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.

Video: SKC vs. San Jose

MLSSoccer.com is on site at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas for the 2011 U17 Generation adidas Cup and caught up with Sporting Kansas City Juniors Director of Coaching Jon Parry after the team's penalty shootout following a 4-4 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night.

Hear what Jon had to say about the tournament, which features nearly every MLS academy team, and see footage from the shootout with some impressive saves by goalkeeper Evan Wright.

Shootout vs San Jose at GA Cup

Photos taken by Rick Yeatts

Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes lit up the scoreboard on Friday night at the 2011 U17 Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, Texas as the two MLS academy teams combined for the highest scoring game of the tournament thus far in a 4-4 draw that ended with Sporting Kansas City prevailing 5-4 on six rounds in the penalty shootout.

After falling behind 2-0 in the game's opening minutes, Sporting Kansas City fought back to even the score at 2-2 as Eric DeJulio twice capitalized on corner kicks for the Juniors on each side of halftime. But San Jose responded instantly with the first of two second-half strikes as they re-gained their two-goal advantage and looked to have the victory sealed with the clock winding down.

But Sporting Kansas City came back in dramatic fashion as Nate Opperman scored twice in the final six minutes of the match to force the penalty kick shootout. The first goal came on an assist from Seo-In Kim, who cut inside and laid the ball back for Opperman to bury his shot from near the penalty mark. Then the equalizer was a long-range header from Opperman at the top of the penalty area that looped over the Earthquakes keeper off a cross from the right side.

Goalkeeper Evan Wright was again in between the posts for Sporting Kansas City's second penalty shootout of the tournament. After making three stops against the Seattle Sounders earlier in the week, Wright was again up to the test as he stopped two of San Jose's attempts. DeJulio clinched the victory with his converted penalty in the sixth round, after previous makes by Schrick, Lennon, Stanley and Opperman.

Sporting Kansas City will play their fifth and final match of the tournament against the Chicago Fire at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Follow @SKCJuniors on Twitter for updates or visit the tournament homepage on MLSSoccer.com.

PHOTOS: vs. Philadelphia Union

Some great shots courtesy of Rick Yeatts from last night's hard fought group stage finale against the Philadelphia Union at Pizza Hut Park (Frisco, Texas) in the 2011 U17 Generation adidas Cup.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Follow @SKCJuniors on Twitter for updates from tonight's match as our academy returns to action against the San Jose Earthquakes at 6:30 p.m. CT. The winner will advance to play on Sunday against the victor between the Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire.

GA Cup Photos

The Sporting Kansas City Juniors have set up shop in Frisco, Texas for the 2011 U17 Generation adidas Cup this week. With two games already played and two more to go (beginning with the Philadelphia Union tonight at 8:15 p.m.), team admin Betsy Pollard was kind enough to share some behind-the-scenes shots of how the squad is entertaining itself when they're not busy battling other MLS teams, including their attendance at a special presentation by former U.S. Soccer star Jeff Agoos.

Check out the slideshow below and be sure to follow @SKCJuniors on Twitter for even more timely Twitpics as all the action unfolds.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Photos: U17s vs Seattle Sounders

Check out some great shots of last night's 2-2 draw as our academy team faced off with the Seattle Sounders at the U17 Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, Texas.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Big thanks to Rick Yeatts and the FC Dallas Communications department for providing us with photos this week! 

The team is resting today in preparation for the final group stage game on Thursday against the Philadelphia Union. The group is wide open as all four teams fight for positioning before the placement matches on Friday and the final day of tournament competition on Sunday. Group B standings are below...

Club	G	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
FC Dallas	2	1	0	1	4	2	2	5
Philadelphia Union	2	1	0	1	1	0	1	4
Sporting Kansas City	2	0	1	1	4	6	-2	2
Seattle Sounders	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	1

U17s get past Seattle on PKs

After a 2-2 draw in regulation on goals from Nate Opperman and Clay Stewart, the Sporting Kansas City juniors defeated Seattle in a PK shootout last night at the U17 Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, TX! Jojo Piatczyc converted in the 7th round, which followed 2 saves by GK Evan Wright!

Today, the guys have a day off to rest for tomorrow's final group stage match against the Philadelphia Union. The game will begin at 8:15pm at Pizza Hut Park. Be sure to follow along on Twitter via @SKCJuniors for updates throughout the U17 Generation adidas Cup!

Here's video (though a bit far away) from last night's shootout:

SKC Juniors vs FC Dallas Photos

Check out these shots of the U17 Juniors from their match versus FC Dallas yesterday in the Generation adidas Cup! Photos taken by Rick Yeatts


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

SKC Juniors fall to FC Dallas, face Seattle tonight

The U-17 team lost 4-2 last night to FC Dallas, despite two goals from Steven Enna in the second half. The guys will play Seattle tonight at 6:30pm, so make sure to follow @SKCjuniors on Twitter to see how they're doing!

SKC begins U17 Generation adidas Cup

The Sporting Kansas City Juniors will begin the U-17 Generation adidas Cup today at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The squad starts the tournament with a match against hosts FC Dallas tonight at 8:00 p.m. CT. The team will then play Seattle tomorrow (7/26) at 6:30 p.m. CT and Philadelphia at 8:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday (7/27).  The Sporting Kansas City U-17s will be competing in a field that includes teams from 15 other MLS clubs.

Follow @SKCJuniors on Twitter for updates throughout the week and visit the official tournament homepage at www.mlssoccer.com/generationadidascup.