Sporting KC Game Notes | August 13, 2022 at Austin FC | SportingKC.com/Game-Notes #ATXvSKC: HEAD-TO-HEAD
#ATXvSKC: BY THE NUMBERS
Sporting Kansas City (6-14-5, 23 pts.) travels south to take on second-place Austin FC (13-5-6, 44 pts.) on Saturday night, marking the second meeting between the two teams in the space of 14 days. Two weeks ago, Austin rode into Children’s Mercy Park and capitalized on some Sporting errors to claim a 2-0 victory. Cam Duke was shown a pair of yellow cards late in the first half for Sporting before Austin midfielder Alex Ring’s low effort slipped through the grasp of John Pulskamp and into the back of the net on the stroke of halftime. MLS MVP candidate Sebastian Driussi sealed the win late on. Sporting and Austin split the regular-season series 1-1-1 during Austin’s expansion season in 2021. On May 9, 2021, Sporting fought back from a halftime deficit to record a 2-1 victory as late goals from Ilie Sanchez and Gadi Kinda buoyed Sporting to all three points. Austin returned to Kansas City just over a month later and again raced into a firsthalf lead through Cecilio Dominguez. Sporting scrapped back to earn a 1-1 draw after Daniel Salloi found the equalizer midway through the second half. The third and final meeting saw Sporting make their first-ever visit to Q2 Stadium on the penultimate day of the season. Austin raced into a three-goal lead on the night before Johnny Russell pulled a goal back to make the final score 3-1. Austin finished second to last in their expansion season in 2021, but have gone from strength to strength in 2022 and currently sit second in the West.
Sporting KC Team Notes • Sporting snapped a five-match winless run in all competitions with a 4-2 victory over the LA Galaxy last Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park. • Sporting is the only club to reach the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, MLS conference semifinals or Concacaf Championship League semifinals in each of the last six seasons since 2017. • Sporting are 5-2-2 when scoring first and 1-12-1 when conceding first during the regular season. • Sporting rank last in MLS in points per match (0.92), goals (23), goals per match (0.92) and expected goals per match (0.99). • Sporting rank last in MLS in big chances created (20) and second-to-last in shot conversion rate (8.7%). • SKC have conceded 29 goals on the road, the most in MLS at 2.23 per match. • Sporting went 426 minutes without scoring in all competitions prior to scoring in the 10th minute of the 4-2 win over LA Galaxy last Saturday. • Ten of Sporting’s 16 regular season assists have come from Sporting KC Academy products.
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Sporting KC Player Notes • Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with eight goals in all competitions, while fellow winger Daniel Salloi ranks second with seven. • Midfielder Felipe Hernandez leads Sporting with four assists in all competitions and has appeared in all 29 competitive matches this season. He also leads the team with 27 interceptions in the regular season. • Midfielder Remi Walter leads MLS in distance covered (167.9 miles), ranks third among field players in recoveries (189) and leads SKC with 26 key passes. His three goals are a career-high for a single league season dating back to 2013. • Midfielder Remi Walter is the only Sporting player to start in all 25 MLS matches this year and has been on the field for 97% of Sporting’s regular season (2,183 minutes).
#ATXvSKC: Recent Meetings (Austin leads 2-1-1 in regular season)
07/30/2022 11/03/2021 06/12/2021 05/09/2021
Score
KC 0 vs ATX 2 KC 1 at ATX 3 KC 1 vs ATX 1 KC 2 vs ATX 1
Result Details L L T W
Duke sent off in first half before Ring and Driussi win it for ATX Russell nabs consolation after Driussi, Cascante & Stroud goals Salloi tallies equalizer after Dominguez gives Austin the lead Ilie and Kinda score late goals to secure three points at home
Austin FC Team Notes • Austin lead MLS in goals scored (50) and ranks second in goals/match (2.08). • Austin lead MLS in assists (51) and home goals per match (2.55). • Austin are 5-2-4 at home but have won just three of their last nine home matches at Q2 Stadium (3-2-4 record) after winning their first two. • Austin have one loss in their last 10 regular season matches, a 4-3 setback to the New York Red Bulls at home on July 24. • Austin have conceded seven goals in their last two home matches, the 4-3 loss to New York and a 3-3 draw against San Jose last Saturday, and allowed 12 goals in their last five home matches since May 22 (1-1-3 record). • Austin are 4-3-4 when conceding the first goal this season. Their four wins when falling behind are the second most in MLS behind CF Montreal’s five. • Austin are tied for the MLS lead with 17 points gained from losing positions, consisting of four wins and five draws. • According to Opta, Austin has outperformed its expected goals number by 11.9, at least three goals better any other team (50 goals scored, 38.1 xG).
#ATXvSKC: PLAYER HISTORY •
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Forward Johnny Russell leads the team with one goal and two assists vs. Austin. He set up Ilie Sanchez’s goal in the 2-1 home win on May 9, 2021 before assisting on Daniel Salloi’s equalizer in the 1-1 home draw on June 12, 2021. He also scored in the 3-1 road loss on Nov. 3, 2021. Midfielder Gadi Kinda has scored once and added one assist against Austin FC, netting the game-winner in the 2-1 home win on May 9, 2021 - the first-ever meeting between the two teams. He added an assist in the 3-1 road loss on Nov. 3, 2021. Forward Daniel Salloi has scored once against Austin, tallying the equalizer in the 1-1 home draw on June 12, 2021. Forward Khiry Shelton has recorded one assist against Austin FC, setting up Gadi Kinda’s late winner in the 2-1 home win on May 9, 2021. Goalkeeper Tim Melia is 0-1-1 all-time against Austin FC, with a 2.00 goals against average. Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is 1-1-0 all-time against Austin FC with a 1.50 goals against average.
Austin FC Player Notes • Midfielder Sebastian Driussi leads MLS with 16 goals, while fellow attacker Maxi Urruti leads the league with five game-winning goals. Five of Urruti’s seven goals have been match-winners, while only one of Driussi’s 16 have been match-winners. • Midfielder Sebastian Driussi leads MLS with 23 goal contributions (16 goals, seven assists) and has scored or assisted in each of his last seven appearances since July 4. He has five goals in his last three games. • Midfielder Diego Fagundez is tied for fourth in MLS with a career-high 10 assists. • Goalkeeper Brad Stuver has a 12-2-6 record as a starter this season with seven shutouts and a 1.19 goals against average.
#ATXvSKC: PLAYER/COACH CONNECTIONS • • • •
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Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff spent two stints with the Kansas City Wizards during his playing career (2003-2006, 2008-2010) and was inducted to the Sporting Legends hall of honor in 2019. Austin FC assistant coach Davy Arnaud spent 10 seasons with the Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC from 2002-2011. Sporting defender Ben Sweat spent the 2021 season with Austin FC, but made just two appearances before suffering a torn ACL in the second game in club history on April 24, 2021 in Colorado. Defender Ben Sweat was teammates with Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver at the Columbus Crew in 2014 and New York City FC from 2018-2019, while he was also teammates with Ethan Finlay and Hector Jimenez at the Crew in 2014 and with Alex Ring at NYCFC from 2017-2019. Prior to becoming a MLS league pool goalkeeper, Tim Melia was under contract with Chivas USA in 2013 when Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver was assigned to the club as the league pool goalkeeper at the time. Goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh was teammates with Austin’s Julio Cascante at the Portland Timbers from 2018-2019 as well as Jared Stroud at the New York Red Bulls in 2020. McIntosh was also coached by current Austin FC goalkeeping coach Preston Burpo at the Red Bulls in 2020. Manager & Sporting Director Peter Vermes played alongside Austin FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna on the U.S. National Team from 1994-1997. Austin FC head athletic trainer Satoshi Iida spent four years with Sporting KC as an assistant athletic trainer from 2017-2020.
NOTEWORTHY MILESTONES • •
Midfielder Felipe Hernandez is one shy of his 50th career regular season appearance for Sporting. Manager Peter Vermes is set to reach 600 matches played or coached for Sporting on Saturday.
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