Saad and Pattaya Season Over - Former SKC Wizards Update

Soony Saad's season with Pattaya United came to an abrupt end this past week. The Thai FA canceled the rest of the Thai Premier League's season after the death of the king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. With the cancelation of the rest of the season, Saad and Pattaya finish the season in 12th place (of 18 teams). Saad finished the season with 28 appearances and nine goals for the club.

Also this week, Kevin Souter looks to be on his way out at Deveronvale FC has he has apparently been transfer listed by the club.

Here is the rest of this week's update.

Active without a club or unknown
Vicente Arze
Pablo Escobar
Brian Fekete
Jeferson
Neven Markovic
Victor Munoz
Akeem Priestley
Jordi Quintilla
Brendan Ruiz

MLS
Jalil Anibaba - Houston - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Houston's 0-0 draw with Seattle. Started and played 90 minutes in Houston's 1-0 loss to LA.
Teal Bunbury - New England - Dressed but did not play in New England's 2-1 loss to Chicago.
Servando Carrasco - Orlando City - Came off the bench and played 3 minutes in Orlando's 2-0 win over Philadelphia.
Aurelien Collin - New York - Started and played 72 minutes in New York's 3-2 win over Columbus.
Marcel de Jong - Vancouver - Came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Vancouver's 0-0 draw with San Jose.
Amadou Dia - Montreal - Did not dress in Montreal's 2-2 draw with Toronto.
Herculez Gomez - Seattle - Started and played 62 minutes in Seattle's 0-0 draw with Houston. Started and played 88 minutes in Seattle's 2-1 loss to Dalas.
Michael Harrington - Chicago - Dressed but did not play in either of Chicago's games.
Jack Jewsbury - Portland - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Kei Kamara - New England - Sarted and played 90 minutes in New England's 2-1 loss to Chicago.
Chris Konopka - Portland - Dressed but did not play in Portland's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Eric Kronberg - Montreal - Dressed but did not play in Montreal's 2-2 draw with Toronto.
Mikey Lopez - NYCFC - Dressed but did not play in NYCFC's 3-1 loss to DC.
Yura Movsisyan - Salt Lake - Started and played 57 minutes in Salt Lake's 0-0 draw with KC.
Amobi Okugo - Portland - Did not dress in Portland's 1-0 win over Colorado.
Tony Rocha - Orlando - Did not dress in Orlando's 2-0 win over Philadelphia.
CJ Sapong - Philadelphia - Started and played 90 minutes in Philadelphia's 2-0 loss to Orlando.
Tyson Wahl - Columbus - Did not dress in either of Columbus' games.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Came off the bench and played 2 minutes in New York's 3-2 win over Columbus.

NASL
Bernardo Anor - Minnesota (loan) - Out injured.
Stefan Antonijevic - Tampa Bay - Did not dress in Tampa's 2-2 draw with Miami.
Omar Bravo - Carolina - Did not dress in Carolina's 1-0 loss to OKC. Dressed but did not play in Carolina's 3-0 loss to Indy.
Mechack Jerome - Jacksonville - Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 0-0 draw with Indy. Started and played 90 minutes in Jacksonville's 4-2 loss to New York.
Michael Kafari - Puerto Rico - Started and played 89 minutes in Puerto Rico's 2-0 loss to Fort Lauderdale.
James Marcelin - Carolina - Started and played 83 minutes in Carolina's 1-0 loss to OKC. Dressed but did not play in Carolina's 3-0 loss to Indy.
Rauwshan McKenzie - Oklahoma City - Did not dress in OKC's 1-0 win over Carolina. Came off the bench and played 10 minutes in OKC's 3-1 win over Ottawa.

US
Amer Didic - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Christian Duke - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes in Swope's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Cyprian Hedrick - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Ryan James - Rochester - Offseason.
Alex Martinez - Charlotte - Offseason.
Tyler Pasher - Swope Park - Started and played 90 minutes, recording 2 assists in Swope's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Michael Thomas - Oklahoma City - Offseason.
Kris Tyrpak - Swope Park - Started and played 69 minutes, scoring 2 goals in Swope's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Ualefi - Swope Park - Out injured
Yomby William - Richmond - Offseason.

PDL
Adnan Gabeljic - San Francisco - Offseason.
Faik Hajderovic - St. Louis U23 - Offseason.

Indoor
Jamar Beasley - Cedar Rapids - Offseason.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Offseason.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Offseason.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United- Sweden - Started and played 90 minutes in AFC's 0-0 draw with Syrianska FC.
Scott Angevine - YPA - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Belgrano - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Belgrano's 0-0 draw with Aldosivi.
Reinaldo Brenes - Belen Siglo XXI - Dressed but did not play in Belen's 1-0 win over San Carlos.
Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru - India - No game this week.
Jorge Claros - Alajuelense - Costa Rica - Started and played 90 minutes in Alajuelense's 1-0 loss to Cartagines.
Daneil Cyrus - W Connection - Trinidad - Defeated Club Sando 2-1.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Did not dress in Leganes' 3-2 loss to Sevilla.
Luis Gil - Queretaro - Mexico - Did not dress in Queretaro's 2-1 loss to Atlas.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Came off the bench and played 15 minutes in RoPS' 1-0 loss to VPS. Did not dress in RoPS' 1-1 draw with Inter Turku.
Igor Juliao - Fluminense - Brazil - Dressed but did not play in Fluminense's 2-1 loss to Flamengo. Came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Fluminense's 2-1 loss to Sao Paulo.
Igor Kostrov - Slavia-Mozyr - Belarus - Came off the bench and played 34 minutes in Slavia's 2-1 win over Isloch.
Luis Marin - CD Temuco - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Temuco's 1-1 draw with Audax Italiano.
Michal Mravec - RoPS - Finland - Dressed but did not play in RoPS' 1-0 loss to VPS. Started and played 81 minutes in RoPS' 1-1 draw with Inter Turku.
Krisztian Nemeth - Al-Gharafa - Qatar - Started and played 85 minutes in Al Gharafa's 2-1 win over Al Mu'aidar.
Erik Palmer-Brown - Porto (loan) - Portugal - Out injured
Pablo Punyed - IBV - Iceland - Offseason.
Oriol Rosell - Belenenses (Sporting Club de Portugal)(loan) - Portugal - Defeated Academica 2-0 in the cup.
Soony Saad - Pattaya United (BEC Tero Sasana) - Thai league games canceled after king's death.
Daniel Salloi - Gyirmot FC Gyor (loan) - Hungary - Started and played 90 minutes in Gyirmot's 1-0 loss to Mezokovesd-Zsory.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 2-0 win over Schwarz Weib Essen. Started and played 90 minutes in Wuppertaler's 2-1 win over Rot-Weib Oberhausen.
Yann Songo'o - Plymouth Argyle - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Plymouth's 2-2 draw with Portsmouth.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Lost 4-0 to Keith, has been transfer listed by his club.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Defeated Global 5-0.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Started and played 60 minutes in Atromitos' 1-0 win over Veria.
Matt Taylor - Kickers Offenbach - Dressed but did not play in Kicker's 1-0 loss to Hessen Kassel. Came off the bench and played 14 minutes Kicker's 1-1 draw with Steinbach.

Meola Named Jacksonville Coach and Technical Director - Former SKC Wizards Update

Last week's rumors have been confirmed this week as former Kansas City goalkeeper Tony Meola was given his first head coaching job, named the coach and technical director for NASL side, the Jacksonville Armada. Meola will take over the second year NASL franchise after their inaugural season saw them finish in 11th place, bottom of the entire league.

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 - Started and played 90 minutes in Portland's 3-1 win over Dallas.
Kei Kamara - Columbus - Started and played 90 minutes, scoring a goal in Columbus' 2-0 win over 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 - Started and played 90 minutes in Columbus' 2-0 win over New York.
Sal Zizzo - New York - Started and played 90 minutes in New York's 2-0 loss to 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 - Played in Tacoma's 6-4 loss to Sonora.
Adnan Gabeljic - St. Louis - Did not play in St. Louis' 10-3 loss to Missouri.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had a goal and an assist in Baltimore's 11-1 win over Detroit.
Mike Jones - Dallas - Had a goal and an assist in Dallas' 5-4 loss to Las Vegas.
Boris Pardo - Missouri - Played in Missouri's 10-3 win over St. Louis and 9-5 win over Chicago.

International
Korede Aiyegbusi - AFC United - Sweden - Offseason.
Scott Angevine - KPV - Finland - Offseason.
Claudio Bieler - Quilmes - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Quilmes' 1-0 loss to Olimpo.
Omar Bravo - Chivas - Mexico - Started and played 90 minutes in Chivas' 3-0 loss to Santos Laguna.
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 2-0 loss to Northeast United.
Jorge Claros - Qingdao Jonoon - China - Offseason.
Eloy Colombano - AD Berazategui - Offseason.
Toni Dovale - CD Leganes - Spain - Dressed but did not play in Leganes' 1-0 loss to Ponferradina.
Pablo Escobar - Cúcuta Deportivo - Colombia - Started and played 90 minutes in Cucuta's 2-1 loss to Atletico Nacional.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Tied Humble Lions 0-0.
Jeferson - Vasco da Gama - Brazil - Did not dress in either of Vasco's games.
Will John - RoPS - Finland - Offseason.
Peterson Joseph - Azam FC - Tanzania - Offseason.
Igor Juliao - Macaé - Brazil - Did not dress in Macae's 1-1 draw with Boa.
Igor Kostrov - Dinamo-Auto - Moldova - Started and played 83 minutes in Dinamo's 3-2 loss to Speranta Nisporeni.
Luis Marin - CD Palestino - Chile - Started and played 90 minutes in Palestino's 2-0 win over Colo Colo.
Neven Markovic - KS Lechia Gdansk - Poland - Started and played 90 minutes in Lechia's 3-0 loss to Cracovia Krakow.
Yura Movsisyan - Spartak Moscow - Russia - Did not dress in Spartak's 3-2 win over Krasnodar.
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 2-1 win over Benfica.
Soony Saad - BEC Tero Sasana FC - Thailand - Did not dress in BEC's 5-0 loss to Suphanburi.
Peter Schmetz - Wuppertaler SV - Germany - No game this week.
Kevin Souter - Deveronvale FC - Scotland - Scored two goals in Deveronvale's 6-1 win over Clach.
Martin Steuble - Ceres-La Salle - Philippines - Offseason.
Milos Stojcev - Atromitos - Greece - Came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Atromitos' 1-0 loss to Asteras Tripolis.
Matt Taylor - Saarbrücken - Germany - Started and played 89 minutes, scoring a goal in Saarbrucken's 1-0 win over Kickers Offenbach.

#TBT Kevin Souter and Open Tryouts

Thanks to a poster in the comments to yesterday's former player update, we know that Kevin Souter is still playing soccer, having moved back to Scotland, he is playing in the P&J Scottish Highland League for Deveronvale FC. With that pointed out to me I thought I'd use this week's Throwback Thursday to look at the one of the last players to make the KC roster through the team's open tryouts.

Back in 2008, after the club's last season at Arrowhead full time, the Kansas City Wizards held open tryouts ahead of the team's official preseason. Due to weather, the tryouts were moved from the Swope Park complex to the KC Sports Lodge. The tryout actually produced two signings for the Wizards and another that played in the US second division for a couple years. KC ended up signing Souter and fellow tryout participant, Nelson Pizarro after the 2008 MLS season started, Souter was signed in May of 2008 while Pizarro was signed in late April. The other open tryout participant was Youssouf Kante, who signed with the Seattle Sounders when they were still in the USL, and later played with the Minnesota Thunder.

Pizarro would be the first to make his debut for the first team, coming on as a substitute in the team's US Open Cup quarterfinal against the Sounders. He would also end up playing in three league games in the 2008 season before being waived early in the 2009 season.

Souter had the much more successful run with KC. Souter made his debut in the club's 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy at Arrowhead on September 13th. From there, Souter would appear in every game down the stretch for KC as they went 5-1-1 over the final seven regular season games to make the playoffs. Souter would end up starting four of those seven games, and scored his only goal for the club in the 79th minute of their 2-0 win over Toronto FC. Souter would also start both of the club's playoff games that year as they fell to eventual MLS Cup winners, the Columbus Crew. Souter would stick around one more season in Kansas City, but played just one game in the 2009 season for KC, a start in a 1-1 draw with the Galaxy.

After the season KC waived him, he was picked up by the MLS Sounders but never was offered a contract. From there Souter appeared to move to the Toronto area where he became a coach at Ryerson University before returning to Scotland.

Former Wizards Update

I missed this update yesterday, lost track of the days in my head. Two of the Wizards players that they waived last week have landed on their feet, as Kevin Souter was picked up by Seattle, and Kurt Morsink has followed Curt Onalfo to DC and appears set to earn a contract with them. Mean while another former Wizard is looking for a new team as Abe Thompson was waived by Real Salt Lake. Lance Watson also now joins this list as well. The Wizards registry is getting a work out. Here is this week's report.

Indoor
Sean Bowers - San Diego - Beat Revolucion Tijuana 12-6 and Edmonton 8-3.
Pat Healey - Baltimore - Had a goal and an assist in Baltimore's 23-14 win over Philadelphia.
Vicente Figueroa - California - Finished out the season with a 9-6 win over Edmonton.
Paul Wright - San Diego - Beat Revolucion Tijuana 12-6 and Edmonton 8-3.

International
Eloy Colombano - Ferrocarril Sud - Argentina - Started and played 90 minutes in Ferrocarril's 1-0 win over Racing Olavarría.
Herculez Gomez - Puebla FC - Mexico - Came off the bench and played 64 minutes getting a goal and an assist in Puebla's 3-3 draw with Jaguares.
Jermaine Hue - Harbour View - Jamaica - Harbour view defeated Portmore United 2-0.
Will John - NK Vinogradar - Croatia - Lost 4-1 to NK Split.
Eddie Johnson - Aris FC - Greece - Dressed but did not play in Aris' 2-0 win over Larissa. Came off the bench and played 14 minutes in the USA's 2-1 loss to Holland.
Carlos Marinelli - CA Aldosivi - Argentina - Did not play in Aldosivi's 2-1 loss to Instituto.
Akeem Priestly - FK Mughan - Azerbaijan - Did not have a game this week.
Matt Taylor - FSV Frankfurt - Germany - Did not dress in Frankfurt's 0-0 draw with Energie Cottbus.
Diego Walsh - Wellington Phoenix - Australia - Did not have a game this week.

Goodbye to 4 Wizards

Kevin Hartman, Claudio Lopez, Kurt Morsink, and Kevin Souter all aren't going to be back for KC this season. I haven't done my regular stat tribute to Hartman so I'm combining his with Lopez, Morsink, and Souter.

While in KC, Hartman set 3 league records for saves in a career (1235), consecutive games played (112), and consecutive minutes (10,080). Those last two streaks appear like they will end this season as Hartman is currently without a club. While in KC, Hartman appeared in every single league game possible starting all 90 of them. Overall in the 104 competitive games the Wizards have played in the last 3 seasons, Hartman's appeared in all but 4 of them. He joined the 100 starts and appearances list for all competitions for the Wizards this season in his final game. He played in 9,030 minutes in all competitions and 8,100 in league play. He finished his KC career with 21 shut outs in league play, one behind Bo Oshoniyi for second place on the Wizards list. He had 24 in all competitions, again finishing in 3rd place behind Oshoniyi (27). In terms of wins in league play, Hartman finishes in 4th behind Mike Ammann with 31 league wins. He's in the same position in all competitions with 32 wins.

In his 2 seasons with the Wizards, Claudio Lopez appeared in 57 league games, 53 of them being starts. In other competitions he appeared in 9 more games, 6 of them being starts. In the league, Lopez finished with 4,766 minutes played and 5,395 in all competitions. Lopez scored 13 goals in league play, putting him in a four way tie for 12th place on the list for the Wizards with Matt McKeon, Jose Burciaga, and Sasha Victorine. Lopez added to more goals outside of league play (1 Open Cup, 1 SuperLiga), that was good enough for Lopez to finish in a tie for 16th place on that list with Burciaga and Victorine. Lopez's 15 league assists tied him with Chris Henderson for 13th place on that list for the Wizards. Two more assists outside of league play put Lopez in 14th place on the Wizards all time list by himself.

Morsink appeared in 47 games for the Wizards over his 3 years with the club, the majority of his time coming in his two seasons. He started 25 league games for the Wizards, he added another 5 starts in all competitions and finished having played 55 games for the club in all competitions. He finished with 2,264 league minutes and 2,859 in all competitions. He only had three assists in his career, two coming in the 2008 season in a game against Columbus and one against New York.

Souter, one of the Wizards two original open tryout winners finished his Wizards career with 8 league appearances, 5 of them being starts. Most of those appearances came during the Wizards late 2008 playoff push. Souter had two more appearances for the Wizards in the 08 playoffs giving him 10 appearances for the Wizards. He finished with 478 league minutes and 657 in all competitions for KC. He scored his only goal with KC in the team's 2-0 win over Toronto during the 2008 season. Much of his 2 years in KC was spent with one injury or another.

Good luck to all 4 of these guys in their continued soccer career wherever that is.

More Roster Movement for KC

Along with the acquisition of Luis Gil today, KC has made more roster moves. Two trialists are gone from camp, and two rostered players are also gone as there are less and less players from the 2009 Wizards. First, Kurt Morsink and Kevin Souter are gone from the Wizards. Neither one is much of a surprise as both appeared to be on their way out as KC brought in more players, specifically Souter who takes up an international spot that the Wizards appear to be using fully this season.

Most Wizards fans won't shed a tear for Morsink as many people were not fans of him as a player. Especially after his rookie year when Curt Onalfo started more than many people thought he should have. In his second year, Morsink had some brighter moments, including a 2 assist game against Columbus that led to him winning the Down the Byline player of the month in July. But this past season, Morsink didn't get much playing time at all starting only 2 games, playing in a total of 5 games.

Souter on the other hand seemed to have quite a few more fans. I think it was because of the underdog factor that came along with making the team through the open tryouts. He became a consistent contributor on the field late in the 2008 season. Souter, like Morsink, didn't play much in the 2009 season, missing most of it due to one injury or another. Both are likely to catch on with another team somewhere. Souter could easily make it in the NASL/USL or go back to Scotland. The same for Morsink, just replace Scotland with Costa Rica.

As for the trialists that are no longer in camp, they are Nelson Pizarro and Alex Horwath. Pizarro, another open tryout participant had come back to the Wizards this year and had been impressive at times from what I'd heard, but had not done enough to earn a roster spot. Horwath had trained with the Wizards last year as a member of the Brass. Horwath was likely competing for the back up goalkeeper position, but with the re-signing of Eric Kronberg it seemed unlikely Horwath would be kept much longer.

While four players are out of camp, a new player has been brought in. Added to the Wizards preseason roster was Iranian defender Shahriar Dastan. There isn't much out there on him, although his name appears in this break down for the 2001-2002 Iranian season playing for Peykan Tehran. He's another defender, giving KC 5 players that can play central defense in camp. He's the only new player currently added to the team's preseason roster as they return to Arizona for the second leg of their preseason.

Rangers Defeat U-17's

The Swope Park Rangers (the Wizards reserves) defeated the US Under 17 national team tonight out at the Swope Park training complex 3-0 on goals by Roger Espinoza, Herculez Gomez, and Kevin Souter. The Rangers dominated their younger opponents for much of the game, but the 17's still did well throughout, having their moments. The lineups to start the game, looked like this:

Pardo
Watson - McKenzie - Hohlbein - Marquess
Morsink (C)
Myers - Souter - Espinoza
Zoltan - Gomez

And for the U-17 team

Edwards
Kitchen (C) - Watts - Herold - Polak
Shinsky - Gil - Duran - Palodichuk
Jerome - McInerney

Both teams started the game off a little cautiously in the rain tonight with very few chances early on. The 17's had a free kick from about 25 yards out that was easily taken by Boris Pardo while the Rangers were sending in some crosses that weren't finding any one on the end of them. The best chance early fell to the 17's, who had a 2v2 break, but Lance Watson did well to shield the 17's forward out of bounds for a goal kick. As the half went on, the Rangers started to control more of the possession and create more dangerous chances. Most of those dangerous opportunities fell to Gomez, who ended up with shots being saved both by the keeper and going just wide of the post. The 17's almost caught the Rangers on the counter, as Jack McInerney got played in behind the Rangers defense. Unfortunately on the wet turf, McInerney got too much of a touch on the ball and Pardo beat him to it before he could get another touch.

The Rangers took the lead late in the first half, as Gomez crossed a ball along the deck. The ball deflected to Espinoza at the back post, who had his shot partially blocked by Earl Edwards in the 17's net, but not enough, as it made it past Edwards, giving the Rangers the lead. The 17's almost answered immediately, as McInerney was played over the top of the Rangers defense. He rounded Pardo, but in doing so went wide of the goal, when he turned and shot from a tight angle, he only hit the post. KC had one more late chance, as Chance Myers broke with Gomez and Zoltan Hercegfalvi on a 3v3 break. Myers found Gomez on the right, but Gomez's cross was easily handled by Edwards.

Both teams made some half time changes, as Matt Besler, Eric Kronberg, and Michael Kraus entered for Aaron Hohlbein, Boris Pardo, and Zoltan respectively. The 17's had Andrew Craven enter for Stefan Jerome while Carlos Martinez entered for Nick Palodichuk. In the second half, the Rangers continued their late dominace of the first half, and doubled their lead early on. A corner by Kevin Souter was headed on goal by Kraus, Edwards made a good reaction save, but the rebound fell to Gomez, who biked the ball into the net, past Edwards to make it 2-0. Gomez continued to be the focal point of the Rangers attack, as he got in behind the 17's defense, but had his shot saved on the line by Edwards. By this point, much of the play was in the 17's end of the field, and while the Rangers weren't always getting good attacks out of it, they were keeping the 17's under a lot of pressure. Kraus almost got behind the 17's defense as well, but at the last second had the ball touched away by Perry Kitchen.

Matt Marquess attacked up the left and played a cross into Kraus, but Jared Watts headed the ball out for a corner. Marquess likely should have made it 3-0 on the ensuing corner, but his downward header bounced off the ground and skimmed the outside of the post and went out for a goal kick. Gomez almost made it 3 himself soon after when he connected with an Espinoza cross, but Edwards did well to block the shot and then knock away the rebound before Kraus could pounce on it. As the half wore on, Victor Chavez entered the match for Alex Shinsky. By this point, the Rangers sat back a bit more, which actually gave the 17's more room to attack and they were able to get deep into the Rangers end. They got a few shots off, but none of them really tested Kronberg in the Rangers net. It was KC that almost struck on the counter a few times, as Gomez got played in behind the 17's defense, but Edwards was well off his line and cut down the angle so Gomez had no shot. Kurt Morsink played in Myers on another opportunity. Myers had Kraus and Gomez square but instead tried to take it himself and ended up firing his shot into the side netting.

Finally, late on in the game, Gomez tried to get by the 17's defense, and ended up getting fouled in the box. Kraus stepped up to take the PK, but put his PK high and over the bar. It wouldn't be long, though, until the Rangers hit their 3rd. It came from Souter after KC had pulled back a counter. The ball got partially cleared to Souter about 30 yards from goal. Souter hit a one time volley that looped over Edwards and into the net to make it 3-0. The final whistle came soon afterwards. The Rangers won like they were supposed to, while the 17's had a good showing. I was particularly impressed by the play of Edwards, McInerney, and Luis Gil at times as well.

Rangers Man of the Match - Herculez Gomez - Gomez was all over the forward line tonight and gave the 17's back line trouble all night marking him. With better finishing or a keeper not coming up with some fine saves, Gomez has a hattrick tonight.

For my readers that are following the U-17 team, their man of the match for me was Edwards, without him in net, the 17's would have lost this game by quite a bit more. His hands were ok, but he needs to hold shots better, although the conditions tonight probably didn't help him out much. Good reflexes and read the game well, only 1 real gaff when he misjudged a cross early in the first half. I thought McInerney was the most dangerous player for the 17's he challenged McKenzie and Hohlbein in the first half, but against Besler in the second he disappeared a little bit. Gil did pretty well overall, but Morsink did a good job of helping to shut down the middle of the field for the 17's. Good luck to them in Nigeria.

Weekly Press Conference News

Today was the weekly press conference for the Wizards at their Swope Park training facility. During the press conference, Coach Onalfo talked about the game against New England and the up coming SuperLiga games as well. Coach is planning to use his entire depth in the tournament and the team is definitely taking it seriously. In regards to the rumors of Atlas bringing a youth team, he waived it off saying that that could make the game more dangerous as those youth players will be looking to make an impact and work for first team inclusion.

While he did mention that the Wizards would use their depth, he did say that the team will likely be without a few players. First, midfielder, Davy Arnaud has apparently been called up by the United States for the upcoming Gold Cup. Arnaud's been considered one of the more underrated players in the league. He's been capped twice for the United States in his career and will now get a chance to earn a few more call ups for the US.

Roger Espinoza is also probably going to likely be missing as well, because as mentioned previously, he was on the Honduran preliminary roster for the tournament. With Espinoza's call ups, but not appearances for Honduras in World Cup qualifying, it seems likely that Espinoza will earn the call up and likely get a few matches for Honduras in the tournament.

Also missing for the Wizards, will be Kevin Souter, who Onalfo mentioned has had a sports hernia surgery and will miss some time as that heals up. This is a blow for Souter, who was likely to get plenty of time over the next two weeks, with SuperLiga and Open Cup games coming up.

Jack Jewsbury was the player for this week's press conference, with the Atlas game in St. Louis, where Jewsbury went to school. Jewsbury's first question today came from teammate Kurt Morsink, who asked Jewsbury about his return to St. Louis and the stadium where he played his college career, which was good for a laugh.

Reserves Beat Brass Again

The Swope Park Rangers won again today, defeating the KC Brass 6-0 today. The lineup today was made up of all the players that didn't start yesterday against the Crew along with a few guest players. Here's the way the Rangers lined up to start the game:

Pardo
Leathers - Josh White - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Harrington - Zusi - Souter
Thompson - Kraus

Both teams started off the game fairly even, with the game going back and forth. The best early chance fell to the Brass when they ended up hitting the post on one trip down the field. The Rangers also hit the post, as Abe Thompson tried to curl the ball into the far post, but it hit the cross bar and bounced out. The reserves finally broke through with Matt Marquess. Marquess worked the ball down the left, and played a ball into Michael Kraus. Kraus played the ball back to Marquess as he ran across the top of the box. Marquess' shot went into the far post to give the Rangers the lead. Marquess was involved in doubling the lead soon after. Marquess received the ball out wide on the left and played a ball into the box, where Kevin Souter ran onto the ball, beatting the keeper to the ball and making it 2-0. Right before halftime, Thompson got in alone in the box with the keeper. As Thompson tried to round the Brass keeper, Thompson was brought down, leading to a penalty kick. Thompson stepped up and put the PK away making it 3-0 at the half.

The second half saw the Rangers continue to dominate the game, but it took a little while into the second half before they added a fourth goal. The fourth goal came after a bit of a scramble in front of net. The ball was finally put away by Kraus. Marquess continued his good game by adding a second goal, and a 5th for the Rangers with a strike from about 30 yards after a partial clearance. Kurt Morsink finished off the scoring for the reserves with another strike from distance that he hit in off the post.

While the score doesn't show it, it was the best of the three performances I've seen the Brass play against the Rangers this season.

Player Interview Poll Winner

Kevin Souter was this week's winner of the poll for who should be interviewed this week. Wednesday after practice Thad was able to talk to Souter. Souter talks about getting back onto the field and the injury that hampered him from getting a chance to get onto the field sooner this year. He talked about his connection to LA in that his first appearance ever was against LA as was his first start this year. He also talked about his fitness level and how he's probably one of the fittest players on the team. In the second part of the interview he talks about some all star picks for the game against Everton, and the all stars' chances. Souter talks about what league and team he follows the most, as well as his break down of the Champions' League Final.

Injury Issues for KC

It's early in the season, but already Kansas City is suffering through some major injury issues on their team. Before the season even really got started, the Wizards were already missing 3 players that were expected to be on the opening day 18 man roster. Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, and Adam Cristman all missed the start of the season due to surgery of some kind. Kevin Souter also has had some injury issues as he's missed the Wizards first two games due to a adductor strain. That right there is 8 games missed by players that were expected to battle for playing time and be on the game day roster. Then this past week in Colorado the Wizards were without Josh Wolff due to a hamstring issue for a total of 9 games missed. If you want you could also factor in Davy Arnaud, who while he was on the bench for the game against Colorado it seemed unlikely that he was actually going to play in that game, then the total is up to 10 games missed by players due to injury.

Then you have practice this week. Today out at practice, Michael Harrington was not out practicing with the team, and he apparently left practice early yesterday. Today another player went down it would seem, as Graham Zusi left practice early today. Both of those two have started the Wizards first two games this season. Hopefully both will be able to go this weekend along with Arnaud. Because if not, KC could be in more trouble against San Jose.

More Open Tryouts Information

Hillcrest Road has posted a quick recap of this past weekend's open tryouts. They have a good link to the list of players that made Day 2 of the tryouts. Some of the local players were able to advance to day two and some of the guys that I'd looked up elsewhere also made it. According to the Hillcrest Road link, about 10 of the players that participated in day 2 will be invited back to train with the first team at some time. Two of those players were locals Austin Williams of William Jewell College and Chad Becker of Rockhurst. Will be interesting to see who the other players to be brought back will be.

Over the course of the weekend of watching soccer I was asked by 3 members of the Wizards/front office about why I wasn't out there playing. Kevin Souter and Kerry Zavagnin both asked why I wasn't out there. The same came from Wizards Vice President, Greg Cotton on Saturday. Sorry to disappoint, maybe next year if situations improve.

Wizards Win in Mexico

The Wizards won their first game of the Mexican leg of their preseason. Playing a team made up of Atlas reserves, the Wizards took care of business against their sister club 3-0. Santiago Hirsig made his first appearance with the Wizards playing the first 45 minutes as the right midfielder. The rest of what could very well be the opening day lineup played at least the first 45 minutes. The Wizards took the lead in the 36th minute when Davy Arnaud found Jack Jewsbury who one timed his effort into the net.

After only 2 changes at half time, the other 9 starters were subbed out in the 60th minute. The Wizards doubled their lead in the 65th minute, when Nelson Pizarro found Kevin Souter. Only 3 minutes later Kurt Morsink made it 3-0.

Not appearing in the game today were Herculez Gomez, Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, and Doug DeMartin, all who I believe are recovering from injury. Other players that didn't play today that I'm not sure why were Adam Cristman and Lance Watson. Trialist Ferenc Béres played the last 30 minutes, while Chris Brown did not.

Here is the lineup from the game today.
Kevin Hartman (Boris Pardo 60); Jonathan Leathers (Nelson Pizarro (60), Jimmy Conrad (Rauwshan McKenzie 60), Aaron Hohlbein (Matt Besler 60), Michael Harrington (Matt Marquess 46); Santiago Hirsig (Kurt Morsink 46), Davy Arnaud (Ferenc Beres 60), Jack Jewsbury (Kevin Souter 60), Roger Espinoza (Graham Zusi 60); Josh Wolff (Abe Thompson 60), Claudio Lopez (Michael Kraus 60)

Wizards Begin Preseason with Win

The Wizards won their first game of the preseason today, as they beat the US U-17 team 7-0 today down in Florida. Hillcrest Road has write ups on each of the goals and the lineups for each half. In goal for the U-17's was Wizards' Juniors' player, Jon Kempin. Players getting goals today were Kevin Souter and Aaron Hohlbein in the first half, with Nelson Pizarro, Chance Myers, trailist Ferenc Béres (more on him later) getting two, and Michael Kraus.

Absent from the game today were Herculez Gomez and Michael Harrington with injuries, and Jack Jewsbury and Roger Espinoza due to national team duty. Also absent, but not mentioned specifically were forwards Josh Wolff, Abe Thompson, and Adam Cristman, and back up goalkeeper, Eric Kronberg.

Another Year of Open Tryouts

The Kansas City Wizards have announced that they are going to be having open tryouts again this year. The Wizards are hoping to duplicate the success that they had last year with their open tryouts, when the team signed two players from the open tryouts, Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro. Both Souter and Pizarro got time in MLS games this year, with Souter being the most successful, scoring a goal in 7 league games this past year.

This year the cost for the tryout is $205 and will be held at either the Wizards Swope Park Training Complex or at the KC Sports Lodge, where the tryouts were held last year.

Last year I'd thought it would be cool to try out, unfortunately at the time I was still not cleared from my ACL surgery so I had not been able to participate. Well this year I've been officially challenged to participate in the open tryouts by Kyle over at Hillcrest Road. He says that he'll have players "grade" my performance at the tryouts similar to how I've graded players for their play this season. You can vote over on Hillcrest whether I should attend or not, and I am most definitely open to the idea.

So should I tryout, make a fool out of my self, and be graded harshly by members of the Wizards team? You can vote in the poll here and feel free to leave comments on whether I should or not.

More on Roster Changes

Last week I wrote about a rumor on the FC Dallas blog, 3rd Degree, about a potential change to the MLS roster. Steven Goff with Soccer Insider has picked up on it now and even has more information on it as well. According to Goff, the Board of Governors will meet today, and one of the things on the agenda is roster size. Goff says that the rumor is the same as the 3rd Degree rumor, that 4 developmental spots will be dropped, reducing roster size to 24. Along with that, Goff is also reporting that 2 more developmental roster spots will be lost, as they will be adding 2 more senior roster spots, meaning teams would have 20 senior roster players and 4 developmental players.

Personally I think this is a terrible idea for a few reasons. The first is that it will make things even harder for MLS teams competing in international tournaments as they lose 4 potential players to help them cope with the schedule congestion. Last year the Wizards used 30 players in all competitions, and outside MLS the only thing they competed in was the Open Cup. So imagine what teams like Houston, who will have more competitions to play in next year, think about this potential change. Some may argue that with 2 more senior roster spots, teams can actually go deeper, but that is going to turn out to be a misconception. Most teams are going to just promote 2 of their developmental players to take those 2 senior roster spots, so you only increase senior roster depth by name only, you're not going to make teams any deeper than they are now by adding those 2 senior spots.

The other reason it's a terrible idea is because of two names, Kevin Souter and Nelson Pizarro. The two Wizards who came through the open tryouts. With four fewer roster spots next year, what's the likelihood that a team is going to take a gamble on an open tryout participant and put them on their roster? Both Souter and Pizarro contributed this year to the first team, but without those 4 roster spots, I have my doubts that the team would have signed the duo.

End of the Season Interviews

Thad over at The Back Post attended the end of the season press day at the Wizards training complex. Thad was able to get multiple interviews with different players that are posted up on his blog.

He first got an interview with first year professional Chance Myers.

Thad also talked with forward, Michael Kraus, who made his first MLS appearance in the team's final game against Columbus.

Continuing the interviewing, he talked with Michael Harrington about his sophomore season.

His interview with Kevin "Soapy" Souter was divided into two parts for you to listen to here and here.

Thad's final interview was with Captain Kansas City, Jimmy Conrad. This interview was so good, Thad divided it up into 4 parts for you, in two separate posts.

Interviews with the Wizards

Thad over at The Back Post has two interviews posted the last two days. The first interview that he got posted yesterday was an interview with Wizards open tryout participant, Kevin Souter, including a nickname, "Soapy" from a Scottish cartoon called Oor Wullie. It's a really good interview including some good information on Souter's home town as well.

The second interview that Thad did was an interview with Wizards technical director, Peter Vermes. This was Thad's second interview with Vermes, and includes information on the two jobs that Vermes turned down, including the fact that turning down the job with the Galaxy, he also turned down the chance to be director of soccer operations for all of AEG. It's a fairly candid interview with Vermes giving some good information about the team and the job offerings.

Enjoy both interviews.

Reserves Destroy Toronto

The KC Wizards reserves had no problem taking down the Toronto FC reserves this morning out at the Wizards Swope Park training complex. Ivan Trujillo had a hattrick as the reserves beat Toronto 6-0 today. The first half for the game was fairly quiet, as the Wizards and Toronto didn't have many great chances. Toronto's best chance of the game came when a cross came into the box to the back post where Danny Dichio was unmarked. Dichio hit a hard shot, but Eric Kronberg made the big save. Later inthe first half, the Wizards got on the board, as Lance Watson crossed along the ground to Trujillo whose shot went back across the goal into the net to give the Wizards the 1-0 lead. Trujillo almost doubled the lead, but had his shot knocked away.

In the second half, the Wizards really piled it on. Claudio Lopez got the ball out wide and crossed the ball to Ryan Pore who easily tucked the ball in the corner of the net to double the Wizards lead. Trujillo got his second goal of the game shortly after that to make the score 3-0. As the second half continued, Michael Kraus and Nelson Pizarro came in for Lopez and Kerry Zavagnin.

The Wizards 4th and 5th goals were more due to mistakes by the Toronto defense. On the 4th goal, a cross by Pizarro was poorly cleared and then mistouched by another defender right to Trujillo, who made no mistake to finish out his hattrick. The 5th goal was even more of a blunder, as a free kick by Carlos Marinelli was sent right to the keeper, who didn't hold the ball and dropped it almost over the line. Before he could get back to grab it, Kevin Souter pounced on it to make it 5-0.

By this point, Toronto had seemed to have completely given up, and Pore had his way on the final goal of the game. Pore started with the ball on the right wing, started to dribble in, beat one defender, dribbled parrallel to the goal before firing a low shot from the top of the 18 inside the corner of the net. The scoreline could have been a whole lot worse, but as the game wore on, the Wizards forwards got anxious and were caught offside multiple times, including 3 times that resulted into goals being called back. Overall, a dominating performance by the Wizards. In the second half, TFC looked poor. Even with guys like Dichio, and Marco Velez, both guys that get first team minutes, TFC looked completely overmatched against the Wizards reserves.

Here's the lineup that the Wizards started the game with.

Kronberg
Souter - Hohlbein - McKenzie - Watson
Pore - Zavagnin - Morsink - Marinelli
Trujillo - Lopez

UPDATE: The official report from the game is giving the Souter goal to Carlos Marinelli instead. From my angle it didn't look like the ball crossed the line until Souter's touch, but a goal is a goal.

Back in the Playoff Race

With some help, the Wizards pushed themselves back into the playoff race with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC last night. Their result along with DC United's loss to LA put KC 1 point back of the final playoff spot. As for the Wizards result, we saw the same lineup that the Wizards put out in their 2-0 win over LA last week. The Wizards controled the run of play in both halves, and had the better of chances. Overall, the first half, though, was a very slow half, that had few clear chances for either team to break through. The best chances came from Josh Wolff, who had two good changes beaten away by Toronto keeper, Greg Sutton.

The second half, though, was different. The Wizards were pressuring much more, and around the 50th minute, you realized that the Wizards were going to get a goal. Early in the second half, the Wizards had a goal called back, when Josh Wolff was ruled to have been offside. Still, though, the Wizards continued to bring the game to Toronto, and in the 61st minute, Wolff was brought down by Tyrone Marshall and Sutton, sending the Wizards to the penalty spot. Even though Sutton guessed right on the penalty, Jack Jewsbury had put too much pace on it and it went by Sutton and into the net. Toronto tried to come back, but over the course of the game, they didn't test Kevin Hartman with a single shot on goal. The first time since the first Wizards game ever, in 1996, when the Wizards held Colorado without a shot on goal.

Overall, the Wizards continued to play well and were rewarded with a second goal in the 79th minute, by open tryout participant, Kevin Souter. Roger Espinoza sent the ball wide to Wolff, who crossed the ball into the box. Souter stepped in front of his defender and got his foot on the ball. The ball lofted up towards the corner of the net and fell into the goal right inside the elbow of the post. All news was not good, though, as in second half stoppage time, Jewsbury picked up his 5th yellow of the season and will now miss next week's game at Chivas USA.

Wizards Man of the Match - Josh Wolff - Set up the PK, had a goal called back, and got an assist. A decent night for the Wizards forward. He'll need to put a few more back into the net, though, if the Wizards want to make the playoffs this year.

Honorable Mention - Herculez Gomez, Jimmy Conrad