March 4, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Sporting Kansas City News Release
Goalkeeper John Pulskamp made four saves as Sporting Kansas City (0-1-1, 1 point) collected their first result of the season in a 0-0 stalemate against the Colorado Rapids (0-1-1, 1 point) on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
Sporting threatened throughout the night with 11 shots on target-the most in a match by an MLS team this season and Kansas City’s most in an MLS road game since October 2010-but Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough had a career-high 11 saves to ensure a sharing of the spoils.
With their two-game road swing in the rearview mirror, Sporting will return to the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park next Saturday, March 11, for a highly anticipated home opener against longtime rivals LA Galaxy (0-1-0, 0 points) at 7:30 p.m. CT. The contest will be shown live via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and tickets for the Western Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com.
After competing on turf on a rainy, 40-degree night in Portland on Monday, Sporting played at altitude in 37-degree conditions with a starting lineup that featured one change. Winger Khiry Shelton dropped to the bench and Cypriot forward Marinos Tzionis slotted into a three-man attack alongside Willy Agada and Daniel Salloi, who in his eighth MLS season was making his first appearance at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. On the backline, meanwhile, 15-year veteran Graham Zusi logged his club-record 350th start in all competitions and became the fifth player ever to eclipse 27,000 regular season minutes with a single MLS club.
Seeking their first win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since 2014, Sporting survived a major scare within 60 seconds of kickoff. Colorado striker Darren Yapi raced through on the breakaway and had only Pulskamp to beat, but Sporting’s 21-year-old goalkeeper-the youngest American to play at his position in MLS this season-produced a brilliant reflex stop, allowing defender Robert Voloder to retreat and extinguish the danger.
The visitors found their footing and replied in the eighth minute as midfielder Erik Thommy, who had a team-high four shots on goal, drove forward and unleashed a 20-yard strike that Yarbrough leapt to coral. A dozen minutes later, Sporting veteran Roger Espinoza-returning to his hometown for the 11th time in the regular season-tried his luck from even longer distance with a blast that Yarbrough saved comfortably.
Colorado…
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