Wednesday, August 31, 2011

 Juniors Products in College Soccer


Sporting Kansas City is starting a new feature to keep track of our Juniors products that are now college athletes! Player information will be updated throughout the 2011 NCAA/NAIA Men's Soccer season.

Below is the list of players, complete with background information on each former Sporting Kansas City Juniors player...

  • Kyle Miller- Kyle is a redshirt senior at Rockhurst University where he is an Accounting/Finance major. He plays at the midfield position where he has made 53 starts for the team. He has recorded two goals and six assists. In 2010, he became a medical redshirt after playing in two matches.
  • Peter O'Neill- Peter is a senior at Northwestern University where he is a Political Science major with a minor in Business Institutions. He plays at the midfield position. In 2008, he was a Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection. He appeared in 19 matches, starting six. In 2009 he appeared in 20 matches, starting four. He was selected to be an Academic All-Big Ten. In 2010 he appeared in 18 matches, starting 17. He ranked third on the team with four assists, was named to the all-tournament team at the NIU adidas/Magnuson Inn Invitational, and was once again Academic All-Big Ten.
  • Jimmy Simon- Jimmy is a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he is a Pharmacy major. He plays the forward position. He started his career at Rutgers University where he appeared in eight games, with three starts as a freshman. He primarily played as a defender during his time at Rutgers. In 2009, for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Jimmy appeared in 19 games, making 12 starts. He tied for second on the team with three assists. In the Summit League Conference, Jimmy tied for fourth with assists (3), and 10th in assists per game (.16). He was charged with one yellow card during the season. In 2010, he was a first-team All-Summit League selection. He led the team with seven goals. In the Summit League Conference he ranked second in scoring, and third in points (15). In addition, Jimmy earned Academic All-League and Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence.
  • Christian Duke- Christian is currently a junior at the University of San Diego. He plays the the midfield position. In 2009, as a freshman, he appeared in 2 games for the Torreros. In 2010, as a sophomore, he played in 17 matches, making 15 starts. He was named All-WCC honorable mention.
  • Laeth Hamil- Laeth is a junior at Baker University where he plays the defender position.
  • Alex Sweetin- Alex is a junior at Saint Louis University. He plays the midfield position, and has not declared a major. In 2009, as a freshman, Alex was on the A-10 preseason All-Rookie Team, and was apart of CollegeSoccerNews.com's "100 Freshman To Keep an Eye On." After the season he was named Athletic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year. He was also named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Rookie "Team of the Season." In 2010, as a sophomore, he was a preseason A-10 All-Conference pick. After the season he was named as a Second-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference selection. He tied for the team lead with eight points (2G, 4A). He was second on the team with his four assists.
  • Patrick Foglio- Patrick is a freshman at William Jewell College. He plays the forward position. The William Jewell College Athletics' website states that the reason he attended William Jewell College was for the, "Great Biology program and soccer."
  • Brandon Fricke- Brandon is a redshirt freshman at Butler University. He plays the defense position, and did not see action in the 2010 season because he redshirted.
  • Taylor Vinnage- Taylor is a sophomore at Rockhurst University where he is a Business major. He plays as a goalkeeper. In his only appearance in 2010 he recorded a shutout against Indianapolis. He had four saves in Rockhurst's 2-0 victory.
  • Tom Adams- Tom is a freshman at Oral Roberts University. He plays the forward position.
  • Asher Herbet- Asher is a freshman at Long Island University where he is a Biology major. He plays the midfield position.
  • Konnor Knoll- Konnor is a freshman at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He plays the defender position, and has yet to decide on a major.
  • Marques Mayoras- Marques is a freshman at the Ohio State University. He plays the midfield position. Head Coach John Bluem said about Marques on Ohio State's athletic website that, "Marques is an intelligent player who excels at positional sense and keeping possession in the midfield. He is very talented and we look forward to getting him into the program."
  • Eric Moore- Eric is a freshman at Rockhurst University where he plays the midfield position.
  • Michael Oakley- Michael is a freshman at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where plays the defense position.
  • Paul Oliver- Paul is a freshman at Oral Roberts University where he plays the midfield and defense positions.
  • Jordan Rideout- Jordan is a freshman at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he is majoring in Business. He plays the forward position.
  • Will Witherspoon- Will is a freshman at Virginia Tech University where he plans on majoring in University Studies. He plays the forward position. So far in 2011, he has played in one match for the Hokies.
  • Raymond Lee- Raymond is a freshman at Saint Louis University where he plays the midfield position. In St. Louis's season opener, Raymond scored the team's only goal in the 58th minute in a 2-1 loss to Northern Illinois.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

 Photo Slideshow: U13 Juniors

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 Juniors reached the championship match of the 2011 Midwest Kickoff Classic on Sunday at the Overland Park Soccer Complex, finishing runners-up in the local tourney. Check out the photo slideshow below for images of the club's youngest academy team in action:

Photos provided by Peter Wilkinson

Monday, August 22, 2011

 Midwest Kickoff Classic Results

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 and Under-14 Juniors each reached the championship match of their respective groups at the 2011 Midwest Kickoff Classic on Sunday at the Overland Park Soccer Complex. With both teams competing at the highest level available at the tournament -- Boys U14/15 Gold -- the Under-14 Juniors went unbeaten (outscoring their opponents 13-0 in the team's three group stage games) en route to a 2-1 win in the final over Sporting BVSC 97/98.

The Under-13 Juniors earned a 4-0 win over MYSA KC Fusion Fury Academy 98/99 and 3-1 victory against Sporting BVSC 98/99 before falling 4-2 in the final in their second loss of the tournament to Nebraska's Columbus 97/98 Chaos. Check out the video compilation below to see the U13's goal scorers on the weekend:

Friday, August 19, 2011

 U13s & U14s at Midwest Kickoff Classic

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 and Under-14 Juniors will compete at the Midwest Kickoff Classic  this weekend at the Overland Park Soccer Complex. Both teams will compete in the Under-14/Under-15 Gold Boys age division, the highest level offered at the tournament. Their schedules are as follows (subject to change):

Under-13 Sporting KC Juniors

  • vs. MYSA KC Fusion Fury Academy at 8:45pm tonight on Field 7
  • vs. Sporting BVSC 98/99 at 6:45pm on Saturday on Field 6
  • vs. Columbus 97/98 Chaos at 10:00am on Sunday on Field 6
  • Click here for Results and Standings 
Under-14 Sporting KC Juniors
  • vs. KC United Galaxy at 8:45pm tonight on Field 3
  • vs. Sporting BVSC 97/98 at 5:30pm on Saturday on Field 2
  • vs. Cholita Strikers 98 at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday on Field 4
  • Click here for Results and Standings
Good luck Juniors!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

 Seo-In Kim at FC Barcelona Camp

Sporting KC academy player Seo-In Kim recently returned from an elite training camp at FC Barcelona in Spain. See a few pics from his time at the famed Nou Camp training ground below and read the report on SportingMembership.com for more details.



Monday, August 8, 2011

 Piatczyc & Stewart see reserve action; U14s take Denver Cup

Through five matches of the 2011 MLS Reserve League, a total of seven members of the Sporting KC Juniors program had seen playing time. Today, in the sixth match of the league schedule against the Colorado Rapids, two more got their chance.

Joey Piatczyc and Clay Stewart entered in the 83rd and 89th minutes respectively in Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 win over Colorado this morning.

Piatczyc (born in 1996) is the youngest player to feature for the reserves this season, most recently completing the season with Sporting's U15 side. Piatczyc's selection comes after impressing with the group that Jon Parry brought to the U17 Generation adidas Cup.
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In other Juniors news, Dustin Ottesen's U14 side were named champions of the 2011 Denver Cup this past weekend. The 14s topped bracket A, scoring 12 goals in four matches, finishing ahead of the likes of Real Colorado and Colorado Rush en route to their first title of the new season.

Monday, August 1, 2011

 Juniors at U14 National Team ID Camp

Congratulations to Sporting Kansas City Juniors Seth Hudson and John Leisman who were invited to the United States Under-14 Boys National Team Identification Camp, which began yesterday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Seth and John are among 80 players selected by head coach Manny Schellscheidt and the week-long camp brings together the nations top players with 1998/1999 birthdates to train twice a day in an elite environment. The Under-14 Boys National Team is the youngest national team in the U.S. Youth National Team system and is the first step in identifying and developing players for the future.

For the full list of players and more information on the ID Camp, click here for the official announcement by U.S. Soccer.

 Photos from victory over Chicago

One last photo slideshow from the U17 Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, Texas as the Sporting Kansas City Juniors closed out the tournament with a 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire. The photos have been provided all tournament by the FC Dallas communications department and photographer Rick Yeatts -- thanks guys!


 Juniors cruise past Chicago in 3-0 win

The Sporting Kansas City U-17s finished up the Generation adidas Cup with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Fire Juniors on Sunday at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX. At the half, the guys were up 1-0 off of a Steven Enna goal in the 20th minute.

The second half was all Sporting Kansas City, as Nate Opperman scored on a penalty kick following a foul on Seo-In Kim, who was again involved in the third and final goal as he provided the assist for Cole Stevenson's strike to earn the team a 3-0 victory prior to their flight back to KC on Sunday night.