MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC's U.S. Open Cup Run Ends with 1-0 Loss

Published on June 13, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City's run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ended Wednesday night with a 1-0 loss to USL PRO club Orlando City SC at Sporting Park. The defending champions were knocked out in the fourth round of the tournament by their USL PRO affiliate.

Orlando City silenced the crowd of 15,981 with a goal in the game's second minute. Midfielder Adama Mbengue won a ball in Sporting KC's defensive third and slid a pass to forward Long Tan inside the penalty box. Tan took a touch around a defender and placed his shot past goalkeeper Eric Kronberg.

Despite being down a goal, Sporting KC controlled the run of play in the first half. In the 16th minute, Josh Gardner picked up a ball on the left flank and curled in a cross toward the Orlando City penalty spot. Claudio Bieler beat his defender and got a foot on the cross but the ball trickled wide of the far post.

Homegrown midfielder Kevin Ellis, who started his first competitive match for Sporting KC, nearly equalized for the home side in the 31st minute. Ellis snuck free at the back post on a Benny Feilhaber corner kick, but his header shot just over the crossbar.

Orlando City goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo finished the match with four saves, including two saves in the span of a minute in the second half.

In the 59th minute, Sporting KC defender Seth Sinovic cut to the inside and fired a shot on target. Second-half substitute C.J. Sapong redirected the attempt on target, but Gallardo made a quick kick-save to keep the home side off the board. Less than a minute later, Gallardo was at it again, this time stretching to his left to knock away a Paulo Nagamura shot attempt that appeared destined for the far corner.

Needing a goal to force overtime, Sporting KC continued to press and nearly found their equalizer in stoppage time when center back Aurelien Collin won a header on the right side of the penalty box. However, defender Ike Opara was unable to get a touch on the ball as it trickled across the six-yard box untouched.

Forward Teal Bunbury entered the game for Sporting KC in the 76th minute for his first appearance since he suffered a torn ACL on Aug. 26, 2012.

Sporting KC will return to MLS action on June 22 with a road match against FC Dallas at FC Dallas Stadium.

FAST FACTS

- Sporting Kansas City has played Orlando City SC in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition in back-to-back years. - Sporting Kansas City is now 1-1-0 against Orlando City all-time in U.S. Open Cup play. - In the previous competitive meeting, Sporting KC earned the 3-2 victory at Sporting Park. - Orlando City SC defeated Ocala Stampede and Colorado Rapids to advance to the fourth round match, whereas Sporting KC defeated the Des Moines Menace. - Orlando City SC moves to 2-2-0 against MLS teams all-time in U.S. Open Cup competition and maintains a 3-2-0 record on the road. - Kevin Ellis made his competitive debut for Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, starting and playing the full 90 minutes. - Sporting Kansas City moves to 6-6-1 all-time in the round of 16. - Sporting KC is now 12-6-2 at home in the competition all-time and 11-5-3 vs non-MLS clubs. - Sporting Kansas City has conceded 43 goals in the tournament all-time. - Being shutout on Wednesday marks the 7th time Sporting KC has been shutout in USOC competition. - Sporting KC is now 18-13-5 all-time in U.S. Open Cup. - With the start, Eric Kronberg moves into a tie for third all-time with Chance Myers (10) for starts in the U.S. Open Cup on the club chart. - Orlando City SC has never made it to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup prior to the 2013 edition of the tournament. - Orlando City SC is Sporting Kansas City's USL Pro affiliate. Sporting KC's Dom Dwyer, Yann Songo'o, Jon Kempin and Christian Duke are currently on loan to Orlando City SC and will be eligible to play in the quarterfinal round. - Orlando City's Adama Mbengue was on trial with Sporting Kansas City during pre-season training camp. - Sporting KC's Lawrence Olum made 21 appearances for Orlando City SC in 2011 prior to signing with Sporting KC. - Sporting Kansas City was without Graham Zusi, Matt Besler, Mechack Jerome, Peterson Joseph, Kei Kamara and Mikey Lopez on Wednesday. All six players were on international duty with their respective national teams. - Orlando City SC was without Jean Alexandre, who is with Jerome and Joseph playing for the Haiti Men's National Team. - All four semi-finalists from last years competition have been eliminated from the field. - Orlando City SC will face the winner of Chicago versus Columbus on the road on June 26, 2013 for the quarterfinal. - The Chicago/Columbus match was scheduled for Wednesday night, but delayed until Thursday afternoon due to storms. QUOTES Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes

Comments on the match... I thought they played well in the first half. I thought they had more of the game in the first half. I mean, the goal was a terrible mistake on our part. We had the second half. We were around the goal but just didn't finish one off. You can't give that goal away. I say outplayed in the first half whereas in the second half, obviously, we owned the game. But it's too late at that point and you're chasing the game.

On the team's energy... I'm not making excuses by any means. I know that we haven't really played in this type of heat that much because it hasn't been hot around here. And then all of a sudden tonight it hits hard and we're not necessarily accustomed to it. But at the same time, again in the second half we had a ton of possession and a ton of opportunities in and around the box. Obviously, they had a couple counter opportunities here and there but that's going to be expected when you throw so many guys forward. Like I said, we controlled the second half but it was too late. And giving that goal away breaks you, because it's not an earned goal. It's a goal that we're sleeping on.

On not defending the title... Credit to them, they played well in the first half. It's definitely not something we wanted to have happen. We wanted to go deep into the competition and try to go after it again. It's devastating.

On the play of Kevin Ellis... He played very well throughout the whole entire game I thought. I'm proud of him and I'm happy for him because I know that he's worked very hard. He's been in a consistent form for probably three months now and I thought he did really well with his opportunity.

On Teal Bunbury's return... I was hoping that Teal maybe breaks one at the end, you never know. He has the ability to do that and his pace is always a problem for teams. It was a combination of the two.

On the strength of Orlando City... They're a good team. We've played them before. So it's not like we don't know them. Yeah, they were good. They were busy, they were hungry for it. And like I said, the first half they were the better team.

On the substitution of Lawrence Olum... I wanted to go to two and then push Nagamura up. And i actually thought that Lawrence came on and did a great job. I'm very, very happy with his performance and the way that he has played the last couple times he has come on. He's really pushing for a starting position.

Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura Comments on the match... I'm very disappointed. Playing at home, against what you can call a lower-division team, we are very disappointed that we didn't go through. But we need to pick our heads up and work toward the next game. We are going through a tough time right now and we have to show our toughness and our character and turn this thing around. Sporting KC forward Teal Bunbury On returning to action... Obviously, it's nice to be out there. To be honest, though, right now I'm pretty bummed out. It's been a great journey to get to this point and I'm glad to be a part of the team again and be available. This game is a let down, though, and we owe the fans a lot more than we showed tonight." Sporting KC defender Seth Sinovic Thoughts on the match... Disappointing is probably the biggest word for it. We had another great opportunity at home with another unbelievable crowd, especially for an Open Cup game, and we just couldn't get it done. On not being able to repeat as U.S. Open Cup champions... It's disappointing on a lot of levels. We know what it feels like to win this thing and we all desperately wanted to win it again. We are disappointed to let down our home fans again. It's just disappointing all the way around.

Orlando City SC Manager Adrian Heath On coming in and beating another MLS opponent... I was really pleased with our first half performance. I think conceivably we could have come in a couple up at halftime. I thought our counter attacking football was excellent. I thought we were well organized. We didn't really give them an opportunity in the first half and obviously second half we had to weather the storm a little bit. Credit to all of the players, they worked really really hard to defend the penalty box. I think on reflection, we just about deserved it because certainly as the game wore on we had so many breaks with 3 on 2 and 4 on 3. Overall, I'm well pleased. On scoring a goal in the second minute... It settles you down. I think the way that we play, I'm always confidant that we will get chances on the break because we move the ball very quickly and we've got good movement when we have it. Long Tan had a great chance to make it 2 nil one-on-one with the keeper. But as I was saying, we had a great start and a good move and he gave us something to believe in and that's what we did. We believed. We honestly believed before that game that we would get a result. I think that for the people who were here last year, we proved that we're a decent team. And, I think we're a better team this year. I was confident that we put on a good show and I think that's what we've done. On the team's attitude coming into the game... The guys who came in last year like Dennis Chin and Long Tan. People forget that we broke all the records last year for most goals, most wins, most points. So the guys that came in tonight had a lot to prove and I thought they all did really really well. They were confident before the game and I was confident that we'd play well. I think the way that we play matches would work well against Sporting. I delighted for the players because they've worked really really hard the last few weeks.

Orlando City goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo On the significance of Orlando City's 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City...

This is definitely one of our top moments. We've been one of the best teams in our league for two or three years now. And this is one of the things we set as a goal-to advance far in the Open Cup. So far we are really happy with the results.

On the experience gained in losing to Sporting KC in last year's U.S. Open Cup...

It helped us. We knew the field and personally know some of the players. We were a little bit more careful. We knew their strengths and what we had to look after, so it really worked out for us.

On Orlando City's mindset entering the match...

We came here confident that we could win. We came here last year and played well. We had a lot of good opportunities to score in that game, so we came into tonight with confidence. If we didn't think we could win, why come?

On Orlando City defeating two straight MLS clubs...

We've already taken care of two very tough MLS opponents. (Sporting) Kansas City is one of the best teams in the league. To go away to their stadium and get this result is great. We'll be full of confidence in the next round, no matter who we play.

Orlando City defender Justin Clark

On Orlando City's mindset entering the match...

The coaches prepared us very well, we had a game plan, and we stuck to it. We had a lot of self-confidence coming into the game, and coach told us to come out there and play our stuff. If we did that, we knew we were capable of winning the game.

On the significance of Orlando City's 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City...

It's definitely one of our top wins. They're the defending champions of the Open Cup, so it's got to be one of the best wins in our club history.

On the experience gained in losing to Sporting KC in last year's U.S. Open Cup...

Playing on the road against an MLS team is difficult. But that experience helped us. We played really well here last year, and we knew if we played well again and defended better, we could win.

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