KC Star All-Metro

Congratulations go out to all 15 Sporting Kansas City Juniors players chosen to the Kansas City Star's All-Metro Boy's Soccer teams. The selections were announced in Sunday's edition of the newspaper (shown on right), with our very own Derek Schrick being named the All-Metro boys soccer player of the year! Here's a rundown on the honorees:

First Team: FWD Shane Woods (Kearney, senior), MF Derek Schrick (Rockhurst, senior), MF Chris Tuso (Blue Valley NW, senior), Matt Peterson (Blue Valley North, junior), Clay Stewart (Olathe South, junior), GK Jacole Turner (Lee's Summit North, senior)

Second Team: FWD Steve Enna (St. James Academy, sophomore), MF Andrew Brown (St. Thomas Aquinas, senior), DEF Eric DeJulio (Blue Valley NW, senior), DEF Julian Ramirez (Blue Springs, junior)

Honorable Mention: FWD Garrett Pulliam (Blue Valley West, senior), MF David Leichty (Shawnee Mission South, junior), MF Joey Piatczyc (Lee's Summit, sophomore), MF Taylor Walter (Blue Valley, senior), GK Evan Wright (Blue Valley, senior)

News and Notes

High school soccer season is in full swing as postseason competition is already upon us! Here is a sampling of some of the top news and notes from Sporting Kansas City Juniors players in the area...

• Check out the video below of Garrett Pulliam's goal and celebration in Blue Valley West's win over Bishop Miege.

• Derek Schrick and Jacole Turner each earned spots on the ESPNHS Starting XI as top high school players in the state of Missouri, and were also named to the top 150 college prospects for the Class of 2012. Fort Osage High School's Billy Vigil also received recognition on the list.
• Speaking of Schrick, ESPNHS talked to him and his Rockhurst teammates about the team yoga sessions they take part in. Check out the video and story here.
• Sporting Kansas City Juniors players Nate Opperman and Clay Stewart have been influential for Olathe South this season as they won the Summit League.
• Also in Kansas, Shawnee Mission South head coach Travis Gatewood credited SKC Juniors player David Leichty for his leadership on the team this season.
• At Blue Valley Northwest, two SKC Juniors are captaining a team with state ambitions as Chris Tuso is leading the team in goals and Eric DeJulio is anchoring the defense.
• Check out the news feature below on Liberal High School's 11th straight Western Athletic Conference title, courtesy of SKC Juniors player Eduardo Moreno's OT goal in a 1-0 win over Dodge City.

• On the local college scene, congrats to the UMKC duo of Jordan Rideout and Michael Oakley, who were both named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's Top 20 Players to Watch in the Summit League. Rideout scored his third goal of the year in the Roos 1-1 draw at Oral Roberts on Saturday, while Oakley has started all but one game in defense as a freshman.

Jacole Turner honored

Congrats to Sporting KC Juniors goalkeeper Jacole Turner, selected as the Kansas City Star's High School Athlete of the Week. Read their bio on Jacole below, then also check out this feature in the Lee's Summit Journal earlier this week. Jacole, along with Juniors teammate Derek Schrick, were also both selected to the Missouri All-State Starting 11 by ESPNHS.

•SCHOOL: Lee’s Summit North

•YEAR: Senior

•SPORT: Boys soccer

Through 15 games, Turner, the Broncos goalkeeper, has racked up 11 shutouts and allowed only four goals. “He’s really athletic. He’s driven and over the course of his years here in high school, he has really made great strides,” Broncos coach Tim Richardson said. Turner recorded shutouts last week against Raytown South and Liberty. “He’s absolutely a key reason we are 14-1,” Richardson said. Turner is also a member of the Sporting Kansas City junior squad and occasionally is a reserve trainee with the team.

Turner was named to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy All-Central Conference Starting XI in July for his play with the U16s during the 2010-11 USSDA season, and started for Sporting Kansas City at the U17 Generation adidas Cup at Pizza Hut Park this summer.

Six Juniors Appear in Reserve League

Sporting Kansas City played their first MLS Reserve League match at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Tuesday morning and six of our Juniors players got onto the field alongside academy products Jon Kempin and Kevin Ellis and the rest of the Sporting KC squad. Congrats to Eric DeJulio, Paul Oliver, Derek Schrick, Jacole Turner, Nate Opperman and Seo-In Kim for the call-ups!

Read the full recap on SportingKC.com and check out the slideshow below for dozens of photos of the Juniors in action, courtesy of Taylor Allan.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Turner named to All-Central Conference Starting XI

Sporting Kansas City Juniors goalkeeper Jacole Turner has been named to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy All-Central Conference Starting XI for the 2010-2011 season. The U16s standout and soon-to-be senior at Lee's Summit North H.S. was one of four MLS academy players honored in the Central Conference. Congrats Jacole!

Click here to see the full list of honors on USSoccer.com.