. * Sporting Kansas City has participated in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 15 of the club's 16 seasons. * When tasked with qualifying for the U.S. Open Cup, Kansas City has qualified on two of four occasions, previously reaching the tournament proper in 2008 via a penalty shootout. * Sporting Kansas City assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin has taken part in all but two of Sporting Kansas City's last 24 U.S. Open Cup matches, starting 17 games as a player from 2000-2008 and serving on the technical staff for the team's six tournament games since 2009.

* Sporting Kansas City wore all Sporting Blue uniforms on Wednesday for the first time since their previous match against the New England Revolution on April 23rd. Sporting KC's two victories in 2011 have come in the all-Sporting Blue uniforms. * The match referee crew on Wednesday was Sorin Stoica, Lance Mesman (AR1), Mark Boyko (AR2) and Landis Wiley (fourth official). * The 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be the 98th edition of the tournament, the oldest annual team tournament in American sports history. * A live webstream and live chat during Wednesday's match was available on SportingKC.com with commentary from Sporting KC play-by-play analyst Callum Williams and New England's Brad Feldman. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


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