An Announcement About Down the Byline

Ten years ago I started Down the Byline as a catch all source for everything Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) related. At the time the coverage of my favorite sports team was minimal, there was the game preview articles, post-game articles, and the occasional feature in the Kansas City Star, plus the occasional feature on local television stations. There was a gap in coverage for knowledgeable fans who already knew 98% of the information mentioned in those articles, hence the birth of Down the Byline. I tried to help fill the gap in coverage, tried to raise the level of coverage of the Wizards to a similar level that other teams were getting from bloggers and newspapers. To an extent I feel like I've been successful in that regard not just in bringing more coverage myself, but by getting better coverage from other outlets around Kansas City, including the team. In the last few years or so I've found myself having to write less on the blog and more on Twitter because the team, the Star, and other outlets have really upped their game, leaving me not needing to write full articles because those outlets have been providing much better coverage of the team and it's quicker to add my two cents on in a 140 character tweet than restate everything that was just said with my opinion at the end. The increased coverage by those outlets and others like The Blue Testament combined with my own life getting busier as my oldest child is in like seventy different activities, and my youngest ready to start soccer himself in the fall I find my time in a crunch. I'd thought about scaling back what I do here on DTB, but for me personally that's not in my nature to want to do this half way, for me I knew I wouldn't be able to scale back what I did here because of my personality and everything that I've put into this blog, it would either have to be an all or nothing thing because of how I've wanted this blog to be "devoted to covering all aspects of Sporting KC."

So with that out there, you can probably guess where this is going, at this time I am "retiring" Down the Byline. Don't worry though (or you can worry if you want to) because you're not getting rid of me that easily, while I'm retiring from DTB I'm joining The Blue Testament as a writer there. For 10 years I've been writing all the news myself on the blog, because I felt a need and desire to get everything out there and posted. Now I won't have to do that, at least not by myself. With this move I'll be able to write still, but won't have to write everything. I'm planning on moving my regular posts I do, like my after game stat posts, former player updates, and academy players in college updates over to TBT with my move.

It's not a decision I have reached easily, I mean when you've done something for about a third of your life you certainly develop an attachment to it and a sense of pride in the work that you've done. At times though I've been tired, worn out, and just not wanting to do posts on occasion but have felt like it was my duty to get things posted, at that point it becomes more of a job than I ever planned, or wanted it to be. Other times though I couldn't wait to write something up and get it posted. This move will hopefully allow me to have more of those moments and fewer where I feel like I'm dragging myself to my keyboard to write.

Over the years the blog became not just about posting news on the team, but also about sharing the history of the team. With the rebranding to Sporting KC and the move to Children's Mercy Park, the team saw an influx of new fans to the team. I tried to use the blog as a point to teach new fans about the club's history by sharing some points about the club's past or just sharing stats about the players that have come before. I've been one of the people that occasionally got annoyed with some new fans lack of history, so I tried to provide some history to help teach those that were willing to learn more about the team's history. I also did it because back when I started the team didn't have all the stats either, I can't count how many countless hours I've spent researching the Wizards run in the 2001 Copa Mercanorte, or trying to find player appearances for the national teams, or looking through MLS history to try to find more information on a new player's run in the US Open Cup five years ago. With all that time spent, I won't be deleting the blog; I'm planning on keeping it up so that others in the future that may want to get information on the club have a place that they can come to get information. Also in the future it would give me something to return to if I were to choose to do so.

In these 10 years there are a number of people that I want to thank for their assistance, people that have provided me valuable information or knowledge about the club, in no particular order and people I'm sure I've forgotten about: Kurt Austin, Kyle Rogers and others in the Sporting KC press department who have answered my questions, corrected my inaccuracies, and helped push my posts to many followers who follow the team but maybe not me. Sam Pierron and Chad Reynolds, two people that probably know as much, if not more about the team history than I do. James Starritt, Thad Bell, Charles Gooch, and Andy Edwards, for blogger summits that go two hours too long to do a podcast as well as people I could bounce ideas off of as well as people who I could vent frustrations to. Robb Heineman, for being approachable and always willing to talk to me while at the same time never missing a moment to take a dig at something I said in relation to the team. Sam McDowell, Todd Palmer, and everyone who has covered the team at the Star for upping their coverage of the team, for making it easier to get a lot of the information that seemed extremely hard to get in years past. Players like Jimmy Conrad, Matt Besler, and Kerry Zavagnin who realize what the fans meant to KC before the influx of fans in 2011, I can walk up to any of those three and they remember who I am and ask me how I'm doing like old friends. To all my sources over the years, from the big ones, like the leaked name and logo (still the highest traffic days in the blog's history) to little things like player rumors, they're appreciated. Finally, to everyone who has ever read the blog, I'd done this as a way to help there be more fans like me, fans that "bled" for this club. I'm not sure I had a huge effect on that compared to the team itself, but I hope I at least helped people learn something about the team or the fun nuances in the rules that are MLS. Thank you to everyone for the great 10 years that have been Down the Byline, it has been my pleasure.

Sporting Waive Joya and Volesky

Sporting Kansas City announced two roster moves today ahead of the March 1st roster compliance deadline, announcing that the club has waived midfielder Benji Joya and forward Christian Volesky. While both moves are a little surprising, neither move is that surprising.

Joya had been a roster freeze deadline signing back in the 2016 season, he didn't appear in a single league game for Sporting, but did appear in the club's 3-1 win over Central FC in the CONCACAF Champions League. The former US youth international had spent time in Mexico as well, but while showing flashes in the game against Central and in preseason he also had some moments of struggles, like the second goal in KC's 6-2 loss to New England where a poor pass by Joy led to the Revolution's counter where Joya got burned by Juan Agudelo.

Volesky becomes the second player in two years to sign for Sporting KC in the offseason, only to be waived in the same offseason. He joins James Marcelin, who was signed last offseason but waived before the 2016 season started. Of KC's two forward signings from the USL this offseason, Volesky actually seemed like the less likely of the two to be waived, Volesky appeared in four of KC's six preseason games, starting one. Meanwhile, Cameron Iwasa appeared in just one preseason game for KC.

The two roster moves leave Sporting KC with 26 players under contract currently for the 2017 season, with one of those 26, Diego Rubio, likely to start the season on Injured Reserve, leaving KC with 25 healthy players.

Comets Clinch MASL Central

The Kansas City closed out the regular season clinching their third straight Central Division Title in the MASL as the Comets topped the Cedar Rapids Rampage 10-3 at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. The Comets jumped out to an early lead just under four minutes in as Ignacio Flores turned his defender at the top of the box before firing a ball into the corner of the net to put the comets up 1-0. The Comets doubled their lead near the midpoint of the period as Odaine Sinclair started the Comets counter, eventually getting the ball back near the corner. After his pass to Stefan Stokic was blocked the ball came right back to Sinclair who picked out Bryan Perez at the back post for the simple tap in to make it 2-0. Before the period ended the Comets extended their lead to 3-0 as Vahid Assadpour played a give and go pass with Perez, racing into the corner and firing it in to make it 3-0. The Rampage pulled one goal back early in the second period on the power play after the Comets got a blue card for having too many men on the field. The lead was down to just two goals for less than two minutes though as Assadpour received the ball in the corner, danced around the Rampage goalkeeper and scored to make it 4-1 to the Comets. The goal actually finished the scoring for the quarter as both teams had good chances to find the net, but neither side could as the teams went into the break with the Comets up by three goals.

The second half saw the Comets add onto their lead less than five minutes in as Assadpour finished off his hattrick on the break as the Comets struck on a three-v-two counter. Brian Harris picked out Assadpour who rolled the ball over to his left and placed the ball into the far corner. Thirty seconds later the Comets extended the lead to 6-1 as the Comets again countered, turning the ball over but high pressure by Stokic led to a turnover at the top of the box and Perez picked out Robert Palmer who had the simple tap in. Down five, the Rampage pushed the game trying to find their way back into the game, finding one goal with just over six minutes left in the period to cut the Comets lead back to four goals. The Comets though extended the lead back to five before the period was over on the power play after a blue card for striking. Assadpour picked out Lucas Rodriguez camping out at the back post on the power play as Rodriguez had the simple tap in.

Extra curriculars at the end of the third period led to four players receiving blue cards, with two handed out to each team. That mean that the two teams started the fourth quarter with three field players each. With fewer players on the field there was a lot of space for the players to work with. This allowed the Comets goalkeeper, Stephen Paterson to push forward with the ball and fired a shot from just inside the yellow line for his second goal of the season to extend the Comets lead. Before the four blue cards expired, the Comets extended their lead again as Guerrero Pino raced down the wing and fired a shot inside the far post to make it 9-2 to the Comets. Once again the Rampage were able to get one goal back, but couldn't cut the lead further. The Comets finished out the scoring late in the game on a shootout attempt after a foul on a break while the Comets were already on the power play. Assadpour danced around Rampage goalkeeper Brett Petricek for the third time on the night to score his fourth goal and end the regular season with a win.

Stats

Bryan Perez's two assists gave him 45 for his career in league play with the Comets, breaking his tie with Brian Harris for 6th on that list.

Alain Matingou made his 50th league appearance for the Comets, he's the 14th player to hit that mark.

Sporting KC Fall in Preseason Finale

Sporting Kansas City ended their preseason on a sour note, falling in their final game in Tucson, Arizona to New York City FC 1-0. Peter Vermes put out a lineup that would likely be considered extremely close to the 11 that will take the field next weekend in DC. The big absence from the team was forward Dom Dwyer who had a minor knock. Also missing was midfielder Ilie Sanchez who is battling with Soni Mustivar for the starting defensive midfield position.

KC had a good chance early as Mustivar played a nice through ball to Benny Feilhaber who beat Sean Johnson for the goal, but the assistant referee raised his flag for an offside call against Feilhaber ruling the goal out. Both teams had their chances as the half rolled on but the sides went into the break tied at 0-0.

KC made just a single change at the half, bringing on Saad Abdul-Salaam for Graham Zusi at right back. Just over five minutes after his introduction though Abdul-Salaam was involved in the only goal of the game. Abdul-Salaam had held up his run back on a ball over the top trying to get an offside call that never came. Maximiliano Moralez brought the ball down and crossed into the middle for David Villa who out jumped Seth Sinovic and headed the ball in to put NYCFC up 1-0. KC pushed for an equalizer and had a good chance to tie it up in the 64th minute when Feilhaber was brought down in the box for a penalty. Soony Saad stepped up to take the penalty putting it towards the corner, but not getting enough pace on it to get it past Johnson, who made the save. KC struggled to create clear chances as the game wore on and were put in a bigger hole with less than 10 minutes left. Saad's day got worse as he was given a straight red for a poor challenge from behind on James Sands of NYCFC.

Sporting will now head back to KC to prepare for their season opener in DC next Saturday.

Sporting Sign First Round Pick, Colton Storm

Sporting Kansas City added to their roster today, signing first round draft pick Colton Storm to a one year deal with three option years. Storm, the 14th overall pick in January's Superdraft becomes the 28th player on the roster for Sporting KC as they head into the final weekend of preseason. The 28 players gives Kansas City a full roster, although Diego Rubio is likely to start the season on IR recovering still from his ACL tear, and there have been reports that rosters will be expanded to 30 as long as spots 29 and 30 are occupied by homegrown players, which KC could do with Erik Palmer-Brown and Daniel Salloi.

So far this preseason, Storm has played in two preseason games for Sporting, both during the club's first phase of preseason in Tucson, he's played no games in the Desert Diamond Cup so far. Storm becomes the fourth player signed who's seen predominately as a right back. While Peter Vermes has said he can play both sides, most people seem to see his best location at right back. This will give Sporting KC four players on the roster potentially to play right back, with Graham Zusi looking to be the presumed starter followed by Saad Abdul-Salaam, Igor Juliao and now Storm. After Juliao's performance at times though in KC's 6-2 loss to New England, there certainly looks like there could be room to move up in this position.

It will be interesting to see what Vermes does with these four though, you have to assume Zusi and maybe Juliao could get a look further up the field at times. You also have to wonder if Storm could spend a good portion of the season on loan to the Swope Park Rangers to get him game time.

Great Goals and Defensive Mistakes Highlight Sporting Loss to New England

The penultimate preseason game for Sporting KC didn't go exactly as the club probably would have liked it in Tucson against the New England Revolution. A number of defensive errors helped to allow the Revolution to score six goals against Sporting KC. Five of those six goals were scored against what could be described as the club's second team, as Peter Vermes rested his "starters" until the final 14 minutes. Sporting could only respond with a pair of goals, both very well taken and scored from distance by Jimmy Medranda and Graham Zusi. Unfortunately you can't win the game on style points as KC fell 6-2 to the Revolution.

Things couldn't have started any worse for KC as before a full minute had been played the club was down 1-0 as Andrew Dykstra committed the first of many mistakes by Sporting's defense on the day, not holding a simple low cross and Daigo Kobayashi pounced first poking the ball home to put the Revs up 1-0. Sporting responded by controlling a good portion of the rest of the first half creating a number of chances. Medranda leveled the scoring in the 21st minute as he brought down a long ball from Benji Joya, cut inside and fired a curling shot around Brad Knighton and into the far corner to level the game at 1-1. KC continued the pressure and had the better of the chances in the rest of the first half, the best a back heel by Latif Blessing right on the doorstep, but right at Knighton after New England couldn't clear a corner.

The second half is when things changed though, unlike Sporting who stuck with pretty much the same lineup for the first 76 minutes, New England made full changes at half time, bringing on their starters for the second 45 minutes. It took less than 10 minutes to take advantage of having fresher legs, as KC slowly worked the ball out of the back a Joya pass to Jimmy Medranda was poor and picked off by the Revolution going the other way. With KC on the attack, Igor Juliao was up the field leaving just Joya to cover the right side of defense. Lee Nguyen played a through ball to Juan Agudelo who raced past Joya and put a shot past Dykstra and into the net to put the Revs on top 2-1. Things got worse six minutes later when a Kei Kamara cross to the back post was tapped home by Agudelo as Juliao didn't follow his runner to the back post, a simple tap in for the US international. In the 67th minute Sporting was down 4-1 as more defensive errors led to another Revolution goal. Dykstra came off his line towards the corner of the box to pressure Nguyen who had been played. Nguyen got around Dykstra and played a ball to the back post where Juliao had this time lost Diego Fagundez who easily scored to extend the lead. New England extended the lead to 5-1 on a penalty kick converted by Nguyen after Kamara was fouled in the box. Shortly after the penalty kick goal, Sporting made full changes to the team, bringing on the regular starters for the final 14 minutes. Unfortunately they couldn't stop the bleeding as the Revolution were able to grab a sixth goal. As Fagundez and Nguyen made crossing runs in front of Zusi and Ike Opara, Zusi stayed with Fagundez instead of passing him off to Opara. Opara meanwhile let Nguyen slide out wide leaving two players on Fagundez and no one on Nguyen who Fagundez picked out and Nguyen got around Adrian Zendejas and scored to give New England an even half dozen. KC pulled one more goal back late on another long distance shot, this time by Zusi who fired from close to 30 yards out and Cody Cropper to his near side as the shot hit off the underside of the cross bar and in.

Sporting have one final game in the Desert Diamond Cup, there's been no official announcement yet on the opponent, but some reports out of New York are that it's New York City FC.

Former SKC Wizards Update

Here is this week's former SKC player update. No real big news this week among former players, as MLS teams head towards the end of preseason. A number of players who were with MLS clubs last season though are currently still without teams. Last heard, Emmanuel Appiah was with the New England Revolution still, although he did not appear in their preseason game today against Sporting KC. Jon Kempin was last in training with the LA Galaxy but hadn't signed with anyone yet. Others, like Amadou Dia, Tomas Granitto, and Connor Hallisey haven't appeared to have been in any preseason camps or games so far for teams at any level that I've seen.


Active without a club or unknown
Emmanuel Appiah
Vicente Arze
Amadou Dia
Tomas Granitto
Connor Hallisey
Jeferson
Jon Kempin
Justin Mapp
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Victor Munoz
Brendan Ruiz
Michael Thomas
Ualefi

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Alec Kann - Atlanta - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Chance Myers - Portland - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Portland - Offseason.
Jacob Peterson - Atlanta - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Edmonton - Offseason.
James Marcelin - North Carolina - Offseason.
Alex Molano - North Carolina - Offseason.
Jordi Quintilla - Puerto Rico - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Phoenix - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
David Greczek - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - San Antonio - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in either of Cedar Rapids' games.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had an assist in Baltimore's 8-4 win over Syracuse. Played in Baltimore's 7-2 los to Syracuse.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 21-2 loss to Sonora.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Played in San Diego's 10-3 win over El Paso.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC Eskilstuna City- Sweden - No game until 4/1.
Ever Alvarado - Olimpia - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Honduras' 1-0 loss to Jamaica.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Federico Bessone - AE Prat - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Prat's 3-1 loss to Espanyol II.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/25.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Started and played 64 minutes in Belen's7-0 loss to Limon.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring  goal in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Aizawl. Started and played 90 minutes in Bengaluru's 0-0 draw with Mumbai.
Jorge Claros - Real Espana - Honduras - Started and played 69 minutes in Honduras' 1-0 loss to Jamaica. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Real Espana's 1-0 win over Honduras Progreso.
Nuno Coelho - GD Chaves - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Chaves' 2-0 win over Arouca.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - Rayo Vallecano - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Rayo's 2-1 loss to Mirandes.
Pablo Escobar - Real Cartagena - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 1-0 loss to Deportes Quindio.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Queretaro's 4-1 win over Necaxa.
Faik Hajderovic - Vinograder - Croatia - No game until 2/25.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Did not play in RoPS' 4-2 loss to KPV.
Peterson Joseph - Sudeva Moonlight - India - No game this week.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Offseason.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 5-2 loss to Union Espanola.
Michal Mravec - Senica - Slovakia - Did not dress in Senica's 2-0 win over Zilina.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 76 minutes, scoring a goal in Al Gharafa's 1-0 win over Al Khor.
Akeem Priestley - Harbour View - Jamaica - Started and played 90 minutes in Harbour View's 2-1 win over Tivoli Gardens.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Defeated Fjolnir 3-2.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Did not play in Beleenses' 1-1 draw with Vitoria Guimaraes.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Wuppertalers' 4-1 win over SV Rodinghausen.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 71 minutes in Plymouth's 1-1 draw with Hartlepool United.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Game this week postponed.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Started and played 90 minutes in Ceres' 1-1 draw with Ha Noi.
Milos Stojcev - Veria - Greece - Started and played 77 minutes in Veria's 4-0 loss to PAOK.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Dressed but did not play in Kickers' 3-1 win over Nottingen.

Comets Streak Snapped in Milwaukee

One night after winning their ninth straight game, the Comets saw their winning streak snapped on the road in Milwaukee 7-5 against the Milwaukee Wave. The win for the Wave saw them secure a playoff berth, meaning for the seventh straight year the Comets and Wave will meant in the playoffs with the Comets going 4-2 in the prior six playoff match ups.

In Milwaukee on Saturday, the Comets jumped out in front in the first quarter about midway through the period as some great work by the Comets saw Lucas Rodriguez play the ball to Ramone Palmer who played it across the field to Nacho Flores who squared it to the back post for Rodriguez who continued his run for the easy tap in to finish the play and put the Comets up 1-0. The rest of the quarter went against the Comets though as the Wave scored a pair of goals in the final five minutes to end the quarter on top 2-1.

The Comets didn't take long in the second quarter to even things up as Stephen Paterson collected a Wave cross into the box and immediately threw the ball out to a racing Guerrero Pino who held off his defender and scored to tie the game at two. Just over six minutes into the quarter the Comets had their second lead of the game as KC got a nice goal from Flores as he received the ball near the yellow line, turned with space and fired a shot in off the far post to put the Comets up 3-2. Late in the quarter again though the Comets defense let them down as the Wave scored three times in the final four minutes, one with just four seconds left to take a 5-3 lead into half time.

The third quarter saw the Comets cut into the lead again early as a Brian Harris shot was deflected into the net by a Wave defender to cut the lead to 5-4. The Comets continued to push for the equalizer but couldn't find it and in the final minute of the period the Wave restored their two goal lead. The Comets continued the pressure in the fourth quarter, trying to create another fourth quarter comeback as they've done a few times during this winning streak, but the Comets couldn't create much in the way of good opportunities. In the final minute though the Comets cut the lead back to a single goal as Harris scored his second goal of the season blasting a shot so hard it went through the net into the stands leading to a moment of confusion before the goal was confirmed. Unfortunately the Comets couldn't find the tying goal, instead giving up one more goal via the sixth attacker as they pushed for an equalizer ending the game losing 7-5.

It won't be the final time these teams meet though as they'll meet again in the playoffs. The Comets can still win the division with a win over the Cedar Rapids Rampage next week or a loss by the Wave at home against Chicago. If the two teams end with equal records the Wave would win the division by virtue of the better head to head record between the two teams.

Comets Stats

Brian Harris' two goals and Lucas Rodriguez's one gives them both 78 goals in all competitions for the Comets, tying them for fourth all time on that list.

Harris made his 138th league appearance and 160th in all competitions for the Comets, giving him sole possession of second place all time on both those lists.

Robert Palmer made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the Comets, he's the 10th player to hit that mark.

Sporting Top New York

Sporting KC got their first win of their preseason yesterday against the New York Red Bulls 3-0. With the Red Bulls facing off against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday all of New York's starters have returned to New York to prepare for that game. That left the Red Bulls lineup with end of the roster players, trialists, and unsigned draft picks to take on Sporting KC.

Sporting started the game with what looks to be the club's starting 11 heading into the season with Graham Zusi at right back and Latif Blessing starting on the wing. KC controlled the game as expected with their starting 11 and created a number of chances but couldn't beat the Red Bulls defense. It took a foul by goalkeeper Rafael Diaz in the box on Dom Dwyer as he broke behind the Red Bulls defense to open the scoring. Dwyer stepped up to take the penalty and put it in off the post to put KC up in the 31st minute.

Sporting's starters stayed in the game through the half time break, playing a full hour, but were unable to extend their lead. After the full changes, Sporting's reserves continued to dominate the game, Daniel Salloi hit the cross bar in the 79th minute after some good work down the middle of the field. KC got their insurance in the 82nd minute when Salloi played a ball across the box towards Jimmy Medranda. The Colombian dummied the ball, letting it run through his legs to Cameron Porter who took a touch and fired a shot from a tight angle that beat goalkeeper Evan Louro high to make it 2-0. Four minutes later KC added a third as a corner by Medranda was flicked towards goal by a Red Bulls defender. Louro and Soony Saad both challenged for it, Louro got a touch on it but Salloi was following the play and headed the ball into the net to make it 3-0. Saad had a late chance to make it 4-0 in the 90th minute, his curlin free kick beat Louro, but couldn't beat the far post, where it hit the elbow of the goal.

The 3-0 win though was convincing, Sporting will finish up pool play of the Desert Diamond Cup on Wednesday against the New England Revolution.

Comets Clinch Playoff Berth

The Missouri Comets clinched their seventh straight playoff berth in a 12-4 win over the Harrisburg Heat on Friday night. The Comets came out and pushed the Heat from the opening whistle, pressuring the Heat in their own end which lead to a number of chances for the Comets. It took until the final five minutes of the quarter before either team found a goal. The Comets pressure allowed the Comets to find the opener as Bryan Perez intercepted a clearance with his head, the ball got rotated around to John Sosa who fired a shot to the back post where Perez had camped out to put the ball into the net. Less than a minute later the Comets doubled their lead, again with their high pressure, this time it was Robert Palmer who intercepted a pass, knocking it into the path of Ramone Palmer who knocked the ball into the net with the outside of his foot. The second quarter the Heat came out and were able to cut into the Comets lead, scoring just over a minute and a half in. Over the next six minutes though the Comets basically put the game away as they scored five goals to extend their lead to 7-1. Alain Matingou got the run started just under a minute after the Heat got on the board as more high pressure lead to a turn over and Robert Palmer picked out a streaking Matingou who fired the ball into the upper 90 to make it 3-1. Just over four minutes in more high pressure saw Ramone Palmer win the ball in the Heat's third of the field before the ball ended up at the feet of Lucas Rodriguez who scored to make it 4-1. Less than a minute later the Comets made it five as a long ball from goalkeeper Stephen Paterson bounced off the wall into the path of Guerrero Pino who scored. A minute later the Comets scored their fourth straight, this one coming off a restart as Sosa laid the ball off to Perez who scored to the near post. Before eight minutes had been played the Comets made it 7-1 as Nacho Flores pounced on the ball when a Heat player slipped. Flores raced in and fired a shot off the post that went right to Ramone Palmer whose attempt to square the ball to Vahid Assadpour, but Palmer's cross hit off Heat goalkeeper Hugo Silva and rolled into the net. The Heat ended the run in the final five minutes of the quarter off a restart to go into the half time break down 7-2.

The third quarter started with the Heat pushing to get back in the game, scoring just 27 seconds in to cut the Comets lead to 7-3. The Heat continued to pressure and create chances and cut further into the lead with just over nine minutes played as Paterson initially saved a shot but his save went right onto the heat of STephen Basso and went into the net to cut the Comets lead to just three goals. The goal would be the last that the Heat scored on the night though. In the final three minutes of the third quarter the Comets grabbed three goals. Vahid Assadpour got the scroing started off a restart as Sosa picked out Assadpour in the corner who fired a shot that basically went through Silva and in. With two and a half minutes left Sosa and Assadpour teamed up again, this time in the run on the power play as Assadpour received a pass from Sosa, fired a shot that went right back to Assadpour, given a second chance, Assadpour made no mistake scoring to make it 9-4. In the final minute, Matingou scored his second of the game volleying a shot past Silva and in to put the Comets up 10-4 through three quarters.

The Comets were able to extend their lead further in the fourth quarter. Just under seven minutes in the Comets capitalized on the Heat's sixth attacker as Robert Palmer got played in behind the Heat defense and just dribbled teh ball into the goal to make it 11-4. A minute and a half later the Comets finished the scoring as Odaine Sinclair started a counter playing a give and go with Pino before calmly placing the ball into the net to make it 12-4. The Comets killed the rest of the clock turning their heads towards tomorrow's game in Milwaukee where the Comets can clinch the Central Division with a win.

Sporting Draw Desert Diamond Cup Opener

Sporting KC kicked off the Desert Diamond Cup today in Tucson, Arizona with a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids. Sporting came out in their tradition 4-3-3 with a lineup that very likely could be the one that starts in DC in less than a month, with Tim Melia in goal, Seth Sinovic, Matt Besler, Ike Opara, and Graham Zusi along the back line, a midfield of Ilie Sanchez, Roger Espinoza, and Benny Feilhaber, and a forward line of Gerso Fernandes, Dom Dwyer, and Latif Blessing. Dwyer, Feilhaber, and Zusi all made their preseason debuts for Sporting KC, Dwyer going the least amount of time, just 30 minutes as he's still recovering from offseason ankle surgery.

KC's best chance of the first half actually came from DWyer's replacement, Soony Saad near the end of the first half. Colorado's two center backs had gotten pulled apart and Feilhaber slid a ball to Saad at the top of the box, but Saad's effort was touched wide by Zac MacMath in the Colorado goal.

Full scale changes were made for both sides at half time and it was KC that continued to control play and were finally rewarded for it in the 51st when Tyler Pasher beat his man into the box and crossed the ball from the end line to the back post where Swope Park Rangers' defender, Amer Didic looped a head into the net to put Sporting on top 1-0. Kansas City continued to control the play but couldn't find a second goal. That inability ended up costing them in the 87th minute when a ball into the box appeared to be handled by Cameron Porter before Sporting eventually got it clear. Upon the next stoppage of play, about a minute later, referee Alan Chapman halted play to review the incident in the box with Pasher. After reviewing the play for about a minute Chapman emerged from the tent and called a penalty kick for the Rapids and yellow carded Porter. Dillon Power stepped up and buried the penalty kick just after stoppage time started to tie the game at 1-1.

Overall the process from incident to conclusion took about three and a half minutes, the hand ball by Porter occurred at 86:40 of the second half and the ball went out of play at 87:40. Chapman reviewed the play for about a minute and emerged from the tent at 88:40 pointing to the penalty spot seconds later. After finding Porter, carding him, getting goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas on his goal line and yellow carding him, Powers put the penalty away at 90:08. If Chapman had originally called the penalty, Sporting likely would have argued to the point where the same amount of time would have been wasted before Powers stepped up to take the penalty. If Chapman ended up not calling the penalty still, the Rapids would have still had a deep throw in and lost just one minute of play.

I don't think it's a bad thing for one of its first uses, but I'm still not sure on the timing of the situation, I mean I'd never want to be the referee in a situation where I miss a call at Children's Mercy Park (or any other MLS stadium) where Sporting end up going down the other way without a stoppage of play and score only to have that goal taken off the board because the referee reviews the decision at the other end that occurred first. It will be interesting to follow the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) to see how it is tweaked before MLS starts using it in real games after the All Star break this season.

Quintilla Joins Puerto Rico, Davis Rejoining Houston - Former SKC Wizards Update

Jordi Quintilla's search for a new club is over, this past week the former Kansas City midfielder signed a deal with NASL side Puerto Rico FC. The NASL side will compete in their first full season in the NASL after competing in just the Fall Season in 2016. Quintilla's first taste of club soccer since being waived by Sporting KC though will come in international competition as Puerto Rico FC will host their group in the CFU Club Championships. Puerto Rico will host Transvaal of Suriname, Scholars International of the Cayman Islands, and Portmore United of Jamaica in mid-March with the group winner advancing to the final round with six other group winners and Central FC of Trinidad. The top four teams from that phase will advance to this year's CONCACAF Champions League.

Elsewhere, former Kansas City midfielder is rejoining his former club, the Houston Dynamo. Davis spent 10 seasons with the Dynamo before spending the 2016 season with Sporting KC. Davis retired following the 2016 season but will sign a one day contract with the Dynamo to allow him to retire as a member of the club he's best remembered for playing for.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Emmanuel Appiah
Vicente Arze
Amadou Dia
Tomas Granitto
Connor Hallisey
Jeferson
Jon Kempin
Justin Mapp
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Victor Munoz
Brendan Ruiz
Michael Thomas
Ualefi

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Alec Kann - Atlanta - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Chance Myers - Portland - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Portland - Offseason.
Jacob Peterson - Atlanta - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
Chris Konopka - Edmonton - Offseason.
James Marcelin - North Carolina - Offseason.
Alex Molano - North Carolina - Offseason.
Jordi Quintilla - Puerto Rico - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Omar Bravo - Phoenix - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
David Greczek - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - San Antonio - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in Cedar Rapids' 8-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - No game this week.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in either of Dallas' games.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Started in San Diego's 10-4 win over El Paso.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC Eskilstuna City- Sweden - No game until 4/1.
Ever Alvarado - Olimpia - Honduras - Dressed but did not play in Olimpia's 7-1 win over Vida. Started and played 90 minutes in Olimpia's 3-1 win over Real Espana.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Federico Bessone - AE Prat - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Prat's 1-0 loss to Levante II.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/25.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Dressed but did not play in either of Belen's games.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 1-1 draw with Minerva Punjab.
Jorge Claros - Real Espana - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 1-0 win over Platense. Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 3-1 loss to Olimpia.
Nuno Coelho - GD Chaves - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Chaves' 0-0 draw with Vitoria Setubal.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - Rayo Vallecano - Spain - Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Rayo's 2-1 loss to Mallorca.
Pablo Escobar - Real Cartagena - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Real Cartagena's 3-2 loss to Union Magdalena.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Dressed but did not play in Queretaro's 2-1 win over Leon.
Faik Hajderovic - Vinograder - Croatia - No game until 2/25.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Did not play in RoPS 9-0 win over OPS.
Peterson Joseph - Sudeva Moonlight - India - Did not dress in either of Sudeva's games.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Offseason.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 1-0 loss to Universidad Chile. Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 1-0 win over Huachipato.
Michal Mravec - Senica - Slovakia - No game until 2/18.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Al Gharafa's 2-0 loss to Al Arabi.
Akeem Priestley - Harbour View - Jamaica - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Harbour View's 3-2 win over Portmore United.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - No game this week.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Did not dress in Belenenses' 1-1 draw with Nacional.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/18.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 3-0 win over Exeter City. Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 3-2 loss to Leyton Orient.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - No game this week.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game until 2/20.
Milos Stojcev - Veria - Greece - Started and played 81 minutes in Veria's 1-0 loss to Panionios.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - No game until 2/18.

Sporting Announce New Broadcast Team

Sporting Kansas City announced their broadcast team for the 2017 season. Late in 2016 when Sporting announced their new affiliation with Fox Sports Kansas City they said that there would be changes to the broadcast team, out was color commentator, Andy Gruenebaum and sideline reporter/color commentator Jake Yadrich. The team announced yesterday that replacing the pair will be Matt Lawrence and Jillian Carroll.

Lawrence comes to Kansas City from England, where he had a successful playing career with the likes of Fulham, Millwall, and Crystal Palace as a defender. He captained Millwall in their 2004 FA Cup final loss to Manchester United. After his playing career, Lawrence eventually became color commentator for MLS games that showed on Sky Sports in the UK. His move to Kansas City will see him fill a similar position with Sporting, joining current play by play announcer Nate Bukaty on broadcasts.

Carroll has experience on the sideline with the KC Chiefs, the KC Comets, and FC Kansas City having spent time working with all three organizations. She also has experience herself in the game, playing soccer in college.

While for me personally I'll miss Yadrich on the broadcast, I thought he brought a lot of good insight to the game, I feel both of these additions are good for Sporting KC. My hope is that with Lawrence coming from outside Kansas City, he'll be a little more neutral in his color commentary as one of the things that has bugged me over the last few years has been Sporting's broadcast becoming more "homerish" in the tone of the broadcast. It was one of the reasons I enjoyed Callum Williams so much when he did the broadcasts, he was for Kansas City and you could tell in the broadcasts, but he wasn't afraid of praising the other team when the opponent did something good during the broadcast.

Comets Win Ninth Straight

The Kansas City Comets extended their winning streak to nine games and have now won 10 of their last 11 games as they came from behind to defeat the Dallas Sidekicks 7-5 in Independence tonight. The Sidekicks came out and immediately put the Comets on the back foot as they almost took the lead inside the first minute but a cross to the back post was skied over the goal from two yards out to keep the game scoreless. The Sidekicks though didn't let up on the pressure and scored three times in the opening period to take a 3-0 lead through the first period, leaving the Comets to regroup in the second quarter.

The Comets upped the pressure in the second quarter, but weren't able to make a dent in the Sidekicks 3-0 lead until late in the quarter. With just under six minute left in the period, Vahid Assadpour raced from the midfield line towards the corner playing a cross into the middle towards Ramone Palmer, it appeared that Palmer may have gotten the slightest of touches and the ball rolled into the far corner putting the Comets on the board at 3-1. The Comets continued their pressure for the rest of the quarter but were unable to cut any further into the Sidekicks lead heading into the half time break.

The Comets came out and continued their pressure looking to cut into the Sidekicks lead. The pressure though allowed space behind them and after a foul the Sidekicks extended the lead to 4-1 early in the third quarter. The Comets responded shortly after on a restart of their own as John Sosa picked out Bryan Perez who fired a shot in to make it 4-2. Before the end of the third the Comets had cut the lead to just one as Assadpour rolled another shot through the box that Robert Palmer caused Juan Gamboa to hesitate coming for the ball waiting for a deflection and it rolled past him into the net to make it 4-3.

Early in the fourth quarter the Comets leveled the game less than four minutes in as some good passing by the Comets eventually saw Stefan Stokic slide a ball to the top of the penalty arc where Assadpour fired a low shot into the net to tie the game at 4-4. The Comets continued their pressure and took their first lead of the game with just over eight and a half minutes left, as Brian Harris blasted a shot from near the yellow line that went just inside the near post to put the Comets on top 5-4. The lead lasted just over a minute though as the Sidekicks came backed and tied the game at 5-5 off a wall pass. Late in the game, with just over three minutes left the Comets scored on the power play as Harris picked out Ramone Palmer in the middle of the box, the Jamaican held off his defender and was able to shoot a ball into the far corner to make it 6-5. The Sidekicks didn't immediately go to the sixth attacker and the Comets shortly after won it back and killed time off the clock playing keep away from the Sidekicks. Dallas got the sixth attacker on with just over a minute left. The high pressure by KC though caused a turnover shortly after the sixth attacker came on as the Comets forced a turnover and after Lucas Rodriguez found Robert Palmer in the middle he played it to Stokic at the far post and his shot hit off the far post and rolled in to make it 7-5 as the Comets held on to win 7-5. The win moves the Comets to 13-4 on the season, two games ahead of the third place Milwaukee Wave with three games to play. The win was the Comets 100th regular season win since the club's rebirth as they sit at 100-47.

Post Game Stats

The Comets earned their 100th league win since the club's re-birth. They reached that milestone in 147 games. 100-47.

Ramone Palmer made his 100th appearance for the Comets in all competitions.

Palmer's first goal was his 50th in all competitions for the Comets.

Palmer's two goals gave him 49 in league play with the Comets, tying him with Geison for 8th all time on that list.

Palmer's two goals gave him 51 in all competitions for the Comets, moving him past Geison and into a tie with Max Touloute for 8th on that list.

Stefan Stokic's goal was his 19th for the Comets, tying him with Andre Braithwaite for 15th all time on that list.

Stokic's goal was his 20th in all competitions for the Comets, tying him with Jamar Beasley for 14th all time on that list.

Stokic's assist was his 21st in all competitions for the Comets, tying him with Alain Matingou for 11th all time on that list.

Brian Harris' assist was his 43rd for the Comets in league play, tying him with Bryan Perez for 6th all time on that list.

Robert Palmer's assist gave him 25 in all competitions for the Comets, tying him with Geison for 9th all time on that list.


Alain Matingou made his 55th appearance in all competitions for the Comets, tying him with Ryan Junge for 14th all time on that list.

Bravo Linked with Move to Phoenix - Former SKC Wizards Update

Former Kansas City players continue to find their ways onto rosters in the US ahead of the 2017 season in MLS, USL, and NASL, one of those looks like it could be former designated player, Omar Bravo. Bravo is currently linked with a move to USL side Phoenix Rising, the former Mexican international spent last fall with the Carolina Railhawks of the NASL on loan from Chivas. The Mexican club, where Bravo is the club's all time leading scorer deemed Bravo surplus goods and that he would play no part in the club's Clasura season in Liga MX. Unable to find another club in Mexico, Bravo looks like he may return to the US again to play in the USL with Phoenix.

Elsewhere, other former players have new clubs too, one of those with a new club is Toni Dovale, who has signed with Rayo Vallecano in Spain after having his contract with Leganes terminated. Also, Peterson Joseph is apparently still playing, currently captaining Sudeva Moonlight in the Indian second division, and finally today it was announced that 2017 draft pick, David Greczek has signed with the Swope Park Rangers ahead of the 2017 season.

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

Active without a club or unknown
Emmanuel Appiah
Vicente Arze
Omar Bravo
Amadou Dia
Pablo Escobar
Tomas Granitto
Connor Hallisey
Jeferson
Jon Kempin
Chris Konopka
Justin Mapp
Neven Markovic
Rauwshan McKenzie
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz
Michael Thomas
Ualefi

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Offseason.
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota - Offseason.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Offseason.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Offseason.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Offseason.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Offseason
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Offseason.
Kei Kamara - New England - Offseason.
Alec Kann - Atlanta - Offseason.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Offseason.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Offseason.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Offseason.
Chance Myers - Portland - Offseason.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Offseason.
Lawrence Olum - Portland - Offseason.
Jacob Peterson - Atlanta - Offseason.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Offseason.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Offseason.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Offseason.

NASL
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Offseason.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Offseason.
James Marcelin - North Carolina - Offseason.
Alex Molano - North Carolina - Offseason.

USL
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Offseason.
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Offseason.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Offseason.
David Greczek - Swope Park - Offseason.
Cyprian Hedrick - San Antonio - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Nansel Selbol - Swope Park - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - San Antonio - Offseason.
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Did not play in Cedar Rapids' 13-10 win over St. Louis.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Played in Baltimore's 5-2 win over Milwaukee.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Did not play in Dallas' 4-3 win over Tacoma.
Boris Pardo - San Diego - Did not play in San Diego's 9-3 win over Tacoma. Played in San Diego's 8-7 OT loss to Sonora.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC Eskilstuna City- Sweden - No game until 4/1.
Ever Alvarado - Olimpia - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Olimpia's 1-0 win over Social Sol. Started and played 90 minutes in Olimpia's 2-2 draw with Motagua.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Federico Bessone - AE Prat - Spain - Started and played 90 minutes in Prat's 4-0 win over L'Hospitalet.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - No game until 2/11.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Dressed but did not play in Belen's 2-1 loss to Alajuelense. Started and played 65 minutes in Belen's 3-2 loss to UCR.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Bengaluru's 2-2 draw with Shivajians.
Jorge Claros - Real Espana - Honduras - Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 3-0 win over Juticalpa. Started and played 90 minutes in Real's 3-1 win over Marathon.
Nuno Coelho - GD Chaves - Portugal - Started and played 90 minutes in Chaves' 0-0 draw with Boavista.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Did not play in W Connection's 2-0 win over Ma Pau Stars.
Toni Dovale - Rayo Vallecano - Spain - Just signed for Rayo Vallecano.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 1-1 draw with Cruz Azul.
Faik Hajderovic - Vinograder - Croatia - No game until 2/25.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 2-1 Suomen Cup win.
Peterson Joseph - Sudeva Moonlight - India - Started and played 41 minutes in Sudeva's 4-3 win over Real Kashmir.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Offseason.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Game this week postponed.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Did not dress in RoPS' 2-1 Suomen Cup win.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Did not dress in Al Gharafa's 0-0 draw with Al Wakrah.
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Defeated IA 2-0.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 0-0 draw with Tondela.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game until 2/18.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - England - Started and played 90 minutes in Plymouth's 1-0 win over Cambridge United.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Did not dress in Deveronvale's 2-1 loss to Fraserburgh.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - No game until 2/20.
Milos Stojcev - Veria - Greece - Came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Veria's 6-0 loss to AEK Athens.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - No game until 2/18.

Wizards/Sporting Player Registry

2/7/17 Update: Here is this year's update of all Kansas City players that have ever been drafted, played, signed with KC at one point or another.

One of my goals with my former Wizards updates I do was to keep people updated on how all the former Wizards around the world were doing. Recently I ended up trying to find the former Wizards again. Here is a list of every player listed in the Wizards registry in the media guide, along with Eric Frimpong, who the Wizards drafted but is not listed in the media guide. The list also includes goalkeepers that I assume were emergency league keepers at one time or another, because Preston Burpo for example was never officially on the Wizards roster so I have to assume he was an emergency addition for a game or two.

The status for each player is whether the player is still playing the game or not at some professional level. On some of the players it is my best guess. There are also some players who I was unable to get updates on, but I'm still trying. I will be updating this list with any updates I get on these players and the post is now linked over on the right under features. If you have any updates on former Wizards, please feel free to post a comment in this section or shoot me an email.
           
Players in bold are currently with KC.

Player	Year	Status		currently
Abdul-Salaam, Saad	15-	Active		Kansas City
Aiyegbusi, Olukorede	09-11	Active		AFC Eskilstuna City (Sweden)
Albert, Jay	04	Retired
Allnut, Yari	96	Retired
Alvarado, Ever	16	Active		Olimpia (Honduras)
Ammann, Mike	96-98	Retired
Angevine, Scott	12	Active		Jalkapalloseura FC YPA (Finland)
Anibaba, Jalil	14	Active		Houston
Anor, Bernardo	14-16	Active		Minnesota
Antonijevic, Stefan	12	Active		Tampa Bay Rowdies
Appiah, Emmanuel	16	Active
Armstrong, Stephen	02-03	Retired
Arnaud, Davy	02-11	Active		Houston Dynamo assistant coach
Arze, Vicente	08	Active
Auvray, Stephane	10-11	Retired
Barber, Ryan	04	Retired
Baumhoff, Billy	96	Retired
Beasley, Jamar	10	Active		Cedar Rapids Rampage (MASL)
Besler, Matt	09-	Active		Kansas City
Bessone, Federico	13	Active		AE Prat (Spain)
Bieler, Claudio	12-15	Active		Belgrano (Argentina)
Blessing, Latif	17-	Active		Kansas City
Bliss, Brian	98	Retired		Director of Player Personnel Sporting KC
Bowers, Sean	96-99	Retired		General Manager San Diego Sockers
Branan, Dustin	05	Retired
Bravo, Omar	11	Active
Brenes , Reinaldo	14	Active		Belen Siglo XXI
Brown, Chris	99-03	Retired
Brunt, Chris	02-03	Retired		Ower Evolution Soccer Club (Omaha)
Bunbury, Alex	99-00	Retired
Bunbury, Teal	09-13	Active		New England
Burciaga Jr, Jose	01-07	Retired
Burns, Mike	01-02	Retired		General Manager New England Revolution
Burpo, Preston	00	Retired		New York Red Bulls GK coach
Byaruhanga, Peter	00-01	Retired
Cardenas, Mitchell	13	Retired
Cardenas, Nick	09	Retired
Carmichael, Byron	03	Retired		Hamilton Elite FC coach
Carrasco, Servando	15	Active		Orlando City
Caugherty, Ryan	05	Retired
Causey, Jeff	96	Retired
Cesar, Julio	11-12	Retired
Chhetri, Sunil	10	Active		Bengaluru (India)
Chung, Mark	96-98	Retired
Claros, Jorge	14-15	Active		Real Espana (Honduras)
Coelho, Nuno	16	Active		GD Chaves (Portugal)
Collin, Aurelien	11-14	Active		New York Red Bulls
Colombano, Eloy	07-08	Retired
Conrad, Jimmy	03-10	Retired
Convey, Bobby	11-13	Retired
Cristman, Adam	09	Retired
Cross, Matthew	01	Retired
Cyrus, Daneil	11	Active		W Connection (Trinidad)
Da Silva, Nino	97-99	Retired		Chicago Sockers coach
Dancy, Jake	97-99	Retired
Davis, Brad	16	Retired
de Jong, Marcel	15	Active		Vancouver Whitecaps
DeBrito, John	97-98	Retired
Dedini, Randy	99	Retired		Sacramento State women's coach
Delgado, Cesar	99	Retired
DeMartin, Doug	09	Retired
DePra, Dominic	02	Retired
Detter, Justin	04-05	Retired
Dia, Amadou	15-16	Active
Didic, Amer	16	Active		Swope Park Rangers
Diffley, John	97	Retired		Sr Ass. AD for Admin at St. John's University
Diop, Birahim	10-12	Retired
Dobson, Daniel	06	Retired		North Texas University women's asst coach
Dotsenko, Ihor	00	Retired		Technical Director for Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club
Dovale, Antonio	14	Active
Duke, Christian	13-14	Active		Swope Park Rangers
Dwyer, Dom	12-	Active		Kansas City
Dykstra, Andrew	17-	Active		Kansas City
Eichmann, Eric	96	Retired		Coaching at Boca United
Ekeme, Samuel	96	Retired
Elcock, Edson	07	Retired
Ellis, Kevin	11-	Active		Kansas City
Enna, Luke	06	Retired		San Ramon Soccer Club
Erickson, Dane	02	Retired
Escobar, Pablo	10	Active
Espinoza, Roger	08-12, 15-	Active		Kansas City
Fabbro, Dario	02-03	Retired
Farabi, Corey	06	Retired
Feilhaber, Benny	12-	Active		Kansas City
Fekete, Brian	13	Retired
Fernandes, Gerso	17-	Active		Kansas City
Fernandes, Narcisco	01	Retired
Figueroa, Vicente	99-00	Retired
Fogarty, Ken	99	Coach		Youth Techncal Director Texans SC Houston
Friedland, Kevin	03	Retired
Frimpong, Eric	07	Retired
Fuzetti, Mauro	10	Retired
Gabeljic, Adnan	14	Retired
Gansler, Bob	99-06	Coach		staff coach for Elm Grove Soccer Club
Garcia, Nick	00-07	Retired		coaching at Brookside SC
Gardner, Josh	12-14	Retired		Sporting KC Academy U16 coach
Gil, Luis	10	Active		Queretaro (Mexico)
Glasgow, Gary	00-02	Retired
Godbolt, AJ	07	Retired
Gomez, Francisco	99-04	Retired
Gomez, Herculez	08-09	Active		ESPN analyst
Goode, Taly	01	Retired
Gough, Richard	97	Retired
Graham, Taylor	03-04	Retired		VP Business Operations Seattle Sounders
Granitto, Tomas	16	Active
Gray, Tom	08	Retired
Greczek, David	17-	Active		Kansas City
Green, Michael	99-02	Retired
Greenwood, Ricci	97	Retired
Gregor, Andrew	01	Retired		Portland Timbers 2 coach
Groenwald, Matt	06	Retired
Gruenebaum, Andy	13-14	Retired		Sporting KC academy GK coach U12-U14
Guadarrama, Willy	07	Retired
Gutierrez, Diego	96-97, 02-05	Retired
Hajderovic, Faik	16	Active		Vinograder (Croatia)
Hallisey, Connor	15-16	Active
Hamburger, Chris	06	Retired
Hannig, TJ	01	Retired
Hardy, Tom	98	Retired
Harrington, Michael	07-11	Active		Chicago Fire
Harrington, Pat	96	Retired
Harris, Wolde	03	Retired		Colorado Springs Switchbacks Asst. Coach
Hartman, Kevin	07-09	Retired		Director of Goalkeeping IMG Academy
Healey, Pat	08	Active		Baltimore Blast
Hedrick, Cyprian	12	Active		San Antonio FC
Hejduk, Frankie	10	Retired		Brand Ambassador Columbus Crew
Henderson, Chris	99-00	Retired		Technical Director for Seattle Sounders FC
Hercegfalvi, Zoltán	09-10	Retired
Hesmer, Will	04-06	Retired
Hirsig, Santiago	09-10	Retired		Player agent
Hohlbein, Aaron	07-10	Retired		Wisconsin men's assistant coach
Hue, Jermaine	05-06	Retired
Hunjak, Goran	98	Retired		KC Comets assistant coach
Hutton, Martin	05	Retired
Isaacs, Peter	96	Retired
Isawa, Cameron	17-	Active		Kansas City
Jakins, Tahj	00-01	Retired
James, Ryan	16	Active		Rochester Rhinos
Jeferson	11	Active
Jerome, Mechack	13-14	Active		Jacksonville Armada
Jewsbury, Jack	03-10	Retired		works in Portland Timbers front office
John, Will	06-07	Active		RoPS (Finland)
Johnson, Brian	97-01	Retired		Indiana Fire Juniors technical director
Johnson, Eddie	06-07	Retired
Johnston, Mo	96-01	Retired
Jones, Mike	11	Active		Dallas Sidekicks
Joseph, Peterson	11-14	Active		Sudeva Moonlight FC (India)
Joy, Jake	97	Retired
Joya, Benji	16-	Active		Kansas City
Julião, Igor	14, 17-	Active		Kansas City
Kafari, Michael	14	Active		Puerto Rico FC
Kalish, Kevin	99	Retired		Scott Gallagher MO boys DOC
Kamara, Kei	09-13	Active		New England Revolution
Kann, Alec	15-16	Active		Atlanta United
Kartunen, Andrew	08	Retired
Kempin, Jon	10-16	Active
Kitson, Neal	09	Retired
Klein, Chris	98-05	Retired		LA Galaxy Club President
Klopas, Frank	96-97	Retired
Koetters, Kevin	96	Retired
Konopka, Chris	07	Active
Kostrov, Igor	10	Active		Slavia-Mozyr (Belarus)
Kounenakis, Nikos	10	Retired
Kraus, Michael	07-09	Retired		RSL-AZ academy coach
Kronberg, Eric	06-14	Active		Montreal Impact
Lagerwey, Garth	96	Retired		GM and President of Soccer for Seattle
Lalas, Alexi	99	Retired		Fox Sports Analyst
Lascody, Douglas	05	Retired
Lassiter, Roy	00-02	Retired		Kitsap SC (NPSL) coach
Latronica, Anthony	01	Retired
Lavin, Brian	02	Retired
Leathers, Jonathan	08-10	Retired
Lopez, Claudio	08-09	Retired		CO Rapids Director of Soccer
Lopez, Mikey	13-15	Active		New York City FC
Lorenz, Scott	11	Retired
Lowe, Onandi	01	Retired
Lowery, Amir	07-08	Retired
Mapp, Justin	15-16	Active
Marcelin, James	14-15	Active		North Carolina FC
Marin, Luis	14-15	Active		CD Temuco (Chile)
Marinelli, Carlos	07-08	Retired
Marino, Pete	98	Retired
Markovic, Neven	11	Active
Marquess, Matt	08-09	Retired
Martinez, Alex	14	Active		Charlotte Independence
Mayard, Josué	02	Retired
McGinnis, Pat	05	Retired
McKenzis, Raushawn	08-09	Active
McKeon, Matt	96-98, 00-02	Retired
McMahen, Ryan	06-08	Retired
Medranda, Jimmy	13-	Active		Kansas City
Melia, Tim	14-	Active		Kansas City
Meola, Tony	99-04	Retired
Miller, Kyle	12-13	Retired
Minagawa-Webster, John	05	Retired
Mitchell, Jamel	97-98	Retired
Molano, Alex	16-	Active		North Carolina FC
Molnar, Miklos	00	Retired
Morsink, Kurt	07-09	Retired		player agent
Movsisyan, Yura	06-07	Active		Real Salt Lake
Moxom, David	96	Retired
Mravec, Michel	11	Active		RoPS (Finland)
Muñoz, Victor	14	Active
Murray, JT	10	Retired
Mustivar, Soni	15-	Active		Kansas City
Myers, Chance	08-16	Active		Portland Timbers
Nagamura, Paulo	11-16	Retired		Swope Park Rangers assistant
Nemeth, Krisztian	14-16	Active		Al Gharafa (Qatar)
Newman, Ron	96-99	Coach
Nielsen, Jimmy	10-13	Retired		OKC Energy coach
Noriega, Anthony	06	Retired
Okafor, Uche	96-00	Retired		Deceased
Okugo, Amobi	15	Active		Portland Timbers
Olum, Lawrence	11-14, 16	Active		Portland Timbers
Onalfo, Curt	07-09	Coach		LA Galaxy head coach
Opara, Ike	12-	Active		Kansas City
Oshoniyi, Bo	00-06	Retired		East Tennessee State head coach
Palmer-Brown, Erik	13-	Active		Kansas City
Pardo, Boris	08-09	Active		San Diego Sockers (MASL)
Pasher, Tyler	16-	Active		Kansas City
Peart, O'Neil	02	Retired
Peters, Nyanforth	96	Retired
Peterson, Jacob	12-16	Active		Atlanta United
Pittman, Steve	97	Retired
Pizarro, Nelson	08-09	Retired
Pore, Ryan	05-08	Retired		assistant coach University of Tulsa
Porter, Cameron	16-	Active		Kansas City
Prampin, Alan	96	Retired
Preki	96-00, 02-05	Retired		head coach St. Louis FC
Prideaux, Brandon	99-01	Retired
Priestley, Akeem	09	Active
Punyed, Pablo	12	Active		IBV (Iceland)
Quill, Eric	02-03	Retired		USDA Staff Coach Texas SC Houston
Quintilla, Jordi	15-16	Active
Raad, Sergei	06	Retired
Rambo, Rodney	98	Retired
Rasovic, Vuk	04	Retired		head coach FK Napredak Krusevac (Serbia)
Raybould, Ryan	05-07	Retired
Reasoner, Tommy	96	Retired
Reidy, Mike	13	Active
Rideout, Paul	98	Retired
Riggs, Alex	15	Retired
Roberts, Brian	05-06	Retired
Rocastle, Craig	10-11	Retired		Seaman HS (Topeka) head coach
Rocha, Tony	15	Active		Orlando City
Rodriguez, Edmundo	97-98	Retired
Rogers, James	15	Active
Rosell, Oriol	12-14	Active		Belenenses (Portugal)
Rubio, Diego	16-	Active		Kansas City
Ruiz, Brendan	13	Active
Ruiz, Edwin	05	Retired
Saad, Soony	11-14, 17-	Active		Kansas City
Sabanadzovic, Refik	98-99	Retired
Salloi, Daniel	16-	Active		Kansas City
Sanchez, Ilie	17-	Active		Kansas City
Sanchez, Mario	98	Retired		SIU-Edwardsville men's head coach
Santel, Mark	01	Retired
Sapong, CJ	10-14	Active		Philadelphia Union
Sarkodie, Ofori	10	Retired
Sassano, Luke	10-12	Retired		technical director New York Cosmos
Sawyer, Christopher	05	Retired
Scales, Sam	11	Retired
Schmetz, Peter	14	Active		Wuppertaler SV (Germany)
Sealy, Scott	05-08	Active		Sealy Soccer Factory
Sebwe, Dionysius	96	Retired
Selbol, Nansel	16-	Active		Swope Park Rangers
Shirley, Stephen	06	Retired		North Texas Futbol Club coach
Silvera, Damian	97	Retired		deseased
Simutenkov, Igor	02-04	Retired		Zenit St. Petersburg U19 coach
Sinovic, Seth	11-	Active		Kansas City
Singh, Shawn	12	Retired
Smith, Ryan	10-11	Retired
Snitko, Chris	96-99	Retired
Snow, Ken	96	Retired
Songo'o Yann	12	Active		PlymouthArgyle
Sorber, Mike	96	Retired		Philadelphia Union assistant coach
Soto, Tony	99	Retired
Souter, Kevin	08-09	Retired		Deveronvale FC (Scotland)
Spears, Mark	02	Retired
Stafford, Ben	01	Retired
Stephenson, Khari	04-05	Retired
Steuble, Martin	14	Active		Ceres-La Salle (Philippines)
Stojcev, Milos	11	Active		Veria (Greece)
Storm, Colton	17-	Active		Kansas City
Sumiala, Antti	05	Retired
Takawira, Vitalis	96-99	Retired
Talley, Carey	02-03	Retired
Taylor, Matt	04	Active		Kickers Offenbach (Germany)
Thomas, Michael	12-13	Active
Thomas, Shavar	04-06	Retired
Thompson, Abe	08-09	Retired
Tinsley, Ryan	97-99	Retired
Todd, Michael	07	Retired
Trujillo, Ivan	08	Retired
Turner, Ryan	99	Retired
Tyrpak, Kris	16-	Active		San Antonio FC
Ualefi	16	Active
Udeh, Ike	97	Retired
Uderitz, Scott	96-99	Retired		technical director  Snohomish youth soccer
van den Bergh, Dave	06	Retired		US U15B national team coach
van Saun, Jesse	99	Retired
Vazquez, Jorge	03	Retired
Vermes, Peter	00-02	Retired		Technical director/coach for KC
Vermillion, Scott	98-99	Retired
Victorine, Sasha	05-08	Retired		working for Fan Three Sxty
Volesky, Christian	17-	Active		Kansas City
Wahl, Tyson	06-08	Retired
Walsh, Diego	04-05	Retired
Warzycha, Konrad	10-12	Retired
Watson, Lance	06-09	Retired
Webster, Pablo	01	Retired
Wellington, Phil	96	Retired
William, Yomby	08	Active		Richmond Kickers
Wilson, John	99-00	Retired
Winner, David	99	Retired		Boys Direcot of Coaching Ohio Premier Eagles
Wolff, Josh	03-06, 08-10	Retired		assistant coach Columbus
Woodberry, Terry	96	Retired
Wright, Paul	96-99	Retired
Zavagnin, Kerry	00-08	Retired		assistant coach KC
Zendejas, Adrian	17-	Active		Kansas City
Zizzo, Sal	13-14	Active		New York Red Bulls
Zotinca, Alex	03-06	Retired
Zusi, Graham	09-	Active		Kansas City