Opperman receives Bob Gansler Award

Congratulations to Nate Opperman, recipient of the 2011 Bob Gansler Award given to the most outstanding Sporting Kansas City Juniors player. Nate received the award at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Saturday, before the club's big win over the New York Red Bulls that clinched a playoff spot for the senior team!

Opperman, a senior at Olathe South High School, played in 23 games for the Sporting Kansas City Under-16 Juniors during the 2010-11 US Soccer Development Academy season, leading the team with eight goals against the top club teams in the Central Conference. He also scored four goals at the U17 Generation adidas Cup and has started three matches for the Sporting Kansas City senior team in the 2011 MLS Reserve League to date.

Opperman is verbally committed to beginning his college career at the University of Evansville.

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.

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.

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.

Opperman on TDS Team of the Month

Sporting Kansas City U16 Juniors midfielder Nate Opperman was one of 12 players selected to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Month for May in the Heartland Region. Opperman took home the honors with four goals in US Soccer Development Academy Play as the U16s secured second place in the Frontier Division of the Central Conference, earning a berth in the USSDA Playoffs this week in Frisco, Texas.

The Olathe South High School senior has started in two Reserve League matches for the senior team and leads the U16 Juniors with eight goals on the season, scoring twice in a 4-1 win over St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro on May 22nd and adding goals against Minnesota Thunder Academy and Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre.

Be sure to check out TopDrawerSoccer.com throughout the USSDA Playoffs for their continuing coverage of the top youth soccer players and teams in the U.S. Opperman is one of several Sporting Kansas City Juniors academy players on their Top 20 2011 and 2012 Players to Watch for the Heartland Region.

3 Juniors called up for Colorado reserve match

The SKC reserves are in Colorado on Sunday, and three Juniors have made the roster. Each player selected has been called up before, with Wes White and Nate Opperman featuring in previous matches. Wes White looks to continue his streak of getting into each reserve match this season, while Nate Opperman hopes to make his first reserve appearance since the Houston Dynamo match in early April. Eric DeJulio was selected but did not play in the last match in Chicago.

The game is set for 12pm on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Follow @SKCgameday for live twitter updates.

Juniors Tuesday update

Sporting KC Juniors U16's defender Eric DeJulio and forward Wes White travelled with the senior team for their Reserve League match today in Chicago. White got into the match in the 81^st minute -- his third straight appearance in the Reserve League -- and helped the team earn a 1-1 draw.

Check out this story from TopDrawerSoccer.com for another U16 SKC Junior that is getting some attention. Midfielder Derek Schrick is a co-captain and is tied for the team lead in goals scored.

Speaking of stats, Jordan Rideout is leading the U18’s with 9 goals so far, while Nate Opperman is leading the U16’s with 6.

Juniors return from Colorado with mixed results

The Sporting KC U16 and U18 Juniors squads returned from Colorado late Sunday night with mixed results. The U16 side pulled out a 1-1 draw against Real Colorado on Saturday, and defeated Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre 3-1 on Sunday. Saturday’s goal came from Eduardo Moreno who would also score in Sunday’s match. Wes White and Nate Opperman tallied the other two goals against the Rush on Sunday. With the positive results the Sporting KC U16’s remain in first place in the Central Conference’s Frontier Division. Sporting are now 5 points clear of Scott Gallagher and 6 points clear of the third placed Colorado Rapids with 11 games played.

The U18’s had a bit of a tougher weekend, dropping results to Real Colorado (1-5) and Colorado Rush (0-2). The lone goal for the 18’s came from Garrett Pulliam. Despite the losses to the first and third placed teams, Sporting remains second in the Frontier Division. Sporting full team goalkeeper, Jonathan Kempin accompanied the U18’s to Colorado, starting both games.

Wes White and Eric DeJulio were called up for the reserve match in Chicago tomorrow at 11am. Stay close to twitter as we’ll be tweeting live updates throughout the match.

U16s back in first place

The Sporting KC U16 squad beat previous first-place holders, St. Louis Scott Gallagher, 1-0 at Swope Park on Saturday.

It was a back and forth game, with neither team being able to capitalize until Nate Opperman broke loose early in the second half. The in-form Opperman, who also featured in the senior team's reserve squad against Houston two weeks ago, scored for the second straight USSDA match, tucking his right-footed effort inside the far post just after the halftime break. The Player of the Match goes to Evan Wright who made many key saves, including multiple diving stops in stoppage time.
The U16s now have four wins and one draw in league play and have not allowed a goal in their five games played.

Things weren't as easy for the U18s, as they lost 1-3 to St. Louis Scott Gallagher, who is also in first place. Will Witherspoon grabbed the squad's lone goal.

It was a very even game, with each team getting an equal amount of chances on net. The only difference was that SLSG found the back of the net more often than not.

The clubs will face-off again next weekend in St. Louis.

Youngsters travel with Reserve squad

Three Juniors traveled with the Reserve team on Sunday night to play in Sporting KC's first official Reserve match of the season against Houston Dynamo on Monday morning. Nate Opperman (U16), Wes White (U16) and Konner Knoll (U18) were the three selected. Opperman and White were both in the starting lineup at forward.

The game started at 10 a.m. CT. Follow @SportingKC and @HoustonDynamo on Twitter for live updates of the game.

Team Dinner and Baltimore Bays

We arrived here is Greensboro on Thursday Mid-day after a very early departure from MCI. Had a few problems at Enterprise Rental car (of course) before finally getting vehicles and driving to the hotel. Jimmy Johns is across the street from the Hyatt and has been the go-to for lunch. And man they are FAST.

Last night(Friday) we played our first match against Baltimore Bays the #1seed. The game was super intense from from the beginning and we got on the board first. Jordan Rideout chipped the keeper and the goal was big time. Minutes later we had a PK after their GK fouled us. Derek Scrick stepped up to take it, but unfortunately it was saved. A few minutes later...they got a PK on us after one of the Bays "flopped" inside our 18.

They converted the PK to equalize the match 1-1. Their were a couple more opportunities created by us in the second half by Lucas Throckmorton and Nate Opperman; but none went in. Bays had a free kick in about the 60min that they converted which made the score 1-2 which stood as the final. Such a bummer, our boys played so well and the game could have gone either way. Our defenders, especially Konner Knoll and Eric DeJulio played amazing along with keeper Jon Kempin.

We play Dallas Texans this evening and we just saw them eating Steak and Shake for lunch...hopefully it has an effect on them! haha

Juniors Find Success in Colorado

The U18s and U16s traveled to Denver last weekend and played Colorado Rapids both Saturday and Sunday.

U16s
The Saturday game (both game were v Colorado Rapids) we won 4-0, in 40 mph wind on 86 degree heat & high altitude.

The first goal was scored by Lucas Throckmorton. Austin Esparza had come off the field with a concussion & Lucas replaced him. Jordy croosed from the right hand side for Lucas to tap in from close range with his first touch of the ball. The other 3 goals came in the 2nd half. Garret crossed for Nate to score our 2nd. Then Jordy crossed for Lucas to score a great goal for the 3rd goal. The final goal of the game was a 35 yard shot from Jordy over the keeper's head.

Sunday game: we went 1 nil down after trying to clear the box in the box & they scored with a low range shot. We came back with an equalizer after Lucas & Jordy combined well again. Lucas repaying Jordy for the 2 assists yesterday gave him 2 assists on Sunday. Nice ball from Taylor Walter to Lucas & then he beat 3 players on the wide right & crossed a great ball in for Jordy to drill home. Ended up winning 2-1.

U18s
U18 Saturday game: 40 mph wind 2 subs only due to injury & graduations, U16 goalkeeper Evan Wright.First goal scored by Jordan Zarse. 2nd goal was a corner headed in stringly by Michael Oakley from the far post. 3rd goal was a 25 yard strike by Patrick Foglio & the 4th goal was crossed in from the right by Drew Garcia & went right over the keeper & into the top left corner. Won 4-2 a great win for the players & they played really well & deserved it!

Unfortunately the 18s lost 5-1 on Sunday. They worked so hard but with only 1 sub available due to Drew Garcia hurt, & with a u16 goalkeeper it proved too much. The boys struggled with the altitude & heat on Sunday, but had some good scoring opportunities towards the end. There were several changes from the team they had played the day before & beaten 4-2.

We will have the graduating boys back next week Fricke, Max & Eric plus the GK, Taylor Vinnage. Looks like Will can train this week too so all being well he can play some in Sarasota. They are exhausted but worked hard til the end!

Big Congrats to the Juniors

The U16's attempting to warm-up, but still in amazement that they are about to play a match...

I still can't believe we played Saturday night and thank god we did because Sunday was worse. Colorado Rush had nonrefundable tickets so they flew here Saturday determined to get the game in. They landed around 3pm and we had kicked off the conference game by 5:15pm with flurries...

The flurries turned into a full fledged snow storm in my eyes, I'm no weather man but seriously it was crazy! The U16 were unstoppable and took advantage of the slick conditions following up on every shot. We had goals from Nate Opperman, Derek Schrick and Garrett Pulliam. The final was 3-0

The U18's played directly after and had a long fight to the end. There was no scoring until the final few minutes of the game. Rush got on the board first with a PK and within minute we came back and tied the game with a goal by Will Witherspoon. Defender Michael Oakley had the game winner just minutes later of a freekick and the score remained 2-1 leaving the KCW Juniors victorious.

The boys really gave it there all and a big thank you to all who coordinated schedules and to the parents for being so flexible. The teams will continue conference play from now until the Spring Showcase in May. Up next is a road trip to St.Louis on March 6th & 7th.