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Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Rallies for 4-2 Win over New England

May 21, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City - without seven players due to injury, including World Cup veterans Graham Zusi and Roger Espinoza, as well as an eighth on international duty - played all three of the team's first-round SuperDraft picks and dressed only six players on the bench in this year's lone match-up against the 2014 MLS Cup runners-up. The Revolution, playing their second of three games in an eight-day span, also rested key players of their own in goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth and former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Farrell.

The six-goal affair began with New England attacking in earnest. Diego Fagundez rattled the post with a header in the third minute, only to be ruled offside, and then sent a volley from 12 yards out narrowly wide six minutes later. The warning signals foreshadowed the breakthrough moment, which would come in the 11th minute from the foot of Agudelo. The U.S. Men's National Team forward cut inside Kevin Ellis and held off Matt Besler prior to slipping his shot past Tim Melia for his fourth goal of the year since returning from overseas.

Sporting Kansas City wasted no time in their pursuit of the equalizer and came close on three occasions before producing the game-tying goal. Dwyer was denied by Jose Goncalves in the 18th minute as the 2013 MLS Defender of the Year slid to block a point-blank shot with Brad Knighton out of position and then Dwyer pushed his shot wide from the top of the penalty area moments later on a chance created by Feilhaber. Nemeth also showed off his playmaking abilities in the 28th minute with a through ball for Jacob Peterson, whose shot was smothered by Knighton for one of two saves on the night.

New England was whistled for their first foul of the match in the 29th minute and Sporting KC capitalized with a six-pass scoring sequence that included seven of the team's 10 field players. Nemeth clipped an entry pass to Dwyer, who took the ball off his chest while holding off Jermaine Jones near the penalty mark and spun to strike a shot with his second touch that nestled into the back of the net before Knighton could react. With the goal, Dwyer moves into a tie with Mo Johnston in sixth place on the team's all-time goal scoring chart with 32 career goals across all competition.

Ten minutes later, Nemeth scored the 500th regular season home goal in club history with a header inside the near post off a free kick from Feilhaber. The assist was Feilhaber's sixth of the season, most in MLS, and Sporting Kansas City continues to lead all MLS clubs in headed goals (6), assists from set play (6) and chances created from set play (34) in 2015.

Sporting Kansas City's decisive third goal came in the 43rd minute when referee Allen Chapman awarded a penalty kick for a foul by Goncalves on Dwyer, the third penalty won by Sporting KC and the third penalty conceded by New England in 2015 - both league highs. Feilhaber stepped to the spot and buried the attempt against his former team for his third goal of the season. With the goal and assist on Wednesday, Feilhaber joins Zusi as the only two active Sporting KC players with 15 goals and 25 assists in their MLS careers.

The momentum carried through halftime as Sporting Kansas City stretched the lead to 4-1 just 23 seconds into the second half thanks to Nemeth's second goal of the game. Peterson latched onto a no-look pass from Feilhaber and subsequently picked out Nemeth running into the box with only Knighton to beat. The Hungarian international placed his shot beneath the goalkeeper's outstretched leg for his team-leading fifth goal of the season, second most among all MLS newcomers.

New England - who hadn't given up four goals since July 2014 and is now tied with Sporting KC as two of the league's top scoring teams - would cut the deficit to 4-2 in the 64th minute. Second-half substitute Charlie Davies cut the ball back from the endline to set up Caldwell for a first-time finish.

Melia improves to 2-0-1 as a starter this season and made two saves on the night, first thwarting Kelyn Rowe in the 24th minute and then claiming a free kick from Chris Tierney in the 82nd minute. His counterpart made the game's final stop in the 84th minute, coming off his line to deny Sporting KC rookie Connor Hallisey his first professional goal in the one-on-one situation.

Sporting Kansas City will now travel to Seattle to take on the reigning Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions and Supporters' Shield holders at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday. The match will air live on KMCI-TV 38 the Spot locally and on SKCTV across the Midwest with coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT.

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