THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
SOCCER
PAGE 9
Sporting KC wastes scoring chances, falls to Union 1-0
BRIAN HILLIX
bhillix@hansan.com
The Philadelphia Union only had one good look at the goal in the first half against Sporting
Kansas City on Friday. Unfortunately for Sporting KC (14-10-6), the Union capitalized on that opportunity to score their first goal in their last four games and capture the 1-0 victory.
Sporting wasn't short of chances to score.
Sporting forward Dom Dwyer almost curved a free kick into the corner of the goal in the 14th minute following a Philadelphia foul. The ball hit the top of the goalpost after eluding a wall of five Philadelphia players.
ive Philadelphia play. Midfielder Benny Feilhaber, midfieldler Graham Zusi and Dwyer all narrowly missed goals in a 3-minute span midway through the first half.
Fellhaber and forward C.J. Sapong almost executed a give-and-go, but Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac Macmath guessed right to keep the game scoreless. Just a few minutes later, Zusi escaped multiple defenders and
almost found the top of the goal, but Macmath again tipped the ball away. Off the corner kick following the save by Macmath, the ball found Dwyer in front of the goal, but his header sailed high. In the 36th minute, Philadelphia forward Conor Casey scored off a broken play. Sporting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen saved a shot by midfielder Michael Farfan, but Casey knocked the ball in off the ricochet. Philadelphia midfielder/forward Daniel Cruz made a nice move in the open field and passed the ball to Farfan to get the ball close to the goal before Casey finished the play.
Sporting's scoring opportunities diminished in the second half.
Prings's scoring opportunities diminished in the second half. A nice pass by defender Chance Myers set Dwyer up for an attempt near the front of the goal, but his header went wide left in the 52nd minute. That proved to be the last real scoring threat for Sporting in the game.
Sporting had a free kick in the 95th minute of the match, but a header by defender Aurelien Collin lacked velocity and was stopped easily by Macmath.
the Union only delivered four shots and two on goal compared to Sporting's nine shots and three on goal in the first half.
The Union, who won for the first time since Aug. 10 against D.C. United, improved to 11-10-9 on the season and currently hold the fifth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Sporting is still in the second spot in the conference behind the first place New York Red Bulls.
Sporting held the ball for 61 percent of the match and finished ahead of the Union in nearly every statistical category including shots, shots on goal and passing accuracy.
Philadelphia had an opportunity to go up 2-0, but Nielsen stopped
With 19,243 in attendance,
Sporting sold out its 32nd consecutive match. Sporting next travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the eighth-place Columbus Crew. The next home match for Sporting will be on Friday, Oct. 18, against last-place D.C., United.
Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath (18) punches away the header intended for Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer (14) away from goal in the first half during MLS action on September 27, at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
an attack by Farfan in front of the goal in the 63rd minute to keep the match close.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kiffin cut loose at airport as Southern Cal. moves forward
Edited by Evan Dunbar
Arizona State University head coach Todd Graham, left, shakes hands with USC head coach Lane Kiffin after ASU defeated USC 62-41 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. UCSC fired Kiffin early Sunday morning, not long after the team lost 62-41 at Arizona State.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Lane Kiffin triumphantly flew in from Tennessee nearly four years ago as the unlikely choice to extend Southern California's football renaissance.
When Kiffin's Trojans trudged home to that same airport early Sunday morning after another loss, athletic director Pat Haden couldn't wait another minute to end the divisive coach's tumultuous tenure.
our tenure.
USC fired Kiffin hours after a 62-41 loss at Arizona State that dropped the Trojans to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12. The loss was the seventh in 11 games for a powerhouse program still struggling under the cumulative effect of NCAA sanctions, but unwilling to accept such a dramatic decline.
"It's never the perfect time to do these things, but I thought it was the right time," Haden said.
Ed Orgeron will be USC's interim coach for the final eight games of the season before Haden chooses a permanent successor for one college football's highest-profile jobs. Orgeron, Kiffin's assistant coach and top recruiter, is the former Mississippi coach
Haden broke the news to Kiffin in a 3 a.m. meeting at the Trojans' private airport terminal, but not before a 45-minute chat in which Kiffin tried to change Haden's mind. Haden didn't hire Kiffin, but had been firmly behind the coach in public until Saturday, when the Trojans matched the most points allowed in school history.
"He did a lot of things well under some very difficult circumstances here," said Haden, who also fired men's basketball coach Kevin O'Neill during the season last January. "No one could have worked harder. He did a lot of the things we asked. Graduated players, never had compliance issues ... and he really worked under some very difficult NCAA sanctions, there's no doubt about it."
Kiffin ran a competent program despite the loss of 30 scholarships over a three-season stretch that ends in 2015. But even Kiffin acknowledged he didn't winning enough in the last two seasons at a school with USC's pedigree, and he also created off-the-field troubles ranging from ethically questionable tactics to pointless squabbles with media.
"Lane did negotiate some of these things remarkably well," Haden said. "I have supported Lane with my heart and soul for 3 1/2 years and gave him every opportunity. He wasn't given a fair hand in a lot of ways. I said all along, we graded on the curve, but we failed on the curve, too."
The Trojans are off this week before returning Oct. 10 at the Coliseum against Arizona, giving Orgeron time to evaluate what can be done to salvage the season with the toughest matchups on USC's schedule still looming.
USC's schedule isn't looming. Kiffin went 28-15 in parts of four seasons in his self-described dream job, but USC is 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 2001 after losses to Arizona State and Washington State — and the record only partly captures the discontent of USC's fans and alumni.
The Trojans were unimpressive
on offense even in their three victories this season, stoking unease around a school with skyhigh expectations even at the tail end of crippling NCAA penalties stemming from coach Pete Carroll's tenure.
Kiffin received withering criticism for persisting in calling the Trojans' offensive plays himself well into the school's second straight poor offensive season. The Trojans lost their home openier 10-7 to the Cougars earlier this month, and Coliseum fans
Before this season began, Haden said he was "100 percent" behind the embattled Kiffin.
"We support our coaches 100 percent until they're no longer our coaches," Haden said. "Why would you support a coach 85 percent?"
The 52-year-old Orgeron went 10-25 in three seasons at Ole Miss, but that failed tenure did little to diminish his stature as a bulldog coach and defensive line coach.
"I think it could easily be asked,
'Why not last year after the 7-6
season?' Haden said. "What do
serenaded USC repeatedly with chants of "Fire Kiffin!"
USC has been in a slow tailspin since going 10-2 and beating Oregon in 2011, the last year of its bowl ban. After starting as the preseason No. 1 last year, the Trojans finished 7-6 and out of the rankings — the first preseason No. 1 in nearly a half-century to fall so far — followed by this season's disappointments.
The firing comes less than five months after Haden said Kiffin had "been as good as he can be" in the face of USC's sanctions.
you know now that you didn't know after a 7-6 season?' The rationale was the prior year, Lane had won 10 games. We thought, and [were] hoping that last year was an aberration. We felt we could rebound, make some changes, and indeed, Lane did ... But at the end of the day, we just weren't making the progress I felt we needed to make."