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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Earns 0-0 Draw at Colorado

March 4, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Goalkeeper John Pulskamp made four saves as Sporting Kansas City (0-1-1, 1 point) collected their first result of the season in a 0-0 stalemate against the Colorado Rapids (0-1-1, 1 point) on Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Sporting threatened throughout the night with 11 shots on target-the most in a match by an MLS team this season and Kansas City's most in an MLS road game since October 2010-but Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough had a career-high 11 saves to ensure a sharing of the spoils.

With their two-game road swing in the rearview mirror, Sporting will return to the friendly confines of Children's Mercy Park next Saturday, March 11, for a highly anticipated home opener against longtime rivals LA Galaxy (0-1-0, 0 points) at 7:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be shown live via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and tickets for the Western Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com.

After competing on turf on a rainy, 40-degree night in Portland on Monday, Sporting played at altitude in 37-degree conditions with a starting lineup that featured one change. Winger Khiry Shelton dropped to the bench and Cypriot forward Marinos Tzionis slotted into a three-man attack alongside Willy Agada and Daniel Salloi, who in his eighth MLS season was making his first appearance at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. On the backline, meanwhile, 15-year veteran Graham Zusi logged his club-record 350th start in all competitions and became the fifth player ever to eclipse 27,000 regular season minutes with a single MLS club.

Seeking their first win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park since 2014, Sporting survived a major scare within 60 seconds of kickoff. Colorado striker Darren Yapi raced through on the breakaway and had only Pulskamp to beat, but Sporting's 21-year-old goalkeeper-the youngest American to play at his position in MLS this season-produced a brilliant reflex stop, allowing defender Robert Voloder to retreat and extinguish the danger.

The visitors found their footing and replied in the eighth minute as midfielder Erik Thommy, who had a team-high four shots on goal, drove forward and unleashed a 20-yard strike that Yarbrough leapt to coral. A dozen minutes later, Sporting veteran Roger Espinoza-returning to his hometown for the 11th time in the regular season-tried his luck from even longer distance with a blast that Yarbrough saved comfortably.

Colorado appeared to have drawn first blood on 13 minutes when the 18-year-old Yapi poked home at close range off a touch from teammate Sam Nicholson, but VAR intervened and referee Allen Chapman nullified the goal after Yapi was ruled to be in an offside position. The Rapids were ruing their misfortune once more in the 27th minute as Zusi's defensive header off a Michael Barrios cross caromed off the post and nearly skipped across the goal line, only to be cleared away by Zusi himself.

The first decent look of the second half fell to Sporting off an orchestrated set piece that saw Thommy tee up midfielder Remi Walter for a long-range drive that was saved in the 52nd minute. Seconds later, Salloi squared up his marker on the left side of the box and shot from a tight angle, forcing Yarbrough into a stop at the near post.

Just past the hour mark, Thommy asked further questions of the Rapids defense by cutting centrally and unearthing a left-footed sledgehammer from the top of the box that Yarbrough did well to cast aside. At the opposite end, Pulskamp showcased more smart goalkeeping in the 67th minute by advancing off his line to smother what would have been an open shot attempt from Colorado's Cole Bassett.

Both keepers stood on their respective heads at the 70-minute juncture. Yarbrough dove at full extension to thwart Thommy's sweetly struck 28-yard free kick, then gathered himself to block Salloi's thumping rebound attempt on the right side of the penalty area. On the other end of the pitch, Pulskamp reacted superbly by dropping low to deny Barrios what would have been his sixth career goal against Sporting.

Salloi led all players with six shot attempts in the match and went agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 86th minute, latching onto Zusi's superb long ball over the top, but Yarbrough dove right to get his mitt to the looping effort and keep the game scoreless.

QUOTES

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On looking for the team's first goal of the season...

I'm not worried about it. It's very hard to come on the road like we have two games in a row and then also getting the one postponed while we were already away. We didn't have good preparation this week for this game because of the short week and having to travel home. We had to change so much of our itinerary. It was excellent for the guys in two games to get at least this point on the road, which was good. We could have done something in Portland as well. The good thing is that from a performance perspective, it is good. We're building. It

is early on the season and we have quite a few guys that still have to get back into the team. We're missing eight players.

On the play of John Pulskamp...

Especially early in the season, you're going to suffer in situations where things are going to happen and your goalkeeper has to make saves that keep you in the game. You don't fall apart in those moments. The first save he made and then the other one where Cole kind of came in, that play was a hard ball for him because the space closed down really quickly. John did a really good job anticipating the space so he closed him down quickly so there was no way to get around him. John came up big in the game when he needed to and that's what you need your goalkeeper to do.

There are times when they don't get any shots and then they get one and they have to make a save to keep us in the game. There's other times like tonight where there was a lot of action going around. Also, the other thing too, the physicality that he had to stay in the game. There were a couple of situations that he got into where bodies were colliding everywhere and he found a way to stay in the game. He's a tough young goalkeeper for sure.

On the challenge of playing in Colorado...

It just has been hard because of the postponement we had in Portland and the fact that we were still in Arizona in preseason trying to prepare and stay out of the bad weather and then we get faced with the postponement. Then we have to stay an extra day in Portland just because of the charter and everything else. So it was just difficult from that point of view but the guys did a good job of keeping their concentration. This was a great point for us and the fact that we were able to fight through a lot of stuff and still managing guys with their minutes.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Erik Thommy

Thoughts on the match...

They were good in the first half. They had a lot of chances. They made it difficult for us to play offensively and defensively, but during the game we got used to it. We got our own chances in the second half. We have to score. But, the point is good. It's okay for everybody, for both teams.

On the team's play in the second half...

We made little changes during the halftime. But at the end, we tried to play with not too much risk during the game. The second half, we waited for our spaces in the front and for our chances. We got our opportunities. At the end, if you have a little bit more luck, we win the game. But, the point is okay.

On adjusting to weather conditions and MLS demands...

It's different because here in the U.S. you have to travel 2-3 hours by plane and in Germany, you have 2-3 hours by bus. It's different. Today, in the first half especially, we felt that. The air was missing. But every one of us has the same conditions and that's why we have to get used to it. I like it. I feel comfortable here. We have to keep going.

On the excitement for the home opener next week...

Everyone of us is burning at the moment. We need a good training session during the week and to be prepared for the next game at home. I know that our fans will push us and give us energy on the field like they did in the last season. We're very excited.

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