A Look Back at my 2015 Wants and Wishes

With 2015 about to end, here's a look at my 2015 wants and wishes and how they turned out ahead of the calendar switch to 2016.

1. Silverware - Silverware is always fun and this year Kansas City soccer teams brought home two trophies. Sporting KC started the season off strong and for a period of time looked to be one of the favorites to win MLS Cup. Injuries though played a role in their downfall, but in the end were able to finish the season with their third trophy in four years, the US Open Cup. It was the club's third US Open Cup trophy to go with the 2004 and 2012 trophies, and as expected, came in a penalty kick shootout. Also this year FC Kansas City brought home their second straight NWSL title repeating as champions with a 1-0 win over Seattle thanks to an Amy Rodriguez goal.

2. Sporting KC improve their home form - I'd say this was a successful wish for 2015, Sporting KC. After going 6-5-6 in 2014, and losing 10 over the last two years, Kansas City lost just twice at home in 2015. Sporting finished with a 10-2-5 record, an 11 point positive swing in Kansas City's favor from their 2014 form. Add in their four US Open Cup wins at home and KC went 14-2-5 in 2015, tying a club record for home wins.

3. A little more balanced scoring - Overall scoring was much better for Kansas City in 2015. The club didn't have to rely solely on Dom Dwyer and ended up scoring 64 goals in all competitions, the second most in club history. Leading the way was Dwyer, Krisztian Nemeth, and Benny Feilhaber who all scored 10 goals or more in league play, becoming the first trio to accomplish that feat in one season for Kansas City. While Dwyer's scoring was down, he still led the team with 12 league goals, added another five in the US Open Cup, and one in the playoffs to finish the season with 16. Nemeth to go along with his 10 league goals scored five in the Open Cup for 15, while Feilhaber added two in the Open cup to finish with 12 on the season.

4. Finally defeat the Seattle Sounders at home - Sporting finally got their first home win against the Sounders thanks to a late Benny Feilhaber penalty kick back on June 6th. KC actually was unbeaten against the Sounders this year, going 1-0-2, drawing 0-0 in Seattle on May 23rd and earning a 1-1 draw at home on September 27th with a mostly reserve lineup three days before the US Open Cup final.




 
5. Ike Opara (or whoever partners Matt Besler) is fully recovered and starts 25-30 games - I guess I can't technically call this one a failure as Kevin Ellis started 26 games paired with Matt Besler in central defense for Sporting during the regular season, but the spirit of this wish didn't come true, especially after the way Ike Opara started the season. Opara had been Sporting's best player over the first month of the season, but another injury in early May put him out for the rest of the season leaving KC to lean heavily on homegrown player Kevin Ellis again. Ellis performed better than I think anyone expected, but was still prone to mistakes that a player with more size or experience at center back wouldn't make.

6. Luis Marin is available for all 34 league games, allowing Jon Kempin to start all but a game or two with Oklahoma City - Well this is another one that didn't come to be at all. We'll ignore the fact that Jon Kempin didn't go on loan at all to the Energy and instead focus on the fact that Luis Marin played just eight games for Kansas City before being benched in favor of Tim Melia. Marin just never seemed to adjust to the style of play of MLS very well. He did pick up three shutouts in his eight games, but two of those were at home against teams that seemed to have little to no interest in attacking on the road (Portland and Salt Lake) and the third came against New York City. The last straw for Marin came in the club's 4-4 draw with Houston where Marin was at least partially responsible for a few of the Dynamo goals. Marin though has rebounded well in Chile where he helped lead Palestino to the Apertura finals there.

And while Melia turned out to be a diamond in the rough as a starter for Kansas City, Kempin only appeared in three games for KC after being recalled from his loan to San Antonio. Peter Vermes says Kempin will challenge Melia for the starting job in 2016 preseason. If Kempin doesn't beat Melia out I hope he can spend quite a bit of time with the Swope Park Rangers getting plenty of minutes.

7. US Men's national team says perfect in Kansas City - Unfortunately the perfect run in Kansas City ended at five as the US national team drew with Panama 1-1 at Sporting Park in the final group play game of the 2015 Gold Cup. Falling behind on a first half goal by Blas Perez the US equalized early in the second half on a goal by Michael Bradley. The entire group stage of the Gold Cup didn't go that well for the US, and the problems were only compounded in the knock out round, but I'll get to that next.

8. US win the Gold Cup - I almost want to laugh at this wish now, after seeing how the 2015 Gold Cup played out. After getting out of Group A as the top seed going 2-0-1 but looking less than impressive in their wins against Honduras and Haiti, and draw against Panama, the US took Cuba behind the woodshed, winning 6-0 in the quarterfinals. This set up a semifinal match against Jamaica. The Jamaicans came out on the front foot and really pushed the game against the United States and were rewarded for it with goals from Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes putting them up 2-0 at half time. Michael Bradley scored very early in the second half to give the US hope, but they were unable to break down the Jamaican defense and missed the finals for the first time since 2003. Things got even worse for the US as they lost the third place game on penalty kicks to Panama after drawing 1-1 with Fabian Johnson, Bradley, and DeMarcus Beasley all missing.

9. Missouri Comets return to championship game - Unfortunately the Comets didn't make it back to the finals. After going undefeated in the regular season and defeating Milwaukee 8-2 in the Central Division final, the Comets met up with the Baltimore Blast, losing 6-4 in Baltimore then coming home and having the wheels completely come off their season with red cards and suspensions being issued to Brian Harris and John Sosa and then the headbutt incident involving Andre Braithwaite and Pat Healey after the game. Not the way you want to end your season with so much of a sour taste in the team's and fans' mouths.






10. FC Kansas City improve attendance - FC Kansas City played in their third stadium in three years as they moved from Durwood on UMKC's campus down the road to the newly completed Swope Soccer Village and played at the Championship field there. The move bumped the available capacity to 3,557 for the Blues in their third season. The move, coming off a championship, and a boost from the Women's World Cup helped FCKC up their average attendance by over 1,000, going from 2,018 to 3,091 in 2015.

11. US women's team wins World Cup - The United States made it through their group as the winners picking up wins over Australia and Nigeria with a draw against Sweden in between to finish with 7 points. They met the upstart Colombians in the round of 16 and needed two second half goals after Colombia's starting goalkeeper was sent off to see them through. The quarterfinals saw a rematch of the 1999 final against China with Carli Lloyd scoring the lone goal to send the US through to the semifinals. There they met two time winners, Germany. The US though played their best game of the tournament up to that point though and scored twice in the second half from a Lloyd penalty and a Kelley O'Hara goal to make the finals. There they met Japan, who had beaten them in the finals of the last World Cup in Germany. The knockout rounds though had become the Carli Lloyd show and she continued in the finals. Lloyd had had two goals in the first five minutes as the US jumped on Japan early. Lauren Holiday scored in the 14th to make it 3-0 and in the 16th Lloyd finished her hattrick with an outlandish shot from midfield that went over goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori and into the net to make it 4-0 to the US before Japan even knew what happened. Japan got a goal back on each side of halftime before Tobin Heath finished the scoring in the 54th to give the US the 5-2 win.

Comets Use Second Half Run to Top Rampage

The Missouri Comets closed out 2015 with a big win over the Cedar Rapids Rampage in the second of three games this week. The Comets used a big second half run, scoring six unanswered from the start of the third quarter to blow the game open as Missouri won 11-4.

Unfortunately for the Comets just like in Tuesday night's loss to the St. Louis Ambush, the Comets fell behind on an early goal as former Comet Patrick Kelly scored an early goal to give the Rampage the lead. Unlike Tuesday night though the Comets made their possession pay off in the first quarter as the Comets tied it up with less than five minutes left in the quarter off a goal from Vahid Assadpour after the Comets won the ball in the Rampage end. The Comets were able to take their first lead of the game before the end of the quarter as Leo Gibson flicked a long ball into the path of Milan Ivanovic who knocked the ball into the net off the far post.

It didn't take long for the Rampage to tie things up in the second quarter though as Jacob Johnson scored less than two minutes into the quarter to tie the game at 2-2. The Comets though retook the lead before the midpoint of the quarter as John Sosa found the back of the net. Less than two minutes later the Comets had doubled their lead after Ramone Palmer picked out Leo Gibson at the back post, Gibson fired home to make it 4-2 for the Comets. Missouri made it 5-2 as Kiel Williams got on the end of some quickly passing by the Comets. Under a minute left the Rampage pulled a goal back as Semir Mesanovic scored off a feed from Chile Farias off a restart.

The third quarter is when the Comets really took over the game. Six minutes in the Comets scored two goals in about a 30 second span with Robert Palmer scoring both to extend the lead to 7-3. The Comets added onto their lead just over 10 minutes into the third with another pair of goals in a one minute span. This time it was Lucas Rodriguez and Assadpour who scored to extend the lead to 9-3 before the quarter ended.

The Comets extended their scoring run early in the fourth quarter as Ramone Palmer got on the board less than a minute in. Missouri continued to push and were able to add an 11th goal with just over eight minutes played while on the power play with Rodriguez getting his second of the game. The Comets killed the majority of the rest of the game but with less than a minute left Farias got the Rampage one last consolation goal to make the final score 11-4 Comets. Missouri will now return home where they'll finish their three game in five day stretch with a game

Rosell Linked with a Move Back to MLS - Former SKC Wizards Update

Former Sporting KC midfielder Oriol Rosell has found the going hard since his move to Portugal in the summer of 2014. After being a regular contributor in his first season with Sporting CP, Rosell has found himself out of favor and has yet to appear this season for them. Speculation this summer was that Rosell would return to MLS and Kansas City, but that move never materialized. Now the rumors of Rosell's return to MLS are back but a different club this time. Reports out of Portugal have Rosell joining the New England Revolution, who have a partnership with the Portuguese club. To get Rosell though the Revolution would likely need to trade up in the allocation order. Currently the Revolution are 10th and would need nine other clubs to pass on Rosell for the Revs to land him. For what it is worth Sporting KC is one spot behind the Revs at 11th.

Also this week, Jorge Claros may have a new club soon. Claros had played in China this last season after being released by Sporting KC in preseason. Claros has been training with Olimpia in Honduras and looks like he may sign for them ahead of the Clausura season.

Here's the rest of this week's update on a limited week with the majority of former players either in their offseason or on break.

Active without a club or unknown
Jalil Anibaba
Vicente Arze
Jorge Claros
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Nelson Pizarro
Soony Saad
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Atlanta - Offseason.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - No game this week.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in either of St. Louis' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - No game this week.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 6-4 win over Saltillo.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 6-5 loss to St. Louis.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game until 1/10.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - No game until 1/16.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Season over.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game until 1/7.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - No game this week.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Season over.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - No game until 1/8.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - No game until 1/18.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - No game until 2/13.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 2/29.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal  Portugal - Did not dress in Sporting's 3-1 win over Pacos de Ferreira.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/28.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Game vs Huntly postponed.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - No game until 1/3.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.

That Game Looked Familiar - Comets Fall to Ambush

Kansas City fans should be getting used to games like tonight’s between the Missouri Comets and St. Louis Ambush. Across the city at Sporting Park there have been numerous games over the last few years as Sporting KC would dominate long periods of games at home with their high pressure, have the lion’s share of possession, but be unable to really capitalize on it. That was what happened tonight at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena as the Comets out shot the Ambush 41-15 and had the majority of the possession, but came up short 6-5 as the Ambush played some extremely composed and organized defense to shut down the Comets in their first of three games this week.

Five minutes into the game the Comets couldn’t clear their defensive end and Daniel Berko played the ball to Andre Hayne who was behind the Comets defense. As Boris Pardo came out Hayne chipped it over and into the net to put the Ambush on top. The quarter was back and forth, but the Comets had more of the shots and more of the chances, but it was the Ambush who had the better opportunities in the first half with Pardo having to make a big save on the line. The Ambush though couldn’t find the back of the net while their defense remained compact and kept the Comets off the board in the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the Comets in possession and Pardo bringing the ball up field slowly. Pardo had a shot that was blocked and the Ambush started going the other way. Pardo was able to make the initial save on Hayne but the rebound fell to Jeff DiMaria who controlled the ball and played it to the back post where Hayne knocked it in to make it 2-0 to the Ambush. Less than five minutes in the Comets pressure finally paid off as Kiel Williams picked up the ball near the yellow line and dribbled into the box. He left the ball for Leo Gibson who controlled and calmly fired a ball into the far post upper 90 to make it 2-1. The Comets continued to pressure and started to create some good opportunities but couldn’t find the equalizer. With less than five minutes left the Comets pressing for the tying goal came back to bite them. A long ball down the field was collected by Odaine Sinclair, who was held up by Pardo who came off his line. The ball got knocked away to Gordy Gurson though who knocked the ball into the empty net to put the Ambush up 3-1 as the teams headed into the half time break.

The third quarter saw the Comets come out aggressive again attempting to get back into the game, and soon after they were within one goal as a Leo Gibson played a ball off the wall to Bryan Perez who fired the ball into the near post to make it 3-2 Ambush. Five minutes in the Comets were level as John Sosa fired a free kick past the wall and inside the near post to level the game at 3-3.  The Comets continued to pressure the Ambush but were unable to take the lead against their cross state foe. Late in the quarter their inability to do that cost them as they got caught multiple times with numbers forward. With just over two minutes left Elvir Kafedzic got played in behind the Comets defense. Kafedzic got Pardo to commit and then laid the ball off to Hayne who placed the ball into the empty net to finish his hattrick. A minute later the Comets couldn’t clear their line as the Ambush had chances from Sinclair and Luis Almeida. Pardo made a good save on Almeida and the ball went wide to Gurson who fired a shot that went off the inside of Pardo’s foot and into the net to make it 5-3. The Ambush weren’t done either as with under a minute to play the Ambush again caught the Comets up field as goalkeeper Piotr Sliwa played the ball to Kafedzic who again was behind the Comets defense. This time he took the ball himself, rounded Pardo and fired the ball into the net to end the quarter up 6-3.

The Comets tried to chip away at the three goal deficit throughout the fourth quarter, getting a number of looks with Sliwa out of position, but time after time the Comets either were putting the ball wide of the goal or into a defender who had gotten back on the line to block the play. Six and a half minutes in the Comets cut the lead to two as Lucas Rodriguez and John Sosa played a one-two getting Rodriguez into the box where he lifted it over Sliwa and into the net.  The Comets continued to pressure but it really began to not look like their night when Gibson and Vahid Assadpour both missed separate chances at the back post. With just over two minutes left though the Comets were able to cut the lead to one goal. Gibson collected the ball at midfield as the Ambush tried to counter with Pardo pushed up. Gibson fed the ball into Assadpour in the corner; the Comets captain laid the ball back to Kevin Ten Eyck who slotted the ball into the corner to make it 6-5. The Comets pressing for an equalizer left them exposed in the back and late Pardo picked up a blue card late for a kick on Sinclair. Gurson missed the shootout attempt and the Comets poured forward down a man looking to find a goal but with a couple chances they still couldn’t find the net and the Ambush walked out with their first win of the season and their first win since their rebirth against the Comets.

Sporting Linked with Spanish Left Sided Player

Since Sporting KC's season ended the team has not hidden the fact that they are looking to Europe to improve the team. Robb Heineman has said recently that the club was looking in Spain, Portugal, and Eastern Europe to try to find new players for KC next year. In fact, on Christmas Eve, Heineman tweeted that the team had signed a new foreign defensive player. Since then people have found links from Spanish papers linking Kansas City with Dani Castellano of UD Las Palmas.

The 28 year old Castellano has spent the majority of his career for the Spanish club based on the Canary Islands. The only departure being a three year stretch when he played for RCD Mallorca, their B team and a couple loan moves. Castellano plays on the left side and lately seems to have been playing at the left back position for Palmas but has apparently spent time as a left sided midfielder as well in his career.

Signing him as a left defender would be an interesting move considering KC already has re-signed left back, Seth Sinovic this offseason, still has Canadian international Marcel de Jong on the books, and two of KC's rookies, Amadou Dia and Saad Abdul-Salaam both spent time at left back in 2015. Now from one aspect that lack of consistency could be a reason to go looking for a consistent left back, but before going that far, KC likely needs to move some of their other left backs first.

On the other hand, other papers seem to doubt that Castellano will move as he has started 12 of La Palmas 16 games so far in this La Liga season. The other reason to potentially doubt this move, at least right now, is that Castellano is apparently under contract until 2017. In the past Peter Vermes has talked about his reluctance to pay transfer fees for players when others would be available on a free transfer.

Gil Signs with Queretaro, Claros Trains with Olimpia - Former SKC Wizards Update

It's a low point in terms of activity for former Sporting KC players around the world when it comes to play on the field. but some players are getting prepared for the new year with moves or training opportunities at new clubs. Luis Gil has signed a deal to move from Real Salt Lake to Queretaro in the Mexican league. Gil had seen his contract with Salt Lake expire before he made his move to Mexico. What this means for Sporting KC is that Kansas City will not the final part of their trade with Salt Lake that they worked out will not occur. When KC had traded Gil to Salt Lake, Sporting received an international roster spot for a couple seasons, a second round draft pick the club used on JT Murray, and 25% of any sell on fee. With Gil leaving Salt Lake on a free, KC will not get anything more from RSL in the deal.

Also it appears that Jorge Claros is looking for a new club. After spending last season in the Chinese second division, Claros is back in Honduras training with traditional power, Olimpia. Claros is looking for another club abroad, but has not ruled out the possibility of playing for Olimpia either.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jalil Anibaba
Vicente Arze
Jorge Claros
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Nelson Pizarro
Soony Saad
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Atlanta - Offseason.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - Did not play in either of Tacoma's games.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 9-7 loss to Cedar Rapids.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 5-1 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Played in Dallas' 8-7 win over Brownsville.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in the Comets' 8-5 win over Detroit.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game until 1/10.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - No game until 1/16.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Season over.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - No game this week.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Leganes' 1-0 Copa del Rey loss to Granada. Came off the bench and played 6 minutes in Leganes' 1-1 draw with Huesca.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Season over.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - No game until 1/8.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 2-1 win over Universidad Catolica. Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 4-1 loss to Universidad Catolica.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 3-1 win over Gornik Leczna.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 2/29.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal  Portugal - Did not dress in either of Sporting's games.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Did not play in Wuppertaler's 3-0 cup win over Schwarz-Weib Essen.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 59 minutes in Deveronvale's 1-0 loss to Turriff United.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 4-2 cup win over Kallithea. Dressed but did not play in Atromitos' 1-0 win over Panionios.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.

Sporting and Rangers Schedule Released for Desert Diamond Cup

FC Tucson, the hosts of the preseason Desert Diamond Cup today announced the schedule for this year's event. Both Sporting Kansas City and their USL affiliate, the Swope Park Rangers will be competing in this year's tournament that kicks off on February 17th and runs through the 27th a little over a week before KC opens their MLS season.

Sporting will kick off the tournament on the 17th against MLS Cup finalist, the Columbus Crew. They'll follow that up with a game against the New England Revolution on the 20th and finish group play on the 24th against the Colorado Rapids. Their final game on the 27th will depend on how they did in their previous three games.

The Rangers will start the tournament against the Rapids on the 17th before playing fellow USL side Arizona United on the 20th. They'll play the Columbus Crew on the 24th before finishing the tournament on the 27th against hosts, FC Tucson.

Sporting to Open 2016 Season on the Road

Sporting Kansas City will kick off the 2016 MLS season in just 75 short days. Today Major League Soccer announced the home opener for all 20 of their teams, so we now know the first two games of Kansas City's season. All 20 teams will start the season on the same day, Sunday, March 6th. For the fifth time in six seasons since the club rebranded to Sporting KC, Sporting will start the season on the road. It'll be a trip to the Pacific Northwest and Seattle to play the Sounders, Sporting's opponent in the team's 2014 season opener, who are starting their season at home for the eighth time in their eight year run in MLS. Back in 2014, the defending MLS Cup champions, Sporting KC fell 1-0 to the Seattle Sounders on a late goal from Sounders forward, Chad Barrett. The game will be on Fox Sports 1 at 6pm central time as part of a triple header with games on all three networks with MLS contracts (ESPN, Fox, and Univision).

Six days after their opener in Seattle, KC will have their first home game of the season when they'll welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps to Sporting Park. It'll be the first time the two teams have met since KC's 4-3 comeback win over the Whitecaps last season, led by Paulo Nagamura. It will also be the earliest time the two teams have faced off in the regular season since KC blew a 3-0 lead to tie 3-3 in Vancouver on April 2nd, 2011.

The full schedule for the 2016 season will be coming in a little over two weeks on January 7th.

Sporting and the Royals to Form a Network? Would that be a Good Move?

Just a passing comment in an article on an MLB blog about the Kansas City Royals, their current TV deal, and its potential affect on their ability to compete, but it is one to certainly take a look at. The article on Today's Knuckleball talked about the Royals potentially creating their own network, something the club did in the early 2000's at the height of the team's futility. Apparently part of the buzz with them working on their own network is that the Royals could partner with Sporting Kansas City to help offset costs.

For the last two seasons Sporting Kansas City's games have been broadcasted on 38 The Spot in Kansas City. All of the club's games that have not been televised on national TV have been broadcasted on the local channel along with a 30 minute pregame and another 30 minute post game show. It's certainly not been a bad deal for Sporting as they've been on an over-the-air network that has allowed them to reach more people who may not necessarily have cable television.

The idea of creating a network with the Royal does have its draw backs and things that Sporting should keep in mind before proceeding down that path. One thing that Sporting and the Royals would need to do is to make sure they have the network lined up with local cable providers in Kansas City. It's one of the issues of sports networks around the country have to deal with when cable networks don't choose to carry a channel. In MLS such a thing happened with the Houston Dynamo (along with the Astros and Rockets) with CSN Houston not being carried on the majority of cable providers in the Houston area. It kept a number of Dynamo fans from being able to watch their team when they were on the road and not on national television.

Another thing that Sporting KC may want to be mindful of is their key demographic and their use of television. While I personally don't see myself getting rid of cable in the near future, I'm also not really in the target demographic that Sporting KC is really chasing any more. Sporting has really seemed to try to make more of a play for those in their 20's, and they've done a decent job of doing it with the atmosphere at Sporting Park. But one thing that demographic seems to be doing is that they're not watching television as much any more. You hear a lot about cord cutters and people ditching cable as a whole, moving away from a channel like 38 The Spot to a cable channel may cause a drop in that demographic that SKC wants.

The final thing that Sporting will likely want to keep an eye on regarding any deal with the Royals would be how exactly that relationship would work on a network. Sporting and the Royals' seasons overlap for the vast majority of it, and if both were to go into business together on a network, the question is who would get first billing. And in reality it wouldn't even be a question, the Royals still pull better ratings than Sporting KC can pull, even when the Royals weren't actually winning. The worry here would be SKC getting put into a position where their games are not even being broadcasted live, instead being put on tape delay for a Royals game. Such things have happened to other MLS teams in the past, like New York City FC having a game of theirs against the Philadelphia Union shown on tape delay on the YES Network, or DC United just a couple of years ago having similar on CSN Washington, as well as other examples.

Being part of their own network though would allow for Kansas City to have more of their own program. Over the last couple years the team has done a few things with 38 the Spot and prior television partners, specifically around the playoffs, having some shows to hype them up (I remember appearing on one myself). That sort of thing could be expanded on a network of their own with the Royals. A weekly show run by the team, just a way to get more information out to fans.

The fact that the Royals see Sporting as a legitimate business partner for a network is certainly a plus. But if Sporting KC is serious about something like this they're going to have to be very good with their negotiations or else they run the risk of alienating fans if the deal is too lopsided for the Royals.

Comets Win First Ever Match Against Detroit

The Missouri Comets moved to 9-1 on the season in the MASL with an 8-5 win over the Detroit Waza Flo in the first ever match up between the two sides.

The Comets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter with Vahid Assadpour and Robert Palmer finding the net. Leo Gibson made it 3-0 less than four minutes into the second period. A power play goal by Ricardo Lopes cut the lead to 3-1 around the mid-point of the quarter, which is where the teams were at when they headed into the half time break.

The third quarter saw the Comets extend their lead even further. Less than four minutes in Kiel Williams put the Comets up 4-1. The majority of the action though took place in the final five minutes. First Assadpour scored his second of the game with less than four and a half minutes left. With under two minutes left Assadpour turned provider to set up Ramone Palmer to make it 6-1 to the Comets. Costea Decu cut the lead to 6-2 before the end of the quarter as the two teams headed into the fourth with Missouri up.

The fourth quarter saw the Comets again score early, this time on the power play as Lucas Rodriguez found the back of he net. The Waza made it 7-3 when Zach Bowman scored around the midpoint of the quarter. With just over five minutes left, Rodriguez found his second goal of the quarter to make it 8-3. The Waza made it close late in the quarter after pulling their goalkeeper, scoring twice in the final three minutes through Danny Dragoi and Nik Djokic but it wasn't enough to get them all the way back as they fell 8-5.

Q&A on the Beach with Robb Heineman

Sporting Club's CEO recently celebrated his birthday in Mexico and with his down time on the beach he conducted another of his Q&As with his followers on Twitter. As always Heineman touched on a number of topics from the Swope Park Rangers, to offseason additions, to Sporting Park and as always he threw in some of the trolling we've all come to expect. Here are some of the high points.

One of the big questions that is pretty much asked in every one of Heineman's Q&A sessions is asking about the potential expansion of Sporting Park. In the past Heineman has posted about needing to sell out through 2017, or needing so many years of capacity before expansion would take place. He even talked about where the expansion would take place, expanding the East Stand. It always seemed a little bit far fetched when thinking about the size of the site that Sporting Park currently sits. Now Heineman says that there are no seating plans at the stadium. He did say that they are enlarging the season ticket holder base by 500.

In terms of the team's players that are still out of contract, Heineman touched on two of the three, Soni Mustivar and Paulo Nagamura, both restating the club's interest in both players returning but not giving much in the way of details for either one. No mention of the club's other player out of contract, Mikey Lopez. At the same time he did bring some ease to the question of Krisztian Nemeth's future with the club, twice answering questions about the Hungarian's potential departure.

As for new additions, that seemed to be one of the big talking points of the session. Heineman mentioned how the club was looking to still add a player on each line of the team, defense, midfield, and forward to strength the squad, as well as the fact that they're looking at Designated Players, which would be expected.

As for where these potential new players would come from, Heineman was asked where the team was focusing on for players, to which he responded with Spain. That's not been a bad proving ground for KC over the past few years as the team has brought in Oriol Rosell, Toni Dovale, and Jordi Quintilla from the European country to Kansas City. Speaking of Rosell, Heineman was also asked about the rumors of his return to MLS and Kansas City because of being out of favor in Portugal. Heineman didn't sound too optimist of him returning to either the team or the league as a whole. It also sounds like fans shouldn't get their hopes up about news on player signings coming in the next week either. Although if you do want to do some detective work over that time, Heineman was asked for the initials of KC's next signing and he responded with CRH.

Another topic that brought a couple questions was next season's schedule. According to Heineman the schedule doesn't look like it will be out until some time in January. And for those people that were disappointed in the number of Sunday games that KC had last year, it sounds like that won't be changing in 2016 which would seem to mean more nationally broadcast games for KC next year as well. And if Heineman gets his way, 2016 for KC will begin on the road.

Finally a couple odds and ends. It sounds like the national training center will finally start moving dirt in February according to Heineman. Then there's the big question from across the pond that continues to be asked, and that's if Heineman and OnGoal are still interested or if they'd renew their interest in acquiring English Premier League club, Everton. Those in the blue side of Liverpool probably shouldn't be holding their breath.

That said, as always you have to take what Heineman says with a grain of salt.

Two Former KC Players Available in Re-Entry Draft - Former SKC Wizards Update

The MLS offseason continues to move along as we approach Christmas. The second stage of the re-entry draft is scheduled to take place this Friday. While KC was busy in the first phase, selecting goalkeeper Alec Kann, both former KC players are available for selection still on Friday. Neither Jalil Anibaba or Chris Konopka were taken in the first stage and will now wait to see if they are selected in the second phase.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Jalil Anibaba
Vicente Arze
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Chris Konopka
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Nelson Pizarro
Soony Saad
Yann Songo'o
Khari Stephenson

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Offseason.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Offseason.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Offseason.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Offseason.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Offseason.
Michal Mravec - Atlanta - Offseason.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - Did not play in either of Tacoma's games.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 6-5 OT loss to Tacoma.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 5-2 win over Syracuse.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Had an assist in Dallas' 9-7 win over San Diego.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Started Missouri's 12-5 win over Tacoma.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game this week.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Belen's 2-1 win over Herediano.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Season over.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Came off the bench and played 7 mintues in Leganes' 1-0 win over Gimnastic Tarragona.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Season over.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 2-1 win over Univ. Concepcion. Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 1-0 win over Univ. Concepcion.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Did not dress in Lechia's 2-0 win over Wisla Krakow.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - No game until 2/29.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal  Portugal - Did not dress in either of Sporting's games.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 0-0 draw with VfB 03 Hilden.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 90 minutes in Deveronvale's 4-1 win over Fort William.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Did not dress in Atromitos' 1-0 win over Kalloni.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - No game until 2/27.

Rangers Sign Four Players

The Swope Park Rangers continue to build their team towards the start of the 2016 USL season, their first in the league. Today the Rangers announced that they'd signed four more players to contracts for the upcoming season; forwards Dane Kelly and Kris Tyrpak, defender Johnny Grant, and goalkeeper Zac Lubin. All four are USL veterans having played for different teams in the league in 2015 will join the team's first signing, Christian Duke on the inaugural Rangers team.

Kelly is the USL's all-time leading scorer with 42 goals since 2011 when he joined the Charleston Battery from Jamaican side Tivoli Gardens FC. The 24 year old helped the Battery to a USL championship in 2012. His career high is 11 that he scored for the Battery this past season. Kelly was named to the USL's all league team in 2014 and was named to the league's second team this past season.

The other forward, Tyrpak is 23, but already has experience in all three professional levels in the United States. Tyrpak was drafted by Chivas USA in the 2014 Superdraft appearing in nine games, scoring one goal and adding an assist in the Goats final season in MLS. He was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the dispersal draft at the end of the 2014 season. Tyrpak didn't last in preseason with the Earthquakes and was cut, moving on and signing with his home town team, the Austin Aztex, scoring nine goals and adding two assists before finishing the 2015 season with the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions where he scored twice.

Grant, the 22 year old defender from Canada may be the one signing with the most upside of any of the four. Grant is a Canadian youth international having played for the Canadian U23 team as well as being called up to the full Canadian team at the beginning of last year but did not appear for the full team. Last season Grant played with FC Montreal appearing 10 times after signing in May. Grant also spent time in KC this past October as he was part of the Canadian U23 team that participated in Olympic qualifying at Sporting Park.

Lubin was captain for the Tulsa Roughnecks in their inaugural season and split time in goal with the club's other goalkeeper, Jake Feener. Lubin played in 15 of the Roughnecks 28 games, starting 14 of those games. In that time he amassed a 4-8-3 record as the Roughnecks went 11-11-6 on the season. He had a goals against average of 1.8 and had two shutouts while leading the league in saves per game at 4.87. The 26 year old has also spent time abroad with IFK Lulea in the Swedish third division. Before that he played in the PDL in the Pacific Northwest with the Kitsap Pumas and the Seattle Sounders U23 team.

All four are strong signings for the expansion side and speak to the direction that the Rangers are going. While they'll certainly look to develop players that won't be their sole priority in their first season. Kelly and Tyrpak give SPR a good scoring punch up front and Grant provides some of that potential development that the USL teams are supposed to do for the parent club. I think the quotes in the press release also speak to some of the advantages that the Rangers have in player development as well as getting existing USL talent.

Kelly said that he saw this move as a step forward for himself and "I want to pursue an opportunity to make it to the first team with Sporting Kansas City."

The fact that there is that path to the first team is a carrot hanging in front of these players and on the surface may see the Rangers grab some decent young talent from the USL, especially based on this quote from Tyrpak in the press release: "The whole Kansas City operation is extremely professional. I have heard great things about them throughout the years and I was super excited to get the call to come to the new USL team."

KC's reputation for the MLS team is filtering down to the USL team and should give the team a roster boost. I think it'll do well to bring some of good USL talent they can develop while also giving a place for the club's loaned players and academy players to round out their professional game.

End of Season Look at SKC Academy Players in College

The Stanford Cardinal won the NCAA Division 1 championship this weekend at Sporting Park, defeating Clemson 4-0, marking the end of the college season. With the season over here is a look at how all the Sporting KC academy players did in college this season.

Class of 2012

Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Sr - Played in 17 games, scoring 1 goal and assisting on 3 as Bradley went 7-10-1.

Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Sr - Played in 21 games for Creighton as they went 19-4.

Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Sr - Played in 18 games as Loyola went 10-4-5.

Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RJr - Played in 11 games recording 1 assist as Dayton went 13-5-5.

Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Sr - Played in 23 games scoring 1 goal and assisting on 7 as Baker went 18-4-1.

Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Sr - Played in 16 games scoring 3 goals and assisting on 1 as Evansville went 3-13.

Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Sr - Played in 10 games scoring 1 goal and assisting on 2 as UMKC went 6-9-2.

Class of 2013

Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - Jr - Played in 16 games scoring 1 goal as Jacksonville went 3-12-1.

Matt Bernard (Cal Baptist) - MF - RSo - Played in 17 games for Cal Baptist as they went 6-10-2.

Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - Jr - Played in 23 games scoring 4 goals and assisting on 1 as Rockhurst went 18-2-3.

Seo-In Kim (UCSB) - MF - Jr - Played in 22 games scoring 2 goals and adding 1 assist as UCSB went 14-7-2.

Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - Jr - Played in four games, recording an assist as Northern Illinois went 7-7-1.

Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - Jr - Played in 4 games as UMKC went 6-9-2.

Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RSo - Played in 12 games, scoring 5 goals and assisting on 2 as UMKC went 6-9-2.

Austin Wilcox (Cal-Poly) - MF - Jr - Played in 21 games recording an assist as Cal Poly went 11-5-5.

Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - Jr - Played in 19 games scoring a goal and adding an assist as Fort Hays went 13-5-2.

Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RSo - Played in no games for UMKC this year as they went 6-9-2.

Class of 2014

Darby Cronin (Missouri State)- MF - So - Did not play in any games as Missouri State went 6-6-5.

Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - RSFr - Did not play in any games as Missouri State went 6-6-5.

Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - So - Played in 4 games as Colorado went 18-1-3.

Heath Honold (West Virginia) - F - So - Played in 14 games, recording 3 assists as West Virginia went 7-12.

Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - So - Played in 20 games recording 1 assist as Drake went 13-5-3.

Blake Levine (Baker) - F - So - Played in 22 games, scoring 8 goals and assisting on 2 as Baker went 18-4-1.

Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - So - Played in 19 games as Fordham went 7-8-4.

Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - RSFr - Played in 20 games scoring 3 goals and adding 1 assist as UNC went 15-2-3.

Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - So - Played 17 games as Trevecca went 7-10.

Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - So - Played in 19 games, scoring two goals and adding 13 assists as West Virginia went 7-12.

Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - So - Played in 18 games scoring 5 goals as Denver went 15-1-3.

Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - So - Played in 20 games, scoring 5 goals and adding 5 assists as UNC went 15-2-3.

2015

Andrew Blalock (Drake) - GK - Fr - Played in no games as Drake went 13-5-3.

Robert DeWitt III (Xavier) - MF - Fr - Played in 1 games as Xavier went 12-6-1.

Jack Freeman (Ohio State) - D - Fr - Did not play in any games as Ohio State went 13-7-3.

Bryce Gibson (Creighton) - D - Fr - Played in no games for Creighton as they went 19-4.

Nic Jaimes (Drake) - MF - Fr - Played in 20 games, scoring 4 goals and adding 2 assists as Drake went 13-5-3.

Ryan Krutz (Notre Dame) - GK - Fr - Did not play in any games as Notre Dame went 11-5-6.

Zane Moxley (Air Force) - D - Fr - Played in 1 game as Air Force went 7-9-1.

Alexis Quevedo (UNLV) - MF - Fr - Played in 5 games as UNLV went 12-6-1.

Hector Solorio (Niagara) - MF - Fr - Played in 19 games as Niagara 1-16-3.

Tucker Stephenson (West Virginia) - F - Fr - Played in 19 games scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists as West Virginia went 7-12.

Andy Velez (JCCC) - MF - Fr - Played in 14 games and recorded an assist as JCCC went 10-6-3.

Bailey Weeks (Northeastern State University) - D - Fr - Played in 17 games as Northeastern went 12-6.

Sporting KC Sign Justin Mapp as League's First Free Agency Signing

Sporting KC made MLS history today making the first MLS free agent signing under the new CBA's rules that grant free agency to MLS players out of contract who meet age (28) and experience (8) requirements.  The team announced today that they'd signed midfielder Justin Mapp, who last played with the Montreal Impact. The 31 year old Mapp had a down season missing much of the season with a broken elbow he picked up in Montreal's season opener against DC.

Throughout his career though Mapp has been able to provide service down the wing and will be able to come in and immediately fight for minutes for Kansas City. He becomes a much more appealing wing option than the incumbent winger substitutes like Bernardo Anor, Connor Hallisey, and Jacob Peterson. Entering his 15th MLS season, Mapp is now on his fifth team having played with the Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire, and DC United along with the previously mentioned Impact. In that time Mapp has racked up 22 goals and 65 assists in just over 300 league games played for those four teams.

With the signing KC is only able to sign one more MLS free agent apparently. In today's release Peter Vermes said that the way he understands the rules teams can only sign two free agents in a year. What that means is that KC may be making some tough decisions on other free agent signings. Robb Heineman had mentioned both Mapp and Mike Magee as free agent targets in a previous tweet but at the same time KC has one of their own players who is a free agent in Paulo Nagamura. If the rule is true KC would have just one spot left to sign one of those two players if they are both still targets. Nagamura has been a fan favorite and his poise on penalty kicks has helped KC to three trophies, but turning 33 early next year is certainly a question at a salary over $200,000. Magee meanwhile would provided some more scoring punch for KC, but would likely need to come off the bench for the 31 year old and happen with a very large pay cut from the $400,000 he made last year with Chicago.
 
Overall the signing of Mapp is a good pick up for KC, one that addresses a big need in terms of improving KC's depth on the wing. It will be interesting to see how much Mapp pushes Graham Zusi on the wing after a season and a half of less than stellar play from one of Kansas City's designated players.

Comets Ruin Waltman's Homecoming

Danny Waltman was the Missouri Comets goalkeeper for the first five years of their re-birth in indoor soccer, he endeared himself to the fans with his personality, showmanship, and of course his play on the field. This offseason though he returned to Washington to join the Tacoma Stars in their first full season in the MASL. Last night Waltman and the Stars came to the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena but it wasn't a welcome homecoming for Waltman as the Comets ran away from the Stars winning 12-5.

The Stars actually came out as the much more aggressive side in the game pressing the Comets hoping to force mistakes. The Comets though were able to get on the board first through Lucas Rodriguez off a restart. Tacoma though was able to capitalize on their high pressure though as they scored a pair of goals through Jamael Cox and Derek Johnson to end the first quarter ahead 2-1.

The high pressure kept the Comets at bay for a good portion of the second quarter as well. But just over half way through the Comets finally leveled the score as Milan Ivanovic slotted a ball from the top of the box into the corner past Waltman. The goal started a quick run for the Comets as 39 seconds later Bryan Perez gave the Comets the lead again as he tapped home a shot from inside the box after Leo Gibson dribbled down the side and got Waltman to commit. The Comets weren't done either as 31 seconds after that Ramone Palmer scored to put the Comets up 4-2 which is where the two teams were at as they headed into half time.

The third quarter saw the Comets extend their lead further, outscoring the Stars 3-1. After Perez and Tacoma's Tyrone Hall traded goals in the first nine minutes of the quarter, the Comets were able to pull further away. First Rodriguez got his second goal of the game again off a restart on a power play, then a minute and a half later John Sosa extended the lead to 7-3 after a few failed chances on the line weren't collected or cleared by the Stars defense.

In the fourth the Comets were able to extend the lead further. All the scoring though occurred in the second half of the quarter. After controlling the first half of the quarter but unable to extend the lead until just over seven minutes had been played when Waltman got caught in possession outside his box. Robert Palmer played the ball into the middle for Vahid Assadpour who needed two chances but scored to make it 8-3. A minute later some good interplay between Gibson and Ramone Palmer led to another goal as Palmer fed Robert Palmer to make it 9-4. Ten seconds later the Stars had pulled a goal back with Hall scoring his second goal of the game. The Comets responded in kind as Gibson scored his first goal of the game as he was unmarked at the back post to finish a Perez cross. The Stars threw more numbers forward trying to find a way back into the game with Waltman basically playing as a sixth attacker quite often. The high line though allowed the Comets to counter as Gibson sprung Robert Palmer who scored his second goal of the game to make it 11-4. With less than a minute left the Comets finished off their scoring as Gibson scored from midfield as Waltman was up field. After the goal Waltman removed his gloves and threw them into the stands as he'd done during his time in KC. His teammate Raphael Cox wasn't done though as he added on one more goal for the Stars to finish the game at 12-5.

Nemeth Receives Suspension From Disciplinary Committee

MLS' disciplinary committee came out with a number of suspensions and fines from the 2015 MLS Cup playoffs, one of those suspensions involves Sporting KC's Krisztian Nemeth. Nemeth received a one game suspension and an undisclosed fine for violent conduct that endangered the safety of an opponent in KC's loss to Portland in the Wildcard Round. In the 75th minute, with KC down 1-0 to the Timbers, Nemeth fouled Portland forward, Lucas Melano. Melano went to ground and the whistle was blown. Nemeth though, after the whistle had gone kicked the ball into the head of Melano. The play caused an uproar on Portland's bench and in the stands as it occurred right in front of the benches. Nemeth was only given a yellow card on the play. Nemeth will now miss Kansas City's opener to the 2016 MLS season.



The action of the disciplinary committee, while justified has set off some anger among Kansas City fans about why more action wasn't taken from the game. Specifically KC fans are wondering why no punishment was handed out to Rodney Wallace or Fanendo Adi for their actions in the game. Wallace was carded in the 69th minute for clipping Tim Melia's head as he raced onto a ball. Some KC fans are arguing that Wallace left his foot hanging low in an attempt to catch Melia on the play. The second incident occurred later in the game when Adi and Matt Besler were jostling for a high ball in the air. Adi brought an elbow up and caught Besler in the nose causing a bloody nose for Besler. Neither incident though was met with any comment by the disciplinary committee.

Sporting Select Fire's Kann in Re-Entry Draft

Sporting KC actually made use of this year's Re-Entry Draft. Throughout the five previous drafts, KC had only ever selected one player, taking Frankie Hejduk in the second phase of the inaugural Re-Entry Draft in 2010. Hejduk was almost immediately traded to Los Angeles for the rights to Luke Sassano. KC had never been involved in the first phase of the re-entry draft, until today when the club selected the Chicago Fire's Alec Kann with the 11th pick of the draft.

Kann a 26 year old goalkeeper from Georgia was signed by the Fire before the 2013 MLS season. He spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on loan with the Charlotte Eagles and St. Louis FC respectively. For both he was a regular starter, appearing in over 30 games over his two seasons in the US third division. Last year he played in 19 games for St. Louis, with a goals against average of 1.24 with six shutouts and a 5-7-7 record as St. Louis' primary starter. Kann also made his MLS debut this year, starting the Fire's season finale against the New York Red Bulls. He made six saves as the Fire fell 2-1. According to the players union numbers, Kann made just $60,000 last year for the Fire as their third string goalkeeper, so his salary number would fall in line with what you'd want from your third string goalkeeper.

With the selection of Kann, Sporting now has three goalkeepers on their roster joining Jon Kempin and Tim Melia heading into the 2016 season. The trio will head into preseason with Melia the clear number one but Kempin likely wanting to challenge him for that spot. If Kempin can't beat Melia out for the starting spot I'd like to see Kempin loaned to the Swope Park Rangers for the 2016 season to get continuous playing time in goal. With the Rangers not allowed to compete in the US Open Cup you could bring him back for those games or start him if Melia gets hurt. The upside to having the USL team in town allows for more fluid movement. Kann in this example would be the everyday back up for Melia in MLS regular season games, but would also potentially spend time with SPR as well. Of course this was the same feeling I had about Melia with Luis Marin last year and we all know how that turned out.

Wolff a Candidate for the Atlanta United Job - Former SKC Wizards Update

 Future MLS expansion side, Atlanta United is still a year away from getting their first players, but are working towards finding their first coach. One name that has come up is former Kansas City forward, Josh Wolff. Wolff is a from Georgia and has played with the club's technical director, Carlos Bocanegra, so there are plenty of connections to make there. It will be interesting to see if he leaves Columbus for the Atlanta job.

Also congratulations to Jack Jewsbury and the Timbers on winning MLS Cup.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Mitchell Cardenas
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Nelson Pizarro
Soony Saad
Yann Songo'o

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Season over.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Season over.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Season over.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Season over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season over.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Season over.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Season over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Portland's 2-1 win over Columbus.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Portland.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Season over.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Season over.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Season over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season over.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Dressed but did not play in Columbus' 2-1 loss to Portland.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Season over.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Season over.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Season over.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Season over.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Season over.
Michal Mravec - Atlanta - Season over.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Season over.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Season over.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Season over.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Season over.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Season over.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Season over.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Season over.
Yomby William - Richmond - Season over.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - Did not play in Tacoma's 4-3 win over Dallas. Played in Tacoma's 6-2 loss to Dallas.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not dress in St. Louis' 5-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Scored two goals in Baltimore's 8-5 win over San Diego.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Scored a goal in Dallas' 4-3 loss to Tacoma. Played in Dallas' 6-2 win over Tacoma.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 7-6 loss to Milwaukee.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game this week.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - Did not dress in Belen's 3-0 loss to Saprissa.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Mumbai's 3-2 win over Atletico de Kolkata.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Started and played 88 minutes, scoring a goal in Leganes' 2-1 win over Numancia.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Defeated Waterhouse 1-0.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not dress in Vasco's 0-0 draw with Coritiba.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - No game until 1/29.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - No game until 3/6.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 1-0 win over San Marcos.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Started and played 90 minutes in Lechia's 1-0 loss to Pogon Szczecin. Did not dress in Lechia's 1-0 win over Slask Wroclaw.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Spartak's 1-0 win over Krylya Sovetov.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Did not dress in Sporting's 1-0 win over Maritimo.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 1-0 loss to TuRU Dusseldorf.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Game was postponed.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Atromitos' 1-1 draw with Panaitolikos.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring two goals in Saarbrucken's 4-0 win over Steinbach.

Sporting Re-Sign Kempin and Sinovic, Bring Back Olum

Sporting KC announced the return of two players that were out of contract from the 2015 season as the team announced today that they'd re-signed goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Seth Sinovic. The club also announced that they'd reacquired defender/midfielder Lawrence Olum. The Kenyan international had played for KC from 2012 to 2014 leaving KC after the season and joining Kedah FA in the Malaysian Premier League.

Re-signing Kempin and Sinovic aren't huge surprises, both players being from Kansas City certainly is helpful. Kempin earned three starts in 2015 for Kansas City replacing Tim Melia, and also was a substitute in the club's playoff game against the Timbers. The team's first homegrown player has continued to impress when he plays and hopefully in 2016 he'll get the opportunity he really needs, consistent playing time, presumably with the Swope Park Rangers.

Sinovic's return will also give KC a veteran presence on the left wing of KC's defense to go along with the younger Amadou Dia. Sinovic has been as steady as they come at left back for Kansas City for the past few years. Unfortunately his 2015 season was marred by injuries and a concussion that limited him to just 11 games all season. Hopefully a full offseason will allow him to fully recover as he looked to still be carrying some knocks late in the 2015 season. Sinovic's re-signing always seemed the likely path for him, based on his comments after being selected by Montreal in the expansion draft, he had made comments about retiring if he'd been unable to return to KC, so his going through the re-entry draft always seemed to be a stretch. His re-signing will also create an interesting question with Marcel de Jong. With Sinovic and Dia emerging last year, the Canadian international struggled to get time and could find himself on the trade block.

Olum returns to Kansas City from Malaysia, where he spent the last year playing with Kedah FA. He'd played in 83 games across all competitions from 2011 through 2014, including the club's 2012 US Open Cup final and 2013 MLS Cup final. He provides depth for Kansas City at both the defensive midfield position and the center back position. His return is not overly surprising based on the fact that he had been training with the team earlier this fall, was out of contract, and likely comes to KC without a big contract.  On the other side though KC has Amobi Okugo who plays pretty much the exact same position as Olum, and he's already under contract for 2016. Combine that with the fact that KC now have six players (Olum, Okugo, Matt Besler, Kevin Ellis, Ike Opara, and Erik Palmer-Brown) who can all play center back and one has to assume that there will be some movement happening among those six some time before the 2016 season starts.

Free Agent and Re-Entry Draft List Released

MLS today released the lists for the league's first ever free agency along with the list of players that will be available for Friday's first stage of the re-entry draft.

Twenty-six players are eligible for free agency and are free to negotiate with any team. Players must be at least 28 years old and have played in the league for at least eight seasons to be eligible for free agency, one Sporting KC player is included in that list this year, midfielder Paulo Nagamura. In 2015, Nagamura made $230,000 according to the players union numbers released this year, which is $10,000 more than he'd made in 2014, but still below his $265,000 he made back in 2013. Nagamura though turns 33 next season, and while he's played at least 17 games in all four seasons he's played with KC, questions certainly have to start creeping in about how much longer he can play at the level he has played at, and if he's worth $230,000. For me I'd love to keep Nagamura, but I'd like to see him take a bit of a pay cut to help build the team up further.

If KC wanted to be active in the free agency market, there are some different paths that KC could go to address some needs this offseason. One area that KC needs to address in goalkeeper, where KC only has two at the moment, and one, Jon Kempin, is out of contract and may not be back. Even if Kempin is back most people want him to spend the season on loan with the Swope Park Rangers getting regular playing time. That would still leave a spot for a back up for Tim Melia. There are a couple experienced goalkeepers KC could look at on the free agent market if they wanted to, Jon Busch and Troy Perkins. Busch would likely be the cheaper of the two options, as he made just $85,000 last year according to the union numbers, but his issue is that he turns 40 during the 2016 MLS season. As for Perkins, he'll turn 35 in 2016 and made $130,000, not an amount I'd want to see Kansas City paying on a back up goalkeeper even if the goalie will be getting time next season in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League. Both would be able to fill the back up role for Kansas City if this was a route KC wanted to go, Busch has played over 300 MLS games and recorded 83 shutouts in that time frame. Meanwhile Perkins has played about 100 fewer games, but has recorded over 50 shutouts himself.

Robb Heineman has had fun with free agency starting, throwing out two names on Twitter as recruiting targets, naming Montreal Impact midfielder Justin Mapp and Chicago Fire forward Mike Magee. Mapp didn't play much in 2015 for the Impact, fracturing his elbow in the season opener against DC United, he was limited to just five games in 2015. In his career Mapp has recorded 65 assists, just over four a season for his career. He'd provide some attack down the wing and some further creativity. His salary, just over $185,000 isn't that bad either and he'd provide an upgrade over the likes of Bernardo Anor, Connor Hallisey, and Jacob Peterson on the wing. The issue is does he bring enough to the team.

As for Magee, if KC wanted to target him, I'd assume he'd need to take a pay cut as he made $400,000 in the 2015 season. Like Mapp, Magee is coming off an injury shortened 2015 season where he only contributed two assists to the Fire attack. This is two seasons after being the league MVP in 2013, scoring 21 goals while splitting time with the Fire and LA Galaxy. Right now I'd prefer Dom Dwyer in that starting forward spot, so unless the price is right for Magee salary wise a move for him doesn't make a lot of sense.

The thought of Magee that I do like in terms of free agency is getting a reserve striker. This was an area that KC really struggled with last year, a spark off the bench. There are a few guys that KC could at least look at, all have been regular goal scorers in the league, but may be a little expensive. The likes of Edson Buddle, 300 games played, 100 goals scored, made $100,000 in 2015, but turns 35 next year is available. Another forward that could be an option that's a little younger is Chad Barrett. Barrett turns 31 next season, he's scored 56 goals in just over 250 games played in his career. He scored five goals for Seattle last year, making $95,000 starting just nine games. So there are some options there for KC to go after if they wanted to find some striker depth.

Re-Entry Draft

As for the re-entry draft, that's an area that KC has never really used under Peter Vermes, in the five previous re-entry drafts, KC has taken a total of one player, none since the first draft in 2010 and none in the first phase of the draft. If there's a player that Vermes has wanted in the draft he has usually worked out a deal with the players current club to acquire him via trade before the draft. And while the 2015 re-entry draft probably has the most talent of any draft so far it wouldn't surprise me again if Vermes either does his business early or does no business at all.

The first decision that Vermes will have to make is on one of KC's players in this year's re-entry draft as Seth Sinovic is out of contract and available for the draft. After suffering through a concussion in the middle of the season Sinovic came back and regained his starting spot last season, but didn't seem to be fully back from the injury. The questions is whether a full offseason would see him come back at the level he was. Sinovic and KC have until late afternoon on Thursday to make a decision. Based on past experience where Sinovic was ready to retire instead of going to KC that could turn teams off of looking at taking Sinovic in the draft.

While there are some interesting choices available in the first phase of the re-entry draft; Tommy Meyer for some center back depth, Matt Lampson as a back up goalkeeper option, and Marco Pappa as an attacking option, I think that Vermes and Kansas City are going to stick to their regular process during the first phase of the re-entry draft. If there's a player they want they'll make an early trade and not wait to see if he falls to KC at the 11th spot.

Dean Named First Team All American, SKC Academy Update

The season for all Sporting KC academy players in college has officially ended as Creighton, Baker, and Rockhurst all loss. The three schools had five KC academy graduates involved in them, but none will be bringing home national titles, or in Eric DeJulio and Creighton's case, won't be coming the KC as part of the College Cup. There was some good news though as Rockhurst junior, Paul Dean was named an NSCAA All American this year.

Here's this week's update.

Class of 2012

Andrew Brown (Bradley University) - MF - Sr - Season over.

Eric DeJulio (Creighton University) - D - Sr - Started Creighton's 3-2 OT loss to Akron.

Daniel Hare (Loyola University in Chicago) - D - Sr - Season over.

Andrew Lightner (Dayton) - D - RJr - Season over.

Andrew Miller (Baker University) - D - Sr - Started Baker's 2-0 loss to Columbia.

Nate Opperman (University of Evansville) - F - Sr - Season over.

Derek Schrick (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF - Sr - Season over.

Class of 2013

Joe Amico (Jacksonville) - D - Jr - Season over.

Matt Bernard (Cal Baptist) - MF - RSo - Season over.

Paul Dean (Rockhurst University) - D - Jr - Started Rockhurst's 1-0 loss to Cal Poly Pomona.

Seo-In Kim (UCSB) - MF - Jr - Season over.

Adam Lightner (Northern Illinois University) - D - Jr - Season over.

Clay Stewart - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - MF/D - Jr - Season over.

Wes White (University of Missouri Kansas City) - F - RSo - Season over.

Austin Wilcox (Cal-Poly) - MF - Jr - Season over.

Drew Wilson (Fort Hays State University) - D - Jr - Season over.

Kyle Vassar - (University of Missouri Kansas City) - D - RSo - Season over.

Class of 2014

Darby Cronin (Missouri State)- MF - So - Season over.

Andrew Dittemore (Missouri State) - GK - RSFr - Season over.

Andy Ericks (Colorado School of Mines) - MF - So - Season over.

Heath Honold (West Virginia) - F - So - Season over.

Mason Leonard (Drake) - D - So - Season over.

Blake Levine (Baker) - F - So - Started Baker's 2-0 loss to Columbia.

Matthew Lewis (Fordham) - D - So - Season over.

Andy Lopez (North Carolina) - MF - RSFr - Season over.

Noah Mudd (Trevecca) - D - So - Season over.

Joey Piatczyc (West Virginia) - MF - So - Season over.

Cole Stevenson (Denver) - F - So - Season over.

Zach Wright (North Carolina) - F - So - Season over.

2015

Andrew Blalock (Drake) - GK - Fr - Season over.

Robert DeWitt III (Xavier) - MF - Fr - Season over.

Jack Freeman (Ohio State) - D - Fr - Season over.

Bryce Gibson (Creighton) - D - Fr - Did not play in Creighton's 3-2 OT loss to Akron.

Nic Jaimes (Drake) - MF - Fr - Season over.

Ryan Krutz (Notre Dame) - GK - Fr - Season over.

Zane Moxley (Air Force) - D - Fr - Season over.

Alexis Quevedo (UNLV) - MF - Fr - Season over.

Hector Solorio (Niagara) - MF - Fr - Season over.

Tucker Stephenson (West Virginia) - F - Fr - Season over.

Andy Velez (JCCC) - MF - Fr - Season over.

Bailey Weeks (Northeastern State University) - D - Fr - Season over.

Comets Fall Against Milwaukee

For the first time in almost two years, the Missouri Comets lost a league game on Friday night. The Comets and Milwaukee Wave played to a 6-6 draw through regulation and through overtime, and it took a shootout for the Wave to finally end the Comets 31 game winning streak.

The game started like many Comets games have lately as the Wave took the lead with the only goal of the first quarter through Max Ferdinand. The Comets though came back in the second quarter and took the lead into half time as Robert Palmer, Ramone Palmer, and Vahid Assadpour all scored to put the Comets up 3-1. Ian Bennet got the Wave within one for 30 seconds before Kiel Williams responded to make it 4-2. Marcio Leite though scored with less than two minutes left to make it 4-3 heading into half time.

The third quarter saw the teams traded goals early via Phillip Surprise and Leo Gibson before a late power play goal by Bennet made it 5-5 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter the Comets again grabbed the lead as Ramon Palmer scored his second goal of the night with just over six minutes left. It looked like the Comets may be able to hold on, but Bennett finished off a hattrick on a power play after the Wave had pulled their goalkeeper for a two man advantage with two and a half minutes left.

The two teams went through overtime without a goal and advanced to the shootout, where Leite was the only player for either team to scored as Gibson, Assadpour, and Lucas Rodriguez all missed as the Wave won.

Nemeth Wins Goal of the Year

Sporting Kansas City brought home one more award for their 2015 MLS season. Fan voting for MLS' goal of the year finished this week and today the winner was announced. In the final were two superb individual efforts by Sporting KC's Krisztian Nemeth and Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco. Both dribbled through a number of players before finishing nicely into the far corner. KC's Nemeth though was the top vote getter and won though.

And watching this goal will never get old, nor will the celebration on the bench.

Season Review - Forwards - Lack of Depth Hurts KC in 2015

Finishing my move up the field as I do my season review of Sporting Kansas City's 2015 season today we look at the forwards for Kansas City in 2015.

Offensively 2015 was a very successful year for Kansas City, in all competitions KC scored 63 goals, which is one of the highest totals in team history. Last year KC relied too heavily on a single player in Dom Dwyer, and while his 24 goals is an impressive feat, the team's second leading scorer only having five goals in 2014 was not. KC addressed that in 2015 by bringing in Hungarian international, Krisztian Nemeth. Despite missing time while Hungary qualified for the Euros, Nemeth finished second on the team in goals, scoring 10 league goals, adding another five in the Open Cup, and scoring one playoff goal. While Nemeth was scoring 16 across all competitions, Dwyer still had a successful season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, including the club's first hattrick since 2010, scoring four against Dallas in the fifth round of the Open Cup. While those two had good seasons up top, unfortunately the rest of KC's front line struggled in 2015. The likes of Bernardo Anor, Connor Hallisey, Jacob Peterson, and Graham Zusi combined for just three goals and eight assists in league play. The lack of help on the wing also hurt in terms of service to Dwyer and Nemeth. Designated player, Zusi, has to shoulder most of the blame for that simply because of his contract status. His five league assists are his fewest since he became an every game starter back in 2011.He finished with just one more assist than the likes of Jalil Anibaba and Roger Espinoza who both played at least eight fewer games and are not expected to be one of the main providers of the offense.

The players

Bernardo Anor - The club's first additions of the 2015 season, Anor was acquired from the Columbus Crew for allocation money shortly after the season ended. After scoring six goals in 2014 for the Crew there were hopes that he'd be able to provide some punch for Kansas City's offense. Unfortunately Anor struggled in his first start for the club on opening day against New York. After that he was resigned to substitute appearances until an ankle injury kept him out from early May until September. Upon his return he made a number of substitution appearances and three starts for KC but finished with just 483 minutes played, 0 goals, and 0 assists. At this time Anor will be returning for the 2016 season as he is currently under contract for Kansas City.

Dom Dwyer - As I stated above, Dwyer had a solid, if unspectacular campaign, at least compared to last year, scoring 12 league goals and adding five in the US Open Cup for a total of 17. That's good for a tie for the third most in a single season with Eddie Johnson for Kansas City. Not a bad season but there are a lot of people that still aren't happy with Dwyer and would love to see him shipped to Orlando. Many site the ability for Nemeth to play in the middle as a reason for it, but unless KC has a player that can pick up Nemeth's slack out wide, any sort of movement on Dwyer seems like a net loss at this point for KC. Unless a move is made this offseason, either somewhere within MLS or abroad, Dwyer should easily jump from sixth on KC's goal scoring chart with 36 league goals to second, as he only trails Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff by seven for that spot.

Connor Hallisey - KC's first pick in the 2015 draft didn't quite have the season that his fellow first round picks, Saad Abdul-Salaam and Amadou Dia had. Hallisey played the fewest minutes of the three, just 516 minutes, recording one assist as KC ran over Dallas 4-0 earlier this season. Late in the season Hallisey struggled to even make the bench, appearing just three times in the game day 18 after September started. Two of those were starts on either side of the US Open Cup final. I don't think KC is going to give up on him after just a season, but he seems a prime candidate to spend next season with the Swope Park Rangers on loan.

Krisztian Nemeth - Announced at the same time that Kansas City signed Luis Marin; Nemeth was considered the less "needed" of the two players as KC desperately needed a goalkeeper. Nemeth was thought by many fans to mainly be a backup for Dwyer and expected a winger signing to come before the season started. Instead Nemeth eventually established himself as the starter on the left wing for Kansas City. His ability to cut in from the left and fire a shot into the far post was on display multiple times this season for KC. He just seemed to have a knack for picking out that far corner. Whether it is in Houston in the 4-4 draw, Philadelphia in the US Open Cup final, or Portland after his dazzling run, Nemeth seemed to be able to pick out the far side of the net with stunning accuracy. KC picked up Nemeth's option, but has apparently attracted interest abroad after his play for both KC and Hungary, while locally Nemeth is apparently looking for a pay raise. Holding onto Nemeth long term is going to be difficult especially if he goes to the Euros next summer and does well there. KC may have helped re-invigorate his career but may need to look for the next one soon.

Jacob Peterson - Peter Vermes' jack of all trades, Peterson has played all over the field for Kansas City during his tenure. This year he was mainly lined up either as a wide forward or occasionally as a center forward. That's where he scored his lone goal this season, as the center forward in KC's 3-1 win on the road in Toronto. Unfortunately while Peterson was a jack of all trades, he's really a master of none. He got a lot of dislike from fans this year, and while some was justified, not all of it was. A lot of the fan vitriol came from the fact that he was the first attacking option off the bench of KC most of the time. I don't think there are many teams worried that the game is going to change a whole lot when they see Peterson standing at midfield. But the fact that he was in that position had more to do with KC not getting a reliable attacking option off the bench.

Graham Zusi - KC's second designated player really didn't live up to the billing in 2015 for KC. He produced just two goals and added only five assists, his lowest output since becoming a regular start for Kansas City in 2011. Added an assist in the playoffs and another goal and assist in the US Open Cup. The question for 2015 with Zusi is can he regain the form he had before the 2014 World Cup. Last year the thought was just exhaustion from the short offseason and World Cup run, but his play never picked up in the 2015 season. He was outshone by Benny Feilhaber on set pieces as Zusi's seemed to always go too long for anyone to get onto or right to the goalkeeper while Feilhaber seemed to be more consistently dangerous with his chances. A number of fans have grown frustrated with Zusi over the course of the season, especially because of his pay, but he gives many other options for KC and I'm not ready to give up on him yet.

Looking Towards 2016

Robb Heineman in a recent interview already stated one of the things the club needs to address in 2016, attacking depth. Heineman mentioned that there was a need for a dynamic sub towards the end of the season that wasn't really there. The inclination there would point to an attacking minded substitute off the bench. That is a very big need for KC up top heading into next season, having someone on the bench that has a better potential to score off the bench than the players that KC had playing that role in 2015. If they wanted to they could look at someone like Chad Barrett, who recently had his option declined by Seattle. While most KC fans I think would loath that move, but he has scored 56 goals in his MLS career, more than anyone else on KC at this point. Although I'm not sure that he would fit Vermes' system. But it's a thought of one player currently available.

The next thing that KC needs to do is make sure they hold onto Nemeth up top. The Hungarian international will miss about a month or so of the season if he is called up by Hungary for the Euros, but KC will likely have to fight a little bit to keep him through this winter after a successful first season in Kansas City. Hanging onto him is important because of the pressure that he took off of Dwyer last season that allowed him to be productive. I'd rather have another season where Nemeth and Dwyer share the load than a season like 2014 where KC was overly dependent on a single player.

Four Former KC Players Involved in MLS Cup - Former SKC Wizards Update

With the conference finals now done, we have the two teams that have advanced to MLS Cup and among those two teams there are four former KC Wizards players on the teams. Columbus has three of the former players on the team, leading scorer, Kei Kamara and defender Tyson Wahl both play for Columbus while former KC forward, Josh Wolff is an assistant coach for the Crew. On the other side next week, Jack Jewsbury is on Portland and will be going for his first MLS Cup.

In other news, another former player that's now a coach, Bo Oshoniyi will be with the US U17 national team for their current camp. The East Tennessee State coach just finished his second season at the school, his first head coaching job after spending time at South Florida, Wake Forest, and Penn State.

Here's the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Mitchell Cardenas
Brian Fekete
Michael Kafari
Neal Kitson
Jonathan Leathers
Kyle Miller
Lawrence Olum
Nelson Pizarro
Yann Songo'o

MLS
Davy Arnaud - DC - Season over.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Season over.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Season over.
Aurelien Collin - Orlando City - Season over.
Daneil Cyrus - Chicago (Loan) - Season over.
Luis Gil - Salt Lake - Season over.
Herculez Gomez - Toronto - Season over.
Michael Harrington - Colorado - Season over.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Portland's 2-2 draw with Dallas.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 1-0 loss to New York.
Chris Konopka - Toronto - Season over.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Season over.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Season over.
Khari Stephenson - San Jose - Season over.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Came off the bench and played 1 minute in Columbus' 1-0 loss to New York.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 1-0 win over Columbus.

NASL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Season over.
James Marcelin - Fort Lauderdale - Season over.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Atlanta - Season over.
Michal Mravec - Atlanta - Season over.

US
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Season over.
Adnan Gabeljic - Sacramento - Season over.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Season over.
Mechack Jerome - Charlotte - Season over.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Season over.
Victor Munoz - Arizona - Season over.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Season over.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Season over.
Yomby William - Richmond - Season over.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Tacoma - No game this week.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in either of St. Louis' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 9-2 win over Harrisburg.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Had a goal in Dallas' 9-5 loss to Syracuse.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Started both Missouri's 9-4 win over St. Louis and 9-3 win over Cedar Rapids.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - No game this week.
Reinaldo Brenes - AD Belen Siglo XXI - Costa Rica - No game this week.
Sunil Chhetri - Mumbai City - India - Started and played 90 minutes in Mumbai's 1-1 draw with Kerala Blasters. Started and played 90 minutes in Mumbai's 3-0 loss to Chennaiyin.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Started and played 63 minutes in Leganes' 1-0 win over Athletic Club II. Started and played 60 minutes in Leganes' 2-1 win over Granada in the Copa del Rey.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - No game this week.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Lost 1-0 to Reno.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not dress in Vasco's 1-0 win over Santos.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - Did not dress in Macae's 1-0 loss to Ceara.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - Started and played 90 minutes in Dinamo's 0-0 draw wtih Sheriff.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 0-0 draw with Huachipato.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Started and played 84 minues in Lechia's 1-0 loss to Lech Poznan.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 2-2 draw wtih Rubin Kazan.
Akeem Priestley - Sheikh Russel KC - Bangladesh - Offseason.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Sporting Club de Portugal - Portugal - Did not dress in either of Sporting's games.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana FC - Thailand - Tied Saraburi 1-1.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Wuppertaler's 5-1 win over Ratingen 04/19.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Started and played 90 minutes in Deveronvale's 3-2 loss to Nairn County.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Atromitos' 2-1 loss to Panthrakikos. Started and played 80 minutes in Atromitos' 2-0 win over PAS Lamia 1964.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 77 minutes in Saarbrucken's 2-1 loss to Freiburg II.