Sporting Kansas City Advances to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals
June 28, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City defeated the Chicago Fire PDL by a score of 3-0 in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
Teal Bunbury, Milos Stojcev and Kei Kamara provided the goals and Eric Kronberg made one save for a Sporting Kansas City side that now advances to the quarterfinal round of the tournament for the first time since 2009. Sporting Kansas City will host the Richmond Kickers on July 12th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
The action got going early, as Sporting were able to convert their first chance of the match in just the third minute. A foul at the edge of the area saw a free kick given against the Fire PDL. Standing over the ball, Luke Sassano rolled a quick pass to Teal Bunbury, and the second-year forward smashed a low drive past Fire PDL goalkeeper David Meves.
In the 12th minute, Sporting came knocking again. Following an attempted shot to the far post from Bunbury that was blocked, the ensuing carom fell to Kamara, who blazed his left-footed effort just over the bar.
The 21st minute saw another chance fall at the feet of Bunbury. Tracking a bouncing ball into the area,Bunbury managed to muscle Fire PDL captain Jonathan Raj off the ball. A quick look up saw Bunbury attempt to guide his shot over the head of Meves, but his touch was straight at the Fire PDL goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, Sporting would go close again. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, Bunbury played a pass out to the right for an overlapping Michael Harrington. Harrington's cross found an unmarked Milos Stojcev with space inside the area, but the forward couldn't keep his half-volley down, and it deflected off the woodwork and out of play.
The best chance of the first half for the Fire PDL came in the 42nd minute, and nearly resulted in an equalizer for the visitors. A low ball in from the right was played behind the Sporting defense, and was met by a sliding Paulo Vaz. The forward put his finish beyond Kronberg, but the goal was disallowed as Vaz was judged to have been in an offside position.
Just after the break, the Fire PDL were back on the attack, this time through a halftime substitute, Callum Mallace. Drifting in from the left, Mallace clipped a cross to the back post with runners driving into the area. Harrison Petts was on hand to meet the cross at the edge of the six-yard box, but the forward put his volley effort well over the goal.
In the 58th minute, Sporting were able to pull ahead with a second goal. Pressure on a backpass from Bunbury led to a poor clearance from Meves. The goalkeeper's attempted long ball fell straight to the feet of Stojcev. The midfielder took two touches to his left and let loose a rocket that flew into the side netting.
Two minutes later, Sporting added another. A free kick given on the edge area was whipped in by midfielder Graham Zusi, who had come on at halftime for Luke Sassano. Zusi's cross was met by a diving Kamara header, and past Meves to make it 3-0.
The match with Richmond Kickers is set for July 12th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, and a time will be announced shortly. Sporting Kansas City resume MLS action on Saturday, when the team travels to take on the Portland Timbers on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. CT from JELD-WEN Field. The match will be broadcast live on KSMO-TV
Fast Facts:
* Sporting Kansas City will host the Richmond Kickers (USL PRO) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, July 12th in the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. * Sporting Kansas City advances to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the sixth time in team history and first time since 2009. * Teal Bunbury scored his second-ever goal in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the 3rd minute on Tuesday off a designed free kick. * Bunbury's two goals puts him in sixth on Sporting Kansas City's all-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup goal scoring chart. * Bunbury now has five career points in two seasons of action in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, making him tied for eighth on the Sporting Kansas City all-time chart. * Bunbury's goal was the third fastest in team history for a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match, besting his goal in the 4th minute last season in a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids. * Milos Stojcev recorded the first point and first goal of his MLS career in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition on Tuesday with a strike from distance in the 58th minute. * One minute later, Kei Kamara also recorded his first goal for Sporting Kansas City in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on a diving header off an assist from Graham Zusi. * Kamara becomes the 33rd different Sporting Kansas City player to record a goal in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. * Luke Sassano assisted on Bunbury's goal in the 3rd minute, earning his first assist for Sporting Kansas City in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Zusi's assist was also his first career point in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, becoming the 24th different Sporting Kansas City player to record an assist in the tournament. * Zusi now has assists in last four appearance for Sporting Kansas City. * Goalkeeper Eric Kronberg recorded one save on Tuesday en route to his fourth shutout in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the most of any goalkeeper in Sporting Kansas City history. * Kronberg has posted three consecutive shutouts in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition this season, leading Sporting Kansas City to a 1-0 win in qualifying over the Houston Dynamo and a 5-0 win over the New England Revolution in the final play-in match. * Sporting Kansas City now has 10 shutouts all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Kronberg has allowed six goals and in seven all-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearances. * With the win, Sporting Kansas City is now 13-11-4 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition, 5-5-1 all-time in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 and 8-3-3 against non-MLS competition in the tournament. * Sporting Kansas City remains undefeated at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park since its opening on June 9th, 2011 with a 3-0-1 record in all competition. * Sporting Kansas City is 8-4-1 all-time at home in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition * Sporting Kansas City has outscored their opponents 56-37 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. * Defender Michael Harrington started the seventh Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup of his career, eighth most in Sporting Kansas City. It also marked his 10th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearance, which is tied for fifth most in Sporting Kansas City history. * Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in nine straight games in all competition. * Sporting Kansas City Home Grown Player Kevin Ellis made his Sporting Kansas City first-team debut in the 63rd minute, entering the match for Kei Kamara. * Ellis becomes the first Sporting Kansas City Home Grown Player to appear in a first-team match. * Sporting Kansas City has shutouts in five of their past seven matches and have allowed only two goals in their past seven games in all competition. * Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in June at 4-0-3. * Sporting Kansas City won for the first-time in 2011 when wearing the all-dark indigo uniforms. * Sporting Kansas City defender Seth Sinovic and forward Teal Bunbury both played for Chicago Fire Premier during their college careers. * The Sporting Kansas City U13 Juniors will play in the Region II Championship on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. CT in Fox Cities, Wisconsin against the Chicago Magic Pre-Academyafter securing a 3-1 win today over Pacesetter Premier Red in the semifinals.
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