The KCW Juniors program began Friday in the first-ever SUM U-17 Cup with a hard-fought 1-1 tie against Chivas USA's U-17 squad and followed it up Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Red Bull New York. Goals by midfielders Christian Duke and Zane Christenson and a shutout performance by Kyle Martin in goal paced the Juniors. Kansas City now controls its own destiny in the first-ever SUM U-17 Cup. If Kansas City wins Monday evening, they will advance to the semi-finals Tuesday.
Kansas City and New York played to a 0-0 draw at half, while the Juniors held an advantage in shots and corner kicks earned.
Substitute Duke opened the scoring just four minutes into the second half after a well-taken corner by fellow midfielder Jeremy Wassmer. Wassmer played an in-swinging ball to the back post and Duke's perfectly timed run resulted in a header past the goalkeeper at the back post and a 1-0 KCW Juniors lead.
The Juniors sealed the victory in the 60th minute with a 25-yard blast from Christenson. New York cleared a KCW Juniors cross to the middle of the park where Christenson collected the ball and fired on net from well beyond the 18-yard area. Christenson's shot took a deflection and cleared the Red Bulls' goalkeeper for the 2-0 lead.
The KCW Juniors play FC Dallas' U-17 squad Monday at 8 p.m. CT for the chance to advance in the tournament. Dallas is currently 2-0-0, but a Kansas City win will give them a one-point advantage and send them through to the semi-finals scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT. The championship game will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. CT on the field at Dick's Sporting Goods Park prior to the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game later that evening against Scottish power Celtic FC.
Score: 1 2 F
Red Bull New York U-17s (0-2-0; 0 pts) 0 0 0
KCW Juniors U-17s (1-0-1; 4 pts) 0 2 2
KCW Juniors Scoring:
Christian Duke 1 (Jeremy Wassmer 1) 44
Zane Christenson 1 (unassisted) 60
KCW Juniors U-17 Line-Up: Kyle Martin, Austin Trees, Pete Nechvatal, Fernando Galvan (Danny Cunningham 38), Luke Snyder (Laeth Hamil 52), Jeremy Wassmer (Taylor Knoll 68), Aaron Appel (Christian Duke 31), Alex Sweetin (Zane Christenson 59), Mohammad Ramahi, Neil Tally (Patrick Foglio 50), Kevin Ellis (Ethan Bauer 40)
Substitutes Not Used: Christian Krueger, Aaron Cobb
KCW Juniors Discipline:
Aaron Appel (caution) 13
Pete Nechvatal (caution) 75
