TUCSON, ARIZ. – A Kino North Stadium record crowd of 3,661 witnessed preseason action between Sounders FC and Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night, as the two MLS sides squared off in the 2015 Desert Diamond Cup. Despite a strong second-half push from the Rave Green, Sporting held on for a 3-2 victory, dropping Seattle’s record in the preseason tournament to 1-1-0. Sigi Schmid’s side is now 2-2-1 overall in 2015 preseason play heading into the final week of training camp in Arizona.
Sporting built its lead via first-half goals from Graham Zusi and Krisztian Nemeth in the 34th and 39th minutes, respectively. James Rogers added a third goal for the Kansas City-based club in the 73rd minute before Homegrown signing Vic Mansaray pulled Seattle back into the match one minute later. Heading home an Aaron Kovar corner kick, Mansaray recorded his first Sounders FC goal one day shy of his 18th birthday.
Forward Kenny Cooper struck Seattle’s second goal seven minutes later, with Mansaray and Kovar earning assists during the build-up. Although Sounders FC had its share of chances throughout the contest, Sporting was able to hold off Schmid’s team until the final whistle.
Sounders FC now heads into its final week of preseason training with remaining Desert Diamond Cup matches on Wednesday, February 25 against New England (5:00 p.m. PST / SoundersFC.com) and Saturday, February 28 (TBD opponent and kickoff time / SoundersFC.com). The club then returns to the Emerald City on March 1 to begin final preparations for the 2015 MLS regular season.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 – Sporting KC 3
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Venue: Kino Sports Complex (Tucson, Ariz.)
Referee: Kevin Stott
Weather: Partly cloudy and 56 degrees
Attendance: 3,661
SCORING SUMMARY
SKC – Graham Zusi (Benny Feilhaber) 34’
SKC – Krisztian Nemeth (Bernardo Anor) 39’
SKC – James Rogers (Jimmy Medranda) 73’
SEA – Vic Mansaray (Aaron Kovar) 74’
SEA – Kenny Cooper (Vic Mansaray, Aaron Kovar) 81’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
SEA – Gonzalo Pineda (caution) 22’
SKC – Krisztian Nemeth (caution) 25’
SKC – Matt Besler (caution) 27’
SKC – Bernardo Anor (caution) 42’
SKC – Seth Sinovic (caution) 67’
SKC – Mikey Lopez (caution) 88’
LINEUPS
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears (Oniel Fisher 66’), Chad Marshall (Jimmy Ockford 66’), Brad Evans (Damion Lowe 66’), Leo Gonzalez (Andres Correa 46’), Zach Scott; (Andy Rose 46’), Gonzalo Pineda (Kenny Cooper 66’), Micheal Azira (Cristian Roldan 66’), Marco Pappa (Aaron Kovar 66’); Clint Dempsey (Chad Barrett 66’), Lamar Neagle (Vic Mansaray 66’)
Substitutes not used: Charlie Lyon, Darwin Jones
Sporting KC: Luis Marin (Jon Kempin 60'); Marcel De Jong (Seth Sinovic 46’), Matt Besler (Kevin Ellis 60’), Ike Opara (Jalil Anibaba 48’), Amadou Dia (Saad Abdul-Salaam 60’); Roger Espinoza (Servando Carrasco 60’), Benny Feilhaber (Mikey Lopez 60’), Krisztian Nemeth (Jimmy Medranda 60’); Bernardo Anor (Connor Hallisey 60’), Dom Dwyer (Jacob Peterson 60’), Graham Zusi (James Rogers 35’)
Substitutes not used: Paulo Nagamura, Erik Palmer-Brown, James Marcelin
