It was a battle of the second strings for most of the night last night and Sporting lost 2-1. The "starters" came on for the last half hour and despite plenty of chances created and positive play, they were only able to put one in off of Dom's mane.

Speaking of Dom's mane, I now have an excuse to use this.... FOR THE LADS!

Nice distraction from my hair #Wednesday #ForTheLads A photo posted by Dom Dwyer (@ddwyer14) on Feb 25, 2015 at 5:14pm PST

It should be noted they were facing a very young RSL side, but Sporting looked really good. They were completing fantastic long passes, cheeky dinks and flicks, and were dancing around defenders. Here are a couple good bits from the game last night.

Dom's goal:

Beautiful ball from Zusi to put Anor in on goal:

Watch how quickly a chance is created straight from a goal kick. Only 4 touches of the ball... including the shot.

Besler --> Nemeth --> De Jong

The Canadian international Marcel De Jong is on trial and has been playing with the starters at left back. He looks to be a little bit more of a threat going forward than Sinovic, but this will be a situation to keep an eye on.

This is the second time now that Robb has tweeted about Rafael van der Vaart:

Gonna go watch rvdv Saturday. Hopefully it's nice weather. — Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) February 26, 2015

This might actually be a real thing. There are a couple articles (Voetball.com, De Telegraaf) linking the Dutch player to MLS when his contract with Hamburg SV is complete in June. There is also interest from Spain and Italy as well.

There is another foreign midfielder SKC seem to be looking at. Cristian Ledesma of Lazio has previously been linked with the Red Bulls and the Impact, but now Sporting may be, "willing to offer the player a succulent contract that he could hardly refuse".

ICYMI here is a pretty good look at preseason life. Dom doing Dom stuff.

We have yet to really get a good look at new keeper Luis Marin, but the club and Jimmy Nielsen are very high on him. Could Marin really be the next in line after Tony Meola and Jimmy Nielsen?

Marín’s presence, personality and, most of all, talent, have Sporting once again feeling bullish about their goalkeeper. Becoming a club legend like Nielsen is, of course, a long way off, but Kansas City see the potential, and they’re excited. "It’s no secret that I think he could be the best goalkeeper in the league," Pascarella said. "I think he has the skillset, and I think he has the pedigree to be the best there is in the league. I think his ceiling is very, very high."

Peter Vermes made no bones about the recent departure of Jorge Claros:

"It wasn't his choice, it was our choice," Vermes flatly stated.

A new Kick The Ball Podcast is out.

With no update on CBA negotiations, there is only 8 days till the season starts. The MLS Preseason Tracker is right here. Sal Zizzo scored with his new club NYRB.

Sporting Evolution is on March 4th.. anybody going?