KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The FC Dallas Reserves defeated Sporting Kansas City 5-3 today in MLS Reserve League action at the Sporting Club Training Center in Swope Park.
Home Grown forward Ruben Luna scored four goals to lead FC Dallas to victory on the day, opening the scoring in the first half before grabbing three more after the halftime interval. The match concluded the MLS Reserve League schedule for both Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas, who finished in third and fourth positions in the Central/Mountain Division, respectively.
Luna opened the scoring for FCD in the 28th minute. Winning possession at midfield, Luna embarked on a mazy run through the Sporting Kansas City defense, shrugging off several challenges before finishing past Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg. Kronberg got a piece of Luna’s shot but the ball ultimately found its way to the lower right corner of the net.
Nine minutes later, SKC converted its first goal of the match on a penalty kick. The play started from a set piece when Scott Lorenz found Birahim Diop in the box. Diop was fouled just inside the area, enabling Sporting’s Jeferson to place the penalty kick past Chris Seitz to level the score at 1-1.
Kansas City took a 2-1 lead well into first half stoppage-time. With the ball on the left flank, Lorenz played the ball into the box for Soony Saad, who played a quick pass to Jeferson. Jeferson’s shot was saved initially, but the rebound was chipped over Seitz by a Sporting guest trialist.
The scoring started quickly in the second half, when Luna tallied his second goal of the match after winning the ball from Sporting defender Nick Cardenas in the 50th minute. Luna walked in on Kronberg before rounding the Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper and passing the ball into the empty net for a 2-2 tie.
Just 10 minutes later, Bruno Guarda connected with Luna on a long service to give Luna a hat-trick on the day. Luna collected the bouncing ball with his back to goal before turning beyond Shavar Thomas and finishing to the far post.
Luna added a fourth in the 73rd minute. After winning possession in his own half, Jack Stewart punched a long diagonal pass into the channel for Luna. Similar to his third goal, Luna showed a nice turn of pace to face up to goal before finishing past Kronberg to give FC Dallas a two-goal cushion.
Sporting Kansas City earned its third goal of the contest on a sequence starting from Konrad Warzycha, who saw his first competitive action for Sporting Kansas City since undergoing knee surgery in preseason of this year. Warzycha picked out Luke Sassano, who then played a one-touch pass to a Sporting Kansas City trialist. The trialist then back-heeled the ball into the path of Saad, who buried a first-time shot to pull a goal back for Sporting in the 80th minute.
FC Dallas got its final goal of the match in second-half stoppage time through Academy midfielder Daniel Garcia. Breaking on the counterattack, Victor Ulloa played Garcia in behind the Sporting Kansas City defense, and the substitute shot between Kronberg’s legs to cap the highest-scoring match of the 2011 MLS Reserve League season.
Scoring Summary:
FCD – Ruben Luna (unassisted) 28
SKC – Jeferson (penalty kick) 37
SKC – Trialist 1 (unassisted) 45+
FCD – Ruben Luna (unassisted) 50
FCD – Ruben Luna (Jack Stewart) 60
FCD – Ruben Luna (Bruno Guarda) 73
SKC – Soony Saad (Trialist 1, Luke Sassano) 80
FCD – Daniel Garcia (Victor Ulloa) 93
Disciplinary Summary:
FCD – Bruno Guarda (Caution; reckless foul) 36
FCD – Maykel Galindo (Caution; dissent) 37
SKC – Lawrence Olum (Caution; tactical foul) 41
Sporting Kansas City – Eric Kronberg; Kevin Ellis, Lawrence Olum, Nick Cardenas, Korede Aiyegbusi; Birahim Diop (Konrad Warzycha 62), Craig Rocastle (Shavar Thomas 54), Jeferson (Luke Sassano 69); Scott Lorenz, Soony Saad, Michael Harrington (Trialist 1 20)
Subs not used: Sean Molony
FC Dallas – Chris Seitz (Josh Lambo 45); Andrew Wiedeman, Jack Stewart, Mark Ashby, Moises Hernandez (Mike Ambrose 93); Bobby Warshaw, Victor Ulloa, Bruno Guarda, (Kellyn Acosta* 84); Maykel Galindo (Jonathan Top 45), Ruben Luna, Bryan Leyva (Danny Garcia* 87)
Subs not used: None
Guest trialist
*Academy player
