MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Secures Spot in Eastern Conference Championship

Published on November 7, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship with a 3-1 win after extra time against the New England Revolution at Sporting Park on Wednesday in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Claudio Bieler's goal in the 113th minute of the second extra time period gave Sporting Kansas City the 4-3 advantage on aggregate following goals from Aurelien Collin and Seth Sinovic in regulation.

Sporting Kansas City will face the Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Championship, a two-games series again decided by aggregate goals scored over both legs. The opening match will be played at 1:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium (watch party at Boulevard Members Club) with the return leg at 6:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 23 at Sporting Park. Tickets are now available for the team's home playoff match e168c8ff6e96e644baef6b414 on Ticketmaster.com as Sporting KC and Houston meet for the third consecutive postseason.

Entering Wednesday's match behind 2-1 on aggregate, Sporting Kansas City attacked from the opening whistle with Benny Feilhaber and C.J. Sapong combining in the game's early minutes. A give-and-go between the two allowed for Sapong to launch a right-footed shot from 25 yards out that went narrowly wide in the third minute. Less than a minute later, Feilhaber's free kick found Sapong but his header was saved by Reis.

New England attempted their first of two shots in the half in the seventh minute as Juan Agudelo's shot deflected off Matt Besler and carried over the crossbar. The Revolution's only other offensive opportunity came in the 45th minute when Kelyn Rowe hit his shot wide off a set piece.

Sporting Kansas City's chances continued to mount in a first half that saw the home side control 72 percent of the possession. Feilhaber's first-time volley went high of frame in the 11th minute and Reis made a superb one-handed save to deny Dom Dwyer on a header in the 17th minute.

Manager Peter Vermes' side continued to threaten with crosses into the box and in the 33rd minute it was Graham Zusi finding Sapong. The third-year striker, who has started all seven of the team's postseason games in his three MLS season, directed his header on frame but right at Reis.

With four minutes remaining in the first half, Sporting Kansas City broke through to take a 1-0 lead and level the aggregate series at 2-2. Aurelien Collin was positioned inside the penalty area and was the first to react to the flick from Dwyer. Collin pounced on the deflection off Andrew Farrell and buried his left-footed strike off the inside of the post for his second straight postseason game with a goal.

Dwyer, making his first playoff start, remained active on both sides of the halftime break. In the 43rd minute, Dwyer's header off a Chance Myers' cross went just wide of the post. In the 46th minute, his give-and-go with Paulo Nagamura nearly gave Sporting KC the coveted two-goal lead. Dwyer played the ball into the right channel ahead of Nagamura and immediately darted inside the box to receive the ball back for a first-time shot saved by Reis.

The veteran goalkeeper, who entered Wednesday 8-0-4 in his 12 MLS starts in 2013, came up with an outstanding two-save sequence in the 55th minute. Myers' cross from the flank was met by Dwyer at the near post and Reis reacted well to turn the header away, only to then sprawl full length to deny Feilhaber's follow-up.

The play proved pivotal as the game's next shot would pull New England back ahead in the semifinal series. Agudelo was brought down by Besler along the right touchline and Rowe's ensuing free kick was whipped to the top of the six-yard box where Dimitry Imbongo was stationed for an acrobatic side volley that caromed off Jimmy Nielsen and into the net in the 70th minute.

On the brink of postseason elimination, Sporting Kansas City responded in the 79th minute through Sinovic -- a Leawood, Kan. native and former Revolution defender. Collin began the play with his service some 65 yards from goal, flicked forward by Zusi and smashed into the side netting with a first time finish off his left foot. Sinovic now has two goals in his MLS career, both coming in back-to-back home playoff matches in the last two years.

New England made the most of their opportunities on the counter, coming close to delivering a dagger in the 85th minute. Diego Fagundez, 18, dribbled with pace on the break and struck a shot from 25 yards that skimmed off the top-side of the crossbar.

The back-and-forth action continued until the final moments of regulation, including a Nagamura last-ditch effort that rolled inches past the post in the third minute of stoppage time.

The first 15-minute extra time period was dominated by Sporting Kansas City as the team's defense held New England without a shot. On the opposite end of the field, Sporting KC fired six times in the stanza and none were closer than Feilhaber's half-volley from 30 yards out in the final minute before switching sides.

In the 109th minute, New England nearly sealed the series on an individual effort from Agudelo. Receiving a pass from Lee Nguyen, the Stoke City-bound playmaker slipped past Besler and went one-on-one with Nielsen only to be thwarted with a foot save to keep the aggregate even with 10 minutes to go.

The home crowd of more than 19,000 erupted in the 113th minute as Bieler, a second-half substitute, scored the biggest of his 11 goals on the season. Feilhaber, who played each of the last two seasons in New England, set up the Designated Player with a well-earned assist after intercepting Reis' distribution and dribbling inside the edge of the penalty area before picking out Bieler with a well-weighted pass. The Argentine calmly slotted his shot by Reis for the decisive goal to extend Sporting Kansas City's postseason.

Wednesday's other Eastern Conference Semifinal also ended 4-3 on aggregate after 120 minutes of action with the Houston Dynamo eliminating Supporters' Shield winners New York at Red Bull Arena. The Western Conference Semifinals will conclude on Thursday between Portland/Seattle and Salt Lake/LA.

Visit SportingKC.com/playoffs for all the latest on the team's quest for MLS Cup.

FAST FACTS

- With the 4-3 victory on aggregate, Sporting KC advances to the Eastern Conference Championship to face the Houston Dynamo. - Houston defeated the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Wednesday. With New York's loss, Sporting KC will now have home field advantage throughout the remainder of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

- Aurelien Collin scored Sporting KC's first goal on Wednesday night. The goal is Collin's second of the 2013 MLS postseason and third during the playoffs in his MLS career. - Collin has now scored in back-to-back matches, earning one goal in each leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Revolution. - Paulo Nagamura returned to Sporting Kansas City's starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 7 after suffering a left ankle injury. - Sporting KC started eight players on Wednesday that also started the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals in New England. Nagamura, Benny Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer replaced Lawrence Olum, Teal Bunbury and Jacob Peterson. - The start on Wednesday was Dwyer's first in the MLS postseason since joining Sporting Kansas City. - Lawrence Olum missed Wednesday's match after suffering a fractured fibula in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals. - The loss snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for the New England Revolution in all competitions. Prior to Wednesday, New England's last loss came on Sept. 14 at the Chicago Fire. - The New England Revolution have not won in Kansas City since 2008, spanning a total of eight games in Major League Soccer. - Defender Seth Sinovic scored Sporting Kansas City's second goal of the match on Wednesday. - Sinovic's goal was the second of his Sporting KC career with both goals coming in the postseason in back-to-back home playoff matches at Sporting Park. He also scored in 2012 against the Houston Dynamo in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

- Both of Sinovic's goals have been game-winning goals. - Assists on Sinovic's goal were credited to Graham Zusi and Aurelien Collin. - The assist was Zusi's ninth of 2013 in MLS competition (including playoffs) and fourth during his postseason career with Sporting KC. - Zusi has 35 assists during his MLS career when including the postseason. - Zusi's game-winning assist was the 17th of his career and third in the postseason. - The assist for Collin marks his first in the MLS postseason and third of his MLS career when including the postseason. - Claudio Bieler scored Sporting KC's third and final goal on Wednesday, breaking the 3-3 tie on aggregate. - Bieler led Sporting Kansas City in goals during the 2013 MLS regular season. His goal on Wednesday was his 11th in 2013 in MLS competition. - The appearance was Bieler's first for Sporting KC in the MLS postseason. - Benny Feilhaber earned the assist on Bieler's goal. - The assist marked Feilhaber's first point in MLS postseason competition. - The assist was Feilhaber's 5th in 2013 and 14th of his MLS career. The other nine were secured while playing with his former team, the New England Revolution. - Seth Sinovic and Benny Feilhaber both earned points for Sporting KC on Wednesday and coincidentally both players were formerly on the New England Revolution. - Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi each had six chances created on Wednesday night, most among all players. - Benny Feilhaber had five shots on Wednesday, a single-game career high. - Dom Dwyer and Aurelien Collin led all players in pass completion percentage with 92.3%. - Chance Myers had 10 open crosses on Wednesday, most among all players. Zusi followed right behind with nine. - Matt Besler had 142 touches on Wednesday, most among all players. - Oriol Rosell had nine interceptions on Wednesday, most among all players. Rosell also led all players in MLS for interceptions at the conclusion of the MLS regular season with 130. - Matt Reis had to leave the match in the second extra time period due to injury. The early prognosis is a torn quad muscle. Reis will undergo more testing upon his return to New England. - Sporting KC's attendance on Wednesday was 19,031 -- marking the 34th consecutive MLS sellout at Sporting Park. - Sporting KC will travel to BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday to face the Houston Dynamo in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at 1:30 p.m. CT on NBC. - The Boulevard Members Club will host the team's official watch party at Sporting Park. The event will be free and open to the general public.

- Sporting KC was knocked out of the playoffs by the Houston Dynamo in each of the last two seasons (2011 & 2012).

QUOTES

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes

Vermes and his thoughts on the game...

"We came into this game with the idea that we were going to play. We outplayed them tonight. From the beginning of the game all the way to the end we were fantastic. There's not much I can say about the determination and the ambition of the players. But their effort from the first to the last minute of the game and the way they managed the game was exactly what we talked about during the week leading up to this game. So I can't say enough about the perseverance and their determination to make sure that they left here with a win and they did it in incredible fashion. And the last thing that I'll say is that the crowd was absolutely incredible and the fans were unreal. It was amazing how the guys ran as long as they could, and so much of that has to do with the motivation of the fans and the way that they are behind the team."

On Paulo Nagamura's return...

"There's not much I can say other than the fact that he hasn't played for over two months and for him to go in and play 90 plus minutes is absolutely incredible. He's an absolute warrior and he's something that we've been missing for a long time in the middle of the midfield and it's great to have him back out there because he really is an important player in our group and in the way we play."

On Benny Feilhaber's performance...

"I thought he was very good on both sides of the ball and I thought possession wise he helped us a great deal. One of the things we wanted to do tonight was move the ball around and move it around quickly. He was excellent in position and that helped to keep the ball and make them have to chase us so he was good as well."

On Claudio's first goal in the run of play since July...

"Claudio and I had a talk here last week and I said to him that there's more soccer to play here. You don't understand yet what the playoff environment is like, but the opportunities are going to come and you're going to put one away for us or maybe two and they're going to be big goals. Him going on and finding his right place on the field during a couple of those situation were huge for us. He is what he is: a goal scorer. And it's great to see him get confidence on that goal because we need him down the stretch here."

On Matt Besler's leadership role Wednesday night...

"He did something at halftime that I won't speak about which was fantastic, but he was good in a lot of other ways just outside of being good in the game and he led very well coming into this game. That's a huge step for him and this team because we need his leadership and the way that he sort of took charge over the team these last few days. And that's a big thing and a big reason we got the result we got today. So I'm very happy for him and for the team because we need field generals on the field and he's starting to come into his own and it's in a very quiet way."

On Houston as the semi-final opponent...

"Here we are again. They're a very good team. They always turn it on at the end of the season. One of the difficulties that they provide, especially late in the season here, is that we have a very short turnaround here and we're going into some different weather. But we've done well against them over the course of this year for the most part and it's going to be a great matchup because it always is. They're a great team. Dominic does a great job with the group and I have the utmost respect for him and how his team plays and the fact that they come to play. So from that point of view it's going to be a tremendous series."

Vermes on the entertainment level that Sporting KC brings to MLS...

"If there's one thing I stand behind, it's our league and the way we play in this league. There's an entertainment value that is extremely important to the success of this league, and if you watched tonight's game, you don't leave here and say you weren't entertained. Our players managed the game extremely well in all the pieces of the game and on top of that they also entertained. It was an unbelievable environment and I've always said the interesting thing for me here at Sporting Park is that there's a connection between the fans and the players and the players and the fans. And that is the thing that needs to be replicated all over this league for it to continue to grow. So from that perspective, our fitness is based solely around the fact that we want to play a high-tempo, entertaining style of game and when we're given the chance to do that, it's entertaining for not only the people watching live, but also the people watching on TV and everything else and our fitness is a huge part of that."

On the attacking style of Wednesday's gameplan...

"We said no matter what the other team does, we're going to play this way and we are going to take certain situations into our own hands and we are going to make sure that we force things to happen the way we want them to and that's a credit to the players."

On if Sporting KC took matters into its own hands...

"If there's one thing that you will always notice about our team, there's not a guy that every cheap shots someone. If they did, I'm the first guy to step in and take care of that because that's not the way we want to play. We play hard, but we play fair, and we want to play to make sure that we are always entertaining as well. We want to get results, don't get me wrong results are first and foremost, but we have to do that in conjunction with entertaining and that's a big thing that we learned tonight. We did not go out and wait around. We played, and we played well and then we also got the result and that's a big achievement."

On why New England wasn't able to keep pressure up offensively...

"Teams decide to try and do that here, but then they start dropping off over the course of the game because they can't go anymore. They're coach was trying to get them to step up, step up, step up, but they couldn't. They couldn't sustain it. These guys break them down, break them down, break them down and that's a part of who we are."

Sporting KC defender Seth Sinovic

On what he thought of the win...

"Obviously that was a huge win, I think New England is a really good team, they're young, they're up and coming. They have a lot of talented players and we knew it was going to be a tough battle. But I think we dominated the game from start to finish, I think we gave up the one goal and one good opportunity in overtime, which Jimmy made a huge save for us. But this game shows the type of type of character this team has. The game in New England, down two goals, needed one goal to make things more realistic coming home, and then when they tied it up tonight and we needed another goal so we just keep fighting and hopefully we can bring that to the next round."

On scoring in a crucial playoff situation..

"It's a lot more fun scoring in the playoffs, not that I know what it feels like to score in the regular season. But no, it's a lot of fun. Zusi made an unbelievable challenge on that play (New England Player) is very strong in the air and for him to go on and win that ball and flick it on to me was the difference. I was just kind of going after it and ended up hitting it and hoping. Thankfully I connected well and it went in the goal."

On scoring in front of the home crowd...

"There's no better feeling. I was so excited with that celebration. Hopefully I showed a little bit of how much this team and this city means to me and how much it means to play for them. So yeah it's unbelievable to score a goal like that, and unbelievable to keep us in the playoffs and hopefully there's more to come."

On how the team felt after New England's goal in the second half...

"The first goal was a good goal and got ourselves back into it, but I think we then let down our guard a little bit on that set piece. We always talk about every roll of the ball and always being focused throughout the entire game and I think we let our guard down a little bit on that goal. So that was obviously frustrating but we knew we had plenty of time to get ourselves back into it and thankfully we had an opportunity and we took advantage of it."

Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen

On New England's attempts to create countering opportunities...

"We kept telling each other that we had to be aware of their counters and I think we did a hell of a good job of that today."

On his big save late in the game...

"It was a perfect angle for me to slide down with him and get my foot on it. I just did what I had to do."

On getting a three goal support from the team...

"Amazing. It takes the pressure off the defense. It was awesome to get three goals, three very good goals; very, very important. They came back from 1-1 but we stayed calm. It's funny, I asked Seth yesterday just before practice, 'Is it not time for you to score again?' I'm very happy for him. He deserved that."

On seeing Houston dynamo in the semifinals...

"It's just amazing how we meet each other all the time. There are going to be some very exciting games. You know it's a quick turnaround so we've got to prepare ourselves for that game."

On the mutual respect between clubs...

"I have the deepest respect for what they've done from the time I've been in here America. They always find a way to get through and enter the playoffs."

On having an added confidence this year against Houston...

"Well it's two teams that fit each other pretty good. I think lately we've done pretty good against Houston."

New England Head Coach Jay Heaps

General comments on the match...

"I think we fought hard. Unfortunately, the first half is what did us in. We didn't play real well, but it wasn't for lack of trying. We tried to get our bearings but credit to a good bunch of players on that team. I think they're a good group of players. I think that's a player led team."

On improved performance in the second half...

"It felt good. We started to move the ball better. Scotty made a good improvement, so tactically we made a little shift and we found a goal. A bing-bang play and then they go back and tie it again on the aggregate side. For me, it's a really disappointing game to a really good group of guys in our locker room."

Heading into extra time after expending so much energy during regulation...

"We tried and I felt we had a couple chances here and there. We were hoping to get to penalties because we were hanging on and we thought we had the advantage there."

New England Revolution defender A.J. Soares

Thoughts on the match...

"It was a fun game to play in. It was a fun atmosphere. Both legs were awesome and it was great to be a part of it. Obviously, we are disappointed that we lost. I thought we did enough to win. We played really well over both legs. We had little spots where we were excellent and they had spots where they were excellent. It was a good battle. We went back and forth and at the end of the day, they came out with it. So I'm just really proud of the guys. The work rate, the commitment to winning over the last couple months has been phenomenal. It was a great team to be a part of and I'm really proud of the guys."

On Matt Reis...

"That's been the story the last couple months. Matt Reis has been phenomenal. I'm really sad to see him go down with that injury. Hopefully, he can bounce back quickly. He's a stud and really led us into the playoffs and through that last stretch of games where we needed to win all the time. He was that backbone, the guy we leaned on all the time and when we needed something to be said, a veteran presence to come in and let us know how it was going to be done, he was the guy. When we slipped up in the back, he was the guy that made the save. He was great and tonight he was great again and I'm just bummed out he went down with that injury."

On tired legs going into overtime...

"I wouldn't say we went into it tired. You have to keep in mind that they, in the first half, had to expend a lot of energy to get that first goal just to bring it even. So we knew going into the second half that they had just gone full out and that they had just put everything on the line to get that goal. It's not 0-0 in our minds and we have 45 minutes to play the game. We went out there, we did what we need to do and then we let a goal in, obviously. And then at the end of the day, they just got one on us."

Reflecting on the season...

"First of all, you keep in mind the feeling of losing. That sucks and you don't want to feel that again. It's not fun. Everyone feels terrible about not getting the result. But now we know how to win. We know how to win crucial games on the road. We showed that and everybody is young on this team. We can go forward learning, having been in a playoff series now. That experience is always huge going forward."

New England Revolution defender Darrius Barnes

Thoughts on the match...

"The effort was there. The effort was definitely there. It's just a difficult game. It was pretty much what we expected when we came out here. They were going to come out in waves. They were going to come out flying. That's what we predicted and that's what they did. They came out flying and put us under pressure early. They didn't really let us get in a groove the whole first half. They put their stamp on the game early. That definitely bothered and affected us in the first half. They had a couple chances in the first half and scored the one at the end of the half.

"Then in the second half, I thought the game opened up and we could play and found a couple of chances. Dimitry [Imbongo] makes a terrific finish on the set piece and that point we are feeling pretty good and comfortable. Unfortunately, we gave up that second goal that kind of took the wind out of our sails a bit. We hung on and played a bit until we got to overtime. They got a goal at the end of overtime and that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. You have to give credit to Sporting. I think they are a quality side and that they will make a big run in these playoffs. Big ups to them."

Thoughts on the overtime...

"Going to overtime, we were still confident. At that point, the game was completely open, it could have gone either way. The way they played, they had the majority of the ball, but we definitely had our chances. Especially on the break, we were able to get some good possession going forward and hit them on the counter. We had some chances as well, we just didn't put them away. Unfortunately, they buried the chances they got. Like I said, the overtime was a completely open game. It could have gone either way and they took their chances."

On the season...

"It's another one in the books. I'm extremely proud of this team. At the beginning of the season nobody thought this team would be here. This team showed a lot of resiliency, a lot of character. Everyone this season improved dramatically. We improved as a team and individually, and I don't think this is the last you will see of this team. This team is going to be back here next year, in a more dominant position ready to make a run at this thing. With the talent, and the young guys, and the experience we have on this team, next year could be a pretty big year for this team."

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