Coming into this season, Sporting Kansas City knew they were in for some challenges. These challenges included a 10 match road trip to begin season before opening Livestrong Sporting Park on June 9th. Also, the team came out for the new season with a new look and new name (changing from Kansas City Wizards). With the addition of designated player Omar Bravo and MLS Superdraft pick C.J. Sapong; there was definitely a feeling of optimism surrounding the club.
They started the season by getting a big win in the Home Depot Center on opening night vs. Chivas USA. However, things quickly turned sour and they were only able to manage one point in the next 7 matches. The one point was a draw where Sporting blew a two goal advantage in second half stoppage time.
However, the season started to turn around on May 28th as Sporting traveled to Colorado to face the defending MLS cup champions Rapids. They fell down early in the match; however, were able to rebound and gain a point as Ryan Smith came on as second half sub and scored the equalizer. Since then, Sporting have not lost and are realistically in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Most Valuable Player: Aurelien Collin
His addition provided an immediate boost to the defense and has proven to be one of the pickups of the season.
Rookie of the Year: C.J. Sapong
Seeing as though the only 2 other rookies (Kevin Ellis and Konrad Warzycha) on the team have received 0 minutes in MLS play; C.J. is the easy choice as he has scored some big goals this season including minutes into his MLS debut (vs. Chivas) and the first MLS goal at Livestrong Sporting Park.
Offensive Player of the Year: Graham Zusi
A difficult choice to make, as it seems that every week there is a new hero. However, Zusi has played excellent during Sporting’s current unbeaten run; including wining MLS player of the month for June.
Defensive Player of the Year: Matt Besler
After a subpar beginning to his career, the former first round draft pick has excelled this year in starting role. Highlights include his first career goal vs. Chicago Fire and leading MLS defenders in all-star voting.
Most Improved Player: Chance Myers
The former #1 draft pick, who battled injuries to begin career, has stepped up and has helped lessen the blow of not having starting defender Roger Espinoza due to international duty and has shown himself capable of being a starting defender in Major League Soccer.
(image courtesy of sportingkc.com)
