Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal Round

Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 7:30 p.m. CT

LIVESTRONG Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 97 degrees

Attendance: 4,794

Score: 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0

Richmond Kickers 0 2 2

Sporting Kansas City: Eric Kronberg ©; Michael Harrington, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Chance Myers; Luke Sassano (Roger Espinoza 56), Birahim Diop, Milos Stojcev (Omar Bravo 60); Scott Lorenz (C.J. Sapong 72), Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara

Subs not used: Jon Kempin, Korede Aiyegbusi, Shavar Thomas, Kevin Ellis

Richmond Kickers: Ronnie Pascale©; Sascha Goerres, Yomby William, Henry Kalungi, Ryan Heins; David Hertel, Gerson Dos Santos (Luke Vercollone 46), Michael Callahan (David Bulow 65), Edson Elcock; Shaka Bangura, Stanley Nyazamba (Jamel Wallace 65)

Subs not used: Matthew Delicate, Evan Harding, Ross Mackenzie

Stats: SKC RIC

Shots 22 7

Shots on Goal 5 4

Saves 2 5

Fouls 10 10

Offside 4 3

Corner Kicks 6 3

Misconduct Summary:

RIC – Henry Kalungi (Caution, reckless tackle) 16

SKC – Aurelien Collin (Caution, delaying a restart) 44

SKC – Chance Myers (Caution, reckless tackle) 73

RIC – David Hertel (Caution, tactical foul) 92+

Scoring Summary:

RIC – Shaka Bangura (David Bulow, Ryan Heins) 66

RIC – David Bulow (penalty kick) 83

Sporting Kansas City were eliminated from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday after dropping a 2-0 decision to the Richmond Kickers of USL PRO in the tournament’s quarterfinal round at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.

Shaka Bangura scored the winner in the 66th minute and second-half substitute David Bulow converted a penalty kick to put the Kickers into the semifinal round of the tournament in a match that saw an 81-minute weather delay in the second half.

The action got going in the 19th minute, with Sporting creating the first chance. Defender Aurelien Collin found himself in space, and clipped a ball into the area as Scott Lorenz made a run in behind the Richmond backline. The pass was just out of the reach for Lorenz, though, as the chance went begging.

Three minutes later, Lorenz went even closer. Forward Kei Kamara, receiving a ball on the left, drove past his marker and into the area. Kamara released a quick pass to the near post for Lorenz, who managed to flick a backheel that hit off the post and was cleared out of danger.

Defender Chance Myers nearly put Sporting ahead in the 31st minute following a corner from Milos Stojcev. Stojcev floated his corner to the far post for Myers, who smashed a volley just wide of the near post.

Ten minutes later, Richmond nearly stole a lead through midfielder David Hertel. A long throw-in from Ryan Heins was flicked to an unmarked Hertel making a late run into the area. Hertel took the ball out of the air, but his volley effort was wide of the target.

In first half stoppage time, Myers chipped a cross into the area for Kamara, who with his back to goal, left his feet for a bicycle attempt that dropped just over the bar as the two sides entered halftime level at 0-0.

After halftime, in the 51st minute, Kamara had a golden chance to put Sporting KC in front. A long ball out of the back from Matt Besler found a streaking Michael Harrington down the left. Harrington hit a cross to the back post for Kamara, but the Sierra Leone international put his downward header on the wrong side of the near post.

In the 54th minute, Stojcev ran onto a ball through the midfield and threaded a beautiful pass through the Richmond backline for forward Teal Bunbury. Bunbury opened his body to put his finish to the far post, but the ball bounced up off the turf, causing Bunbury to push his shot over the bar.

That would be the last chance of the half before lightning hit the area just over the stadium, causing an 81-minute delay before play was resumed.

Shortly after the teams had kicked off, Richmond took the lead. Bulow played a cross into the area that skipped beyond Aurelien Collin who was tracking back into the box. The ball fell to the feet of Bangura, who calmly finished over onrushing Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg.

Sporting Kansas City nearly answered back four minutes later, when Lorenz ran on to a through ball from Roger Espinoza, only to have his attempt at goal denied by Richmond goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale.

Pascale was again called into action in the 81st minute. Espinoza drove past his marker to the byline before knocking a low cross to the near post. Bunbury, making a sharp run towards the ball, attempted to direct the pass with a backheel but Pascale was once again equal to the challenge.

In the 82nd minute, following a quick counterattack, Collin was judged by referee Mark Kadlecik to have fouled Jamel Wallace in the area. After the penalty was given, Bulow stepped up to convert from the spot, firing his shot low to Kronberg’s right.

Sporting Kansas City resumes MLS action on Saturday, when the team travels to take on the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT from Robertson Stadium. The match will be broadcast live on KSMO-TV.

Fast Facts:

• The loss to Richmond snaps a twelve-match unbeaten run in all competitions for Sporting Kansas City, tying the longest unbeaten streak in club history.

• With the loss, Sporting Kansas City is now 13-12-4 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition (including qualifiers), 2-4-1 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal matches and 8-4-3 against non-MLS competition in the tournament.

• The loss also marked the sixth time in Sporting Kansas City history that the team has been shutout during the tournament.

• Tonight’s loss marked the first time that Sporting Kansas City has given up multiple goals since a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 14th, a span of 14 matches.

• The loss is the first-ever loss at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park for Sporting Kansas City since its opening on June 9th.

• Sporting Kansas City is 8-5-1 all-time at home in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition

• Sporting Kansas City has outscored their opponents 56-39 all-time in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition.

• Defender Michael Harrington made his 11th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearance (including qualifiers), which is tied for fourth most in Sporting Kansas City history with Preki.

• Harrington also made his eighth career start for Sporting Kansas City in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (including qualifiers), moving into a tie for fourth place in Sporting Kansas City history.

• Richmond midfielder Edson Elcock and defender Yomby William both were drafted by Sporting Kansas City during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, respectively.

Quotes:

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

On getting scored on right after delay…

“They scored fifty-seven seconds in…Congratulations to them (Richmond), they deserved it, they scored two goals at the end of the game. I wish them good luck in the rest of the tournament. We obviously just didn’t want it enough when we started the second half. When you get your chance, you have to take your opportunity. The guys that were out there didn’t take their opportunity, so we had to put some others in. That’s on them.”

On missed opportunities…

“To come out in the second half and give that away, it’s almost like some guys were just walking around the field. It’s unacceptable, it’s embarrassing and everybody’s going to know about it in the next couple of days that’s for sure.”

On preparing the team to come out and play after delay…

“It’s a stoppage and you just wait and you have to come out and play again. Both teams have to do it, and they did it. The bottom line is you just have to come out and you have to be ready and know that the game’s on, it’s time to play, and that’s it. There’s no logical formula, you just come out ready to play, and that’s it. We had a chance to host the semi-finals and we gave that away. It’s an embarrassment, I’m ticked.”

Sporting Kansas City Goalkeeper Eric Kronberg

On the first goal…

“I saw that (Matt) Besler was tracking back and it was a nice ball just over his head. Collin stepped to the man and a couple things had to go right for them, and they did. I thought I came out big, I thought I timed it well, but I guess he hit it off my chest and next thing I know it was in the back of the net. It’s just one of those unlucky things that happens, but that’s soccer for you.”

On the team’s lack of discipline…

“I think we got a little impatient, we started throwing a lot of numbers forward and were susceptible to counter attack, and they were really good at holding their defense and springing guys forward. When you go down on a goal like that you have to play catch-up from then on, and that’s what we tried to do. We just got unlucky.”

On the first loss at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park…

“Obviously we’re upset, we would have loved to play the semi-final here. We just have to move on and focus on the season and keep getting points.”

Richmond Kickers Manager Leigh Cowlishaw

On his team's performance…

“(Sporting) Kansas (City) has been amazing recently, with unbelievable fans and stadium. We were really set up for a Cinderella story, seeing that we have been playing better teams. You know, Kansas really showed us respect by playing some of their top guys.”

“You know, this club (Richmond) played on Friday night, didn’t finish until 12:30am, then we drove 5 hours to Charlotte, played that game, then got on the plane. This has been 3 games in five days, so I’m really proud we were able to pull it off.”

On the advantage of the delay in the game…

“Well we changed the system to what we wanted for a 25-minute match. We felt Kansas was getting a little bit irritable because we were still hanging around. We were really happy where we were, and it just worked out well.”

On the play of goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale…

“I’ve always thought he was just as good as any keeper his size. He’s always been very consistent for us, and he’s what we call and ‘in betweener.’ He’s in between playing somewhere in the MLS and playing here for the Kickers.”

Richmond Kickers midfielder Shaka Bangura

On the team's energy after so many games…

“It’s been pretty tough with injuries and traveling. I think guys are just coming here and giving it all they have, and I think we did pretty well.”

On the next few games…

“We have a few days until then, so I think whoever has injuries will have some time to nurse those. We’re definitely going to try and get some rest and just prepare for the next game.”

On the team's confidence..

“Oh it’s definitely coming; it’s there. We just have to keep grinding because we have a lot of injuries now and we have people coming back. This is the right gang, and we’re pretty confident we can go all the way if we just play our game.”

Richmond Kickers midfielder David Bulow

On the game…

“Oh it was fantastic from our end. You know we work pretty hard to play against MLS teams and tonight shows that we’re capable of playing at this level. It’s fantastic.”

“We’ve done a lot of work, and our game schedule has been really hectic. This team is coming together though, and getting chances to play other MLS teams and show that we can play at that level. I mean we’re obviously the underdogs in those games, but we have the feeling that we can come out and get the confidence.”

Strategy coming into the game…

“Well we just wanted to stay organized. MLS clubs always keep the ball well and we couldn’t afford to be unorganized. I thought we did a good job of staying organized and disciplined defensively. I think the break helped us because it game us a chance to regroup and come out for a 25 minute game and grab a quick few goals.”