The KCW Reserves improved to 7-1-2 Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire Reserves at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Midfielder Ryan Pore scored twice within a two-minute stretch in the first half for the Wizards to put the game out of reach and assume the MLS Reserve Division lead in goals scored. Midfielder Peter Lowry pulled one back in the second half for Chicago after a nice play from substitute striker Patrick Nyarko.
Pore's first tally came in the 39th minute off a corner kick. Rookie midfielder Roger Espinoza played the corner in from the left to striker Michael Kraus who headed the ball along toward the back post for a close-range tap-in for Pore. It was his 8th goal of the Reserve Division season, tying him for 1st in the division.
Two minutes later, Pore converted his second goal of the day, again off passes from Kraus and Espinoza. Espinoza put Kraus through into space up the left flank behind the Chicago defense. Kraus carried the ball toward the end line, cut it back onto his right foot in front of a defender and let fly a bending cross to the back post. Pore concluded a long run out of midfield and laid out to hit a diving-header inside the back post for a 2-0 Kansas City lead and put him into 1st place by himself in Reserve Division goals.
Second-half substitute Patrick Nyarko made a smooth play in the 72nd minute that led to Chicago's only score. Nyarko found himself free behind the defense at midfield and carried the ball toward the end line. Wizards goalkeeper Eric Kronberg came off his line to cut off the streaking forward, but Nyarko calmly rounded him and slid a pass to midfielder Peter Lowry in front of goal for an easy tap-in from six yards out.
The Wizards took over the MLS Reserve Division lead with a 7-1-2 record (23 pts). Kansas City leads Houston by one point, though Houston has a game in hand. Chicago is now 4-5-1 (13 pts) on the year. Kansas City's next reserve match comes Sunday, October 26 against the New England Revolution. Chicago's reserve squad is next in action October 12 against the Columbus Crew.
Scoring Summary:
KC - Ryan Pore 8 (Michael Kraus 3, Roger Espinoza 1) 39
KC - Ryan Pore 9 (Michael Kraus 4, Roger Espinoza 2) 41
CHI - Peter Lowry 5 (Patrick Nyarko 4) 72
Kansas City Wizards Line-Up: Eric Kronberg, Lance Watson, Rauwshan McKenzie, Aaron Hohlbein, Matt Marquess, Ryan Pore, Kerry Zavagnin (Chance Myers 75), Kurt Morsink, Roger Espinoza (Nelson Pizarro 60), Michael Kraus, Ivan Trujillo (Boris Pardo 88)
Substitutes not used: Andrew Kartunen, Geoff Miles
Chicago Fire Reserves Line-Up: Nick Noble (Tyler Kettering 46), Dasan Robinson (CJ Brown 60), Kai Kasiguran, Lider Marmol, Daniel Woolard (Zach Pope* 60), Mike Banner, Marco Pappa (Patrick Nyarko 60), Stephen King, Peter Lowry, Tomasz Frankowski (Neil Hlavarty* 46), Andy Herron
Substitutes not used: None
Misconduct:
CHI - Lider Marmol (Caution) 3
KC - Ryan Pore (Caution) 4
CHI - Dasan Robinson (Caution) 36
KC - Ivan Trujillo (Caution) 82
*Guest Player
