Zusi keeps KC unbeaten at home

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Reigning MLS player of the month Graham Zusi played like he is trying to make it two in a row Wednesday night. With Sporting KC down one at home to Colorado in the 62nd minute, Zusi corralled the ball after CJ Sapong’s near miss and scored his third goal of the year.

Sporting KC held on for the draw and extended its unbeaten streak to nine straight MLS games. Sporting  (5-6-6) is also undefeated at Sporting Livestrong Park.

The Rapids (5-5-9) are the reigning MLS Cup champs, they jumped on KC early when Conor Casey settled a free kick in the box and snuck the ball by Sporting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen.

CJ Sapong, who came in for Teal Bunbury in the 59th minute, nearly gave KC all three points with a shot in the 94th minute but Colorado made the tough save.

Sporting is home again Saturday night against Chivas USA.

 

Ger Coppinger Added To Missouri State Bears Soccer Staff

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Ger Coppinger

Ger Coppinger

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State men’s soccer head coach Jon Leamy announced today the hiring of Ger Coppinger as the team’s new assistant coach. Coppinger takes over for David Stockton who accepted a similar position at Cal State Monterey Bay this spring.

“Ger is a great addition to the Missouri State soccer program,” stated Leamy. “He brings energy, enthusiasm and experience that will continue the fine line of outstanding coaches we have had here at Missouri State. He has a great goalkeeping background as both a player and a coach. We are excited to bring him on board.”

Coppinger comes to Missouri State after spending last fall as the men’s and women’s goalkeeper coach at Missouri Baptist University. He also coached the U-17 O’Fallon Kixx men’s team for two seasons, leading them to the State Cup tournament in one of those seasons.

USA vs Sweden, 1:30 pm Wednesday on ESPN!

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sweden women celebrateThe U.S. Women’s National Team will face Sweden on July 6 at the Women’s World Cup Stadium in Wolfsburg to finish Group C play. The match will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN3.com and Galavision at 1:45 p.m. CT with the pre-game show beginning at 2:30 p.m. Wolfsburg has been a cold and rainy venue so far but temperatures are forecast to rise over the next few days with no rain on the horizon for game day.

I’ll be at Maria’s for the game, enjoying a cold beverage and a late lunch. On a side note, the photo I used on this post has been drawing hundreds of visitors a day to this site since the World Cup started. Searches related to swedish women’s soccer team, sweden women’s soccer, swedish women’s soccer, and swedish women soccer team show this image as the first in Google Images. Sweet!

WINNER TAKES GROUP C: The USA will have trained in Wolfsburg for three days before the Sweden match, the result of which will determine the Group C winner. The USA needs a win or a draw to take to the top spot while Sweden needs to win. Both teams won their first two matches by shutouts, but the USA scored five goals while Sweden scored two, giving the USA the edge in goal differential which is the first tie-breaker to determine placement in the group.

While the USA and Sweden are both through to the quarterfinals, their opponents and venue are still to be determined based on the result of the final Group C match. Should the USA win the group, it will travel to Augsburg near Munich to face the second place team in Group D. Should the USA finish second, it will travel back to Dresden – site of its first match of the Women’s World Cup – to face the winner of Group D. Brazil is almost certain to win Group D while Norway and Australia will play on July 6 for second place. Australia needs just a tie to claim second while Norway, which suffered a 3-0 loss to Brazil that badly impacted its goal differential, needs to win. No matter where the USA finishes in Group C, its quarterfinal will take place on July 10.

Magic Soccer Invitational Try Outs

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Magic Soccer Club is distinctive in that it is the only club in Southwest Missouri to offer an intense curriculum of Brazilian South American style soccer. Our program provides the opportunity for advance players to develop to their full potential and to new players the development bridge between recreational soccer and competitive soccer. We have already started building a top of the line youth program for players as young as 3, 4 & 5 years old.

Location Lake Country south fields starting at 5:30pm.
July 11th: U-13 and U-14 Boys and Girls
July 12th: U-11 and U-12 Boys and Girls
July 13th: U-9 and U-10 Boys and Girls
July 14th: U-7 and U-8 Boys and Girls

Magic Soccer footskills Summer Camp
For Beginners and players that want to improve their footskills.
From ages 3 and UP July 25th to the 29th at the South National fields from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.
For more information visit www.mymagicsoccerclub.com
Or call Coach Wagner Huttenlocher 417-848-7454

Sporting KC Offers 5 Game Ticket Package

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KC CauldronAfter my first visit to LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, I know I want to go back. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about. This might be a nice package for a few families to share, with some nice games remaining including the Portland Timbers visit to Kansas City on August 17th.

Choose any five remaining MLS season matches, including the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls, for one incredible price:

Sections - Per Game - Package Price
West Stand – $44 – $220
East Stand Midfield – $39 – $195
West Stand (goallines) – $34 - $170
East Stand - $29 – $145
South Stand – $23 – $115
Members – $20 – $100

Click here to purchase tickets or call 888 4KC GOAL

Missouri 95 State ODP Team Adds Ortega, Opfer and Hawkins

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Ortega - Hawkins - Henry - Opfer, Springfield SC 95-96

Ortega - Hawkins - Henry - Opfer, Springfield SC 95-96

Springfield Soccer Club has announced that a trio of their players have been added to the Missouri State ODP squad. Nicole Ortega (Catholic HS), Kasey Opfer (Glendale HS) and Aspen Hawkins (Central HS) (Alternate) have made the 95 Girls ODP State team. The three of them are teammates on the SSC 95/96 team that recently competed at the Missouri State Cup as U15 Girls.

They will travel to Region 2 Camp for the 95 Girls State Team Tournament will be held from July 9, 2011 to July 11, 2011 in Dekalb, IL. Players making the Holdover Team will stay from July 11, 2011 to July 15, 2011 in Dekalb, IL.

Below is a video interview I did with Nicole and Kasey after the State Cup. a

From the Missouri Youth Soccer Association’s (MYSA) website – The Olympic Development Program is to identify and develop the top players registered within the State of Missouri, to promote development through quality coaching, and to help these players gain recognition on the Regional and National levels.

Make that 8 for KC

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Sporting KC continues to tear through Major League Soccer, they stretched their MLS unbeaten streak to eight with a 2-1 win on the road against the Portland Timbers.

With the win, KC is now 4-6-5 and has moved into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie CJ Sapong was the hero for KC, he scored in the 15th minute and assisted Aurelien Collin on the team’s other goal four minutes later.

Just before halftime, Portland’s Darlington Nagbe turned in the goal of the year thus far when he juggled the ball twice just outside the box before firing a bullet just inside the far post.

From there, the Sporting defense stepped up and shut out the Timbers in the second half. Defense has been the story for KC, they have allowed only three goals in their past seven games.

This match marked the first time that KC has faced their former teammate, Kickapoo star Jack Jewsbury, now a defender for the Timbers. Jewsbury nearly ruined the night for KC, but his shot in the 89th minute was just wide of the post.

Sporting returns home Wednesday to take on the Colorado Rapids.

 

MLS This Weekend

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portland-timbers-seattle-sounders

Photography by www.craigmitchelldyer.com

In addition to the strong line up of international soccer available this weekend, there is a full slate of Major League Soccer action as well.

Sporting KC visits Portland tonight, a reunion of sorts for Jack Jewsbury with his former teammates.

There’s also a double-header on Monday on ESPN2. Enjoy!

SATURDAY, July 2
SAN JOSE-NEW YORK (live) 9:30 pm. – ESPN2
D.C. UNITED-PHILADELPHIA (live) 6 pm. – FOX SOCCER CHANNEL
CHIVAS USA-CHICAGO (live) 9 pm. – GALAVISION
DALLAS-COLUMBUS (live) 8 pm. – MLS DIRECT KICK
PORTLAND-KANSAS CITY (live) 10 pm. – MLS DIRECT KICK
SAN JOSE-NEW YORK (live) 9:30 pm. – ESPN3.com

SUNDAY, July 3
COLORADO-HOUSTON (live) 8 pm. – ESPN2

MONDAY, July 4
SALT LAKE-NEW ENGLAND (live) 7:30 pm. – ESPN2
LOS ANGELES-SEATTLE (live) 9:30 pm. – ESPN2

Missouri Elite Open Play Tuesday July 5 – Play For An All-Girls Club

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Missouri Elite FC U15 Girls at Incredible Pizza Fall Classic

Missouri Elite FC U15 Girls at Incredible Pizza Fall Classic

Missouri Elite FC, a Springfield all-girls club soccer program committed to meeting the needs of female athletes, has a few more openings for the 2011-12 season.

If you are a junior or senior in high school looking to improve your game for high school and possibly beyond, please come to our open field on Tuesday evening, July 5, from 6:00-7:15pm at Lake Country Soccer on the South fields.

If you are a U12 competitive player looking for more, please contact us at moelitefc@gmail.com to arrange a trial session.

If you are a U8 or U9 player looking to have fun while learning the game of competitive soccer, please contact us at moelitefc@gmail.com.

For more information about the club, visit our website at www.moelitefc.com

Sporting KC’s Graham Zusi is MLS Player of the Month

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On the morning of June 9, Graham Zusi was riding the bench for a 1-6-3 Sporting KC squad. That night, the team opened their new stadium, Livestrong Sporting Park with a match against the Chicago Fire.

A couple of hours before the game, Zusi learned that he would be starting in place of midfielder Ryan Smith, who was bothered by a groin injury. Zusi played well against Chicago and since then he has been on a tear.

It’s no coincidence that KC is 3-0-2 since Zusi got his spot in the starting line-up. He has dropped the game-winning assist in each of the team’s last three wins and he scored twice in a big 4-1 win at FC Dallas.

Today, Zusi was named MLS Player of the Month for June. He is the first KC player to receive the award since Eddie Johnson back in April 2007.

“Overall, the past month or so we’ve been getting some great results and luckily I’ve been able to help play my part,” Zusi said in a press release. “I’m very happy with the way I’m playing right now and I hope that I continue to make an impact for the team in front of all our great fans at Livestrong Sporting Park.”

Zusi was ready when coach Peter Vermes called his number and Sporting KC has followed his lead.