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In Reserve: Saad scores first professional goal, D.C. tops Toronto and more

Saad (SKC)

Photo courtesy of Sporting Kansas City/Taylor Allan

Soony Saad scored for the first time as a professional, tallying the lone goal in Sporting Kansas City's 1-0, weather-delayed victory over the Colorado Rapids in MLS Reserve League play on Monday.

Saad, a standout at the University of Michigan last year who landed with Sporting KC in a weighted lottery on July 5, took a pass from Teal Bunbury and found the back of the net on a shot from the edge of the area to give SKC (2-2-2) all the offense it would need in the third minute of the win.

After a 30-minute delay midway through the second half, Colorado (0-4-1) thought it had found an equalizer, but Andre Akpan's goal was waved off after he was ruled to have been offside on a pass from Joseph Nane.

The Rapids had trialists Andy Holdsworth and Ben Gill, former professionals in England, play in the match, while SKC welcomed Craig Rocastle back to competitive play for the first time since he injured his knee in the Gold Cup while playing for Grenada.

Here are a couple of more results from around the Reserve League:

BURCH FREE KICK LIFTS D.C.

Marc Burch scored on an 80th-minute free kick to snap a tie and give D.C. United a 2-1 victory over Toronto FC on Sunday.

Charlie Davies opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Austin da Luz drew his second penalty in about a 12-hour span against Toronto. He drew one in the MLS match on Saturday night that allowed Dwayne De Rosario to finish off his hat trick and level the score at 3-3.

Stefan Vukovic finished off Keith Makubuya's cross in the 77th minute to tie the game, but Burch delivered moments later to keep D.C. unbeaten in reserve play (5-0-1). Toronto (0-3-1) had new defensive signings Dasan Robinson and Eddy Viator play the full 90 minutes.

DIKE SCORES IN TIMBERS VICTORY

Bright Dike didn't figure to do much playing at all this season after tearing his Achilles during the preseason, but he left his mark in Portland's 2-0 victory over San Jose on Sunday by scoring a second-half goal.

Brian Umony assisted on Dike's strike and scored the opening goal for Portland (3-2-1). Defender Chris Leitch was sent off for San Jose (3-3-1), which maintains a slight lead over the Timbers for second place in the West Division through a better goal differential. Portland, however, has a game in hand.

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What do you think about the latest Reserve League results? What do you think about a Sporting Kansas City front line that boasts the likes of Bunbury, Saad, C.J. Sapong, Kei Kamara and Omar Bravo? Happy to see Davies get on the scoreboard? Impressed by Dike's comeback?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. No kidding. England is not the best place to go to find a diamond in the rough. It’s all about Central/South America and Africa

    Reply
  2. As far as I’ve seen, reserve matches are free to attend; though there isn’t always a place to sit at some of these fields. Still, if you show up, u get to watch a decent level match in an intimate setting. It’s pretty cool if you can make it out.

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  3. I wonder what MLS is doing with these Reserve games as far as marketing and tickets are concerned. I have noticed that the games are usually held at small local fields. I think that is pretty awesome for fans. It would be neat if MLS would market the games and maybe allow free spectators or charge a $5 ticket or something. Have local vendors do burger burns or something. Would allow for a more intimate community based experience seeing your favorite stars. Kinda like when Baseball players go down to AAA for rehab or what not, and you get to see them at your small local field. At least I think that is cool.

    Also, do they invite local youth teams/highschool players to watch? Maybe have an hour long workshop for local kids before matches? I can see the reserve league as a great way to grow/promote the sport in areas that maybe dont get enough exposure.

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  4. Yes. If they haven’t been in the XI or seen big minutes as a sub during that week’s match, its pretty common to play those guys in the reserve match.

    The MLS reserve games aren’t like Europe where you’re either classified as a reserve or a senior team guy. The reserve games exist to get guys additional minutes and keep players sharp. Davies played with DCU’s reserves. Austin Da Luz played for DCU despite playing decent minutes as a sub for the first team the night before. Earlier this year, DCU’s DP, Branko Boskovic, was playing in reserve matches when he wasn’t getting minutes for tactical reasons.

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  5. We have a quite a few players hurt. Teal form has come back up in this last week, scoring in 2 straight appeareances before not scoring coming on a man down vs Sounders on Saturday. Forwards on roster are Bravo, Dapong, Kamara, Bunbury and Saad. Teal and Saad the only ones that haven’t been playing insane minutes with our packed schedule in July

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  6. Teal Bunbury is playing in the reserve league? I know his form has been poor earlier in the year, and I don’t really follow KC or the reserve league like I probably should, but that surprises me. Anybody want to give me some information? Do teams typically play some of their first teamers in the reserves? What’s the deal?

    Reply

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