Beach Cruising

After getting back into KC late last night, and being met by conditions that were considerably harsher than what they enjoyed in Florida this weekend, you can be sure all the Juniors were reminiscing about their time at Siesta Key on Monday.

Here's some video of that excursion:

USSDA Winter Showcase

The Sporting Kansas City Under-16 and Under-18 Juniors are off to a successful start at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase in Sarasota, Florida.

The first matches of the Showcase took place on Saturday, December 3rd. The u18's won 1-0 against D.C. United, while the u16's dropped a 4-0 decision after playing a man down for much of the second half in their battle with the MLS rivals. Check out SportingMembership.com for a full recap and video highlights from Day 1 at the Winter Showcase, as well as a photo album on Facebook.

The second day of the Showcase took place on Sunday, December 4th. Despite the short turnover and heavy legs, both Sporting Kansas City teams recorded victories against strong Baltimore Bays competition. The u18's found the early lead and came away with a 2-1 victory. Whereas the u16's earned the win in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. Click on the link to see more on Day 2 at the Winter Showcase, with a gallery of images available here.

The last two matches of the showcase for Sporting Kansas City will be held on Tuesday with both teams facing Oakwood Soccer Club. Follow @SKCJuniors on Twitter for all the latest from the tournament!

Piatczyc Selected for Showcase

Sporting Kansas City Junior Joey Piatczyc was selected as one of 78 developmental players to compete in the 2011 Winter Showcase's Academy Select Teams in Sarasota, Fla. The 78 players will be divided into four select teams by U.S. Soccer technical staff. The showcase will consist of two games for each team to be played at the Premier Sports Complex on December 3, 2011.

Earlier this year, Piatczyc made his debut for Sporting Kansas City in a Reserve League victory over Colorado Rapids. Piatczyc,who was born in 1996, is the youngest player to enter a Reserve match for Sporting Kansas City this season.

U16's and U18's USSDA Home Opener

Sporting Kansas City Juniors under-18s and under-16s competed in their home openers earlier this month against the Dallas Texans. The matches took place at Swope Park Training Center on Friday, Nov. 18.

The first game of the double header began at 4:30 p.m. and featured Sporting Kansas City U-18s versus a Texans side that had 1-3-4 record leading up to the match. The Texans came away with a road win, the victory marking their second of the season. The lone goal of the match belonged to Caleb Richardson in the 42nd minute.

Head Coach of Sporting Kansas City U-18s, Paul Rideout, said, “ I was delighted with the way we possessed the ball from back to front, but disappointed we did not turn it into goals”.

The U-16s kicked off at 7 p.m. against an undefeated Texans team. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Sporting Kansas City’s Debray Holliman notched the first goal of the game right before half time. The Texan’s Brandon Aubrey found the equalizer at the 60th minute mark.

The two academy teams will resume play this weekend as Sporting Kansas City head to Sarasota, Florida to face D.C. United, Baltimore Bays and Oakwood Soccer Club at the 2011 Winter Showcase at the Premier Sports Campus.

Winter Showcase Wrap-Up

The U16 and U18 Juniors were bested by the New England Revolution academy teams on Monday at the Winter Showcase, but returned to Kansas City tonight with heads held high from a strong showing after five days in Phoenix (though I've got a feeling they might be missing the warm weather after stepping off the plane in KC).

Both academy teams went 1-1-1 in their three matches, drawing against Cosmos Academy East and defeating South Central Premier prior to Monday's matches. Their U.S. Soccer Development Academy seasons will resume in April, with 2/3 of the schedule still to be played. The U16s are 3-2-2 on the season, while the U18s sit in third place at 2-3-2.

To see some of the action from this weekend, fans can head over to TopDrawerSoccer.com to watch a portion of the U16s and part of the U18s matches on Friday against the Cosmos. The site also interviewed Lucas Throckmorton afterwards, so watch the video for his comments. Lastly, ussoccer.com will be streaming the U16s match against New England on Tuesday afternoon.

Derek Schrick's Top 10 Goal

Check out the first of Derek Schrick's two goals on Friday at the 1:36 mark of U.S. Soccer's Top 10 Goals from Day 1 of the Development Academy Winter Showcase.

Winter Showcase Day 2

Saturday saw a successful showing from both Sporting Kansas City Juniors academy teams as they swept South Central Premier from Connecticut. The u18's were firing on all cylinders and scored four goals in the second half to win 5-0 on goals from five different players. Christian Kirby opened the scoring on a corner kick in the 21st minute, Jordan Rideout doubled the lead with a spectacular diving header in the 56th minute, Raymond Lee added another in the 68th, Garrett Pulliam struck on a header in the 75th minute and Michael Oakley finished the scoring in the 89th. U16 goalkeeper Jacole Turner earned the shutout, as regular starter Jon Kempin was unavailable due to his participation in the 1992/93 Academy Select match earlier in the day (Kempin started and played the first half for the Academy Select blue, pictured above).

The u16s followed with a 1-0 victory in the nightcap under the lights at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix. Eduardo Moreno's goal in the second half stood up as the game's only tally and goalkeeper Evan Wright posted the shutout in goal for the Juniors. The u16's remain in first place in the Frontier Division of the Central Conference with the win.

Both teams will finish the Winter Showcase with matches against the New England Revolution on Monday at 11:15am (local time). The u16's match will stream on ussoccer.com, with more details available here.

Day One of Winter Showcase

The u16 and u18 Juniors arrived in Phoenix on Thursday for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase and began play today. Both teams faced Cosmos Academy East, whose u16s and u18s were in first place in the Liberty Division with perfect 2-0-0 records entering the match.

The Sporting u18s kicked off first and came back to earn a 1-1 draw. After a scoreless first half, Luckas Throckmorton scored the Juniors goal on an assist from Shane Bowlen. The u16s followed with a draw of their own, tying the Cosmos 2-2. Derek Schrick twice gave the Juniors a lead, first on an assist from David Leichty and then later firing home his own rebound.

The u16 and u18 Juniors will play their second games tomorrow against another team from the East Conference, South Central Premier.

U18's goalkeeper Jon Kempin will have an extra match to participate in on Saturday, as he was selected for the 1992/1993 Academy Select showcase match. Out of all 78 Academy Teams in attendance at this weekend's event, Kempin is part of a very elite group of players identified for the game.

We'll have another post up soon about Kempin, who has been representing more than just Sporting Kansas City as of late.

U16's fight hard against Real So Cal

Our U16's had a hard fought match yesterday. They played Real So Cal from the San Fernado Valley in Cali. The first half was very even, a lot of back and forth but no real chances by either team. The Juniors possessed the ball better in the second half but it wasn't enough as they made a mistake in their offensive third. Real So Cal capitalized quick and made an offensive transition that resulted in a goal in the 68th minute. The score remained 0-1 throughout the 80 minutes and the U16's came away with a record of 2-1-0 in the Winter Showcase.

Check out Chris Brown's goal; it made the Day 3 Highlights.

U18's stay Consistent

The U18's played their final game on Monday at 1:15pm against Crossfire Premier out of Redmond, Washington, which is just East of Seattle.. At kick off there was torrential rains and this continued throughout the whole match. Note: It has not rained in Phoenix in over four months. At half time the score was still 0-0 and this was proving to be a very even match up. About 10 minutes into the second half Crossfire got on the board first with a near post volley. We battled back and in the 89th min. Tony Young got on the end of a cross from Brandon Fricke to tie the match at 1-1, which was the final. So at least our U18's were consistent...they tied every match at the Winter Showcase.

Jonathan Kempin makes Academy Select Team

As you know the Juniors are in Phoenix right now at the Third annual Winter Showcase and our U16's Gk made the "Academy Select Team". In addition to the four national teams, eight Development Academy Select Teams will be featured throughout the weekend. Four teams comprised of players born in 1993, three with players born in 1994 and one made up of players born in 1991 and 1992 will play together across the weekend. Development Academy Select Teams are comprised of 130 total players who were chosen by youth national team coaches and U.S. Soccer’s youth national team scouting network. They will have a unique opportunity to play alongside some of the top players in their age group while competing against either an Academy club team or another Select Team. To see a list of all those you made the Select Teams, click here.

Juniors continue to find Success

Yesterday both teams played Rickmond Kickers in Day 3 of the Winter Showcase. The U16's opened up the scoring in the 31st minute with a header from Eric Moore. Moore received a great cross from Lucas Throckmorton and was able to finish it in good form. In the 44th minute we drew a free kick that was taken by Eric DeJulio. Chris Brown was able to get on the end of it and helped secure a 2-0 victory.

The U18's once again tied, but the game was not without scoring, excitement, and struggles along the way. They kicked off with a depleted squad as four of the players fell victim to potential food poisoning and a few others out with injuries. The juniors went up 2-0 with the first goal By Brandon Fricke from about 18yds out. The second goal was a PK taken by Will Witherspoon. The Richmond Kickers then came back with two goals, one of which was an unbelievable chip over our keeper and the other was a free kick. With about 10 minutes remaining Richmond scored again with a bullet to put them in the lead. In the 90th minute Witherspoon was able to find the net again to tie the match 3-3.

On another note USA tied Brazil 1-1.

Juniors off to a solid start at Showcase

U16's Eric Moore (left of our GK) scored in the 79th Minute


Our Juniors were both in action today in sunny but chilly Phoenix, AZ at the Development Academy Winter Showcase. They both faced teams from Seaside United from Hampton NH. The U16's kicked off at 10am and completely dominated the match. Seaside's GK was unbelievable and defiantly kept them in the match. In the 60th minute Eric Moore subed in at left midfielder and scored the lone goal in the 79th minute. He received a cross inside the 18 from our right defender, Konnor Knoll, and then took a touch inside to finish from 12 yards out. So the final was 1-0 and tomorrow is all about stretching/resting and free time to work on homework.

The U18's kicked off directly after at 12pm and ended up playing 90mins to a 0-0 draw. The Wizards dominated most of this game as well, but were unable to find the net. Again our coaches were very complimentary to Seaside's U18 GK for his strong play today. Our leading scorer, Mhango Mbulunji, and another impact player, Tony Young, were both subed out with injuries at halftime. Hopefully they will have time to rest and be ready to play on Sunday.

Both team will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 6th against Richmond Kickers. In the meantime the boys will enjoy a great game tomorrow night (Saturday) which will feature the U17 US National Team vs U17 Brazil National Team.

Winter Showcase set for Dec. 4-8 in Phoenix

The 2009 Development Academy Winter Showcase and Nike International Friendlies are set for Dec. 4-8 at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Ariz. All 154 teams representing 77 Development Academy clubs will participate in 234 games during the extended weekend, while six Under-17 international matches will highlight Friday, Saturday and Monday.

*Nike International Friendlies to Coincide with Showcase, Featuring the U.S., Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil U-17 Men’s National Teams

*Three U.S. Games to be Televised Live on Fox Soccer Channel at 7 p.m. MT on Dec. 4, Dec. 5 and Dec. 7

*A Total of 240 Games to Take Place During Five Days at Reach 11 Sports Complex

For the full article on U.S. Soccer, click here.