By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor

The naming of five Kansas City Kansas Community College players to the All-Jayhawk Conference team highlighted an otherwise disappointing end to the Blue Devil soccer season.

No. 12 ranked Garden City ended the Blue Devils’ season with a 3-2 overtime win after a controversial call stripped KCKCC of a go-ahead goal with five minutes left in regulation. The loss also ended the KCKCC coaching tenure of Dayton Owens, who has announced he will not return next season.

Sophomore Reon Thomas of London, England, repeated as a forward on the first team while sophomore defender Shemiah Davis of SM North and goalkeeper Kyle Joseph of Trinidad Tobago were named to the second team. Sophomore midfielder Ted Wunderlich of Twin Falls, Idaho, and freshman defender Jamie Darroch of Glasgow, Scotland, received named honorable mention.

Playing nine nationally ranked teams on a schedule Owens called the most difficult in the nation, KCKCC defeated four of them including Garden City and No. 9 Barton County, which went on to win the NJCCC district title by defeating Garden City 3-0 and Cloud 2-1. Also, KCKCC prevented Jayhawk champion Johnson County from finishing 10-0 in conference play by battling the Cavaliers to a 2-2 draw at JCCC.

However, numerous injuries and illness plagued the Blue Devils, who were 9-3-1 at one time only to lose six of their final eight and finish 11-9-1. Six players missed the playoffs because of injuries or the flu. “Our bench players really came through and worked incredibly hard so to have the go-ahead goal taken away on a questionable call was very frustrating and disappointing,” said Owens.

Arnaldo Miranda pulled KCKCC into a 1-1 tie with a goal into a strong wind in the first half and then Thomas gave them the lead 2-1 early in the second half. Taking advantage of KCKCC playing with just 10 men, Garden City tied it with 18 minutes left.

“With about five minutes left, Reon took a punt from Kyle Joseph and ran onto it with two defenders all over him as he go to the 18-yard box,” said Owens. “The goalkeeper also broke out to stop him as well but poked the ball through the keep as the defenders were pulling him down to score what we thought was the potential game-winning goal. Instead, a foul was called on Reon for running into the goalie and the goal was not allowed.”

Winning the flip, Garden City got the wind in overtime and scored five minutes into the extra period.

KCKCC finished sixth at 4-5-1 in Jayhawk play and 5-5-1 in the district in Owens’ third and final season as head coach.  “It did not go as we had hoped but it was a team KCKCC should be very proud,” said Owens. “The team worked very hard and did quite well with the toughest schedule in the nation. No one else played nine nationally ranked teams.”
 

The Kansas City Wizards (8-12-8, 32 pts) host Expansion club Seattle Sounders FC (10-7-11, 41 pts) Saturday night in Seattle’s first-ever trip to Kansas City as an MLS club.

The Wizards will look to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win, though other results around MLS could eliminate Kansas City before their match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Wizards defeated Sounders FC 1-0 April 11 at Qwest Field, giving the club their first-ever loss and scoring the first-ever goal against Seattle in MLS regular-season play. Midfielder Davy Arnaud was the hero for Kansas City that day, hitting a long-range, game-winning strike in the 80th minute.
 
Kansas City will regain the services of captain and central defender Jimmy Conrad after the veteran was an unused substitute as the United States clinched a berth in the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 3-2 win last Saturday in Honduras. Conrad was also an unused sub in Wednesday’s dramatic come-from-behind tie against Costa Rica that forced Costa Rica into a two-game playoff with Uruguay for a place in the World Cup. Conrad has played in 23 games this season for the Wizards, missing matches through U.S. National Team duty.

He has one goal on the season and has helped anchor Kansas City’s youthful back line.
 
Two of Major League Soccer’s top scorers will face off tomorrow night, as Fredy Montero of Sounders FC and Josh Wolff of Kansas City take the field. Montero has 12 goals on the season to lead Seattle, tying him for 3rd place in the League. Kansas City’s team-leader Wolff has equaled a career high with 10 strikes this year, tying him for 7th in MLS.
 
Saturday is Ladies Night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Ladies Night ticket package includes two (2) bleacher tickets, two (2) glasses of wine, one (1) fruit and cheese plate and one (1) pink soccer ball for only $49. A portion of the proceeds for each package sold will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure - Greater Kansas City Affiliate. The Girl Scouts will also participate in a fun-filled night of activities followed by a sleepover on the field at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, which will end at 8:00 a.m. the following morning. Each Girl Scout will each receive a commemorative patch for attending.
 
For more information or to purchase either of these ticket packages, call the Wizards at (913) 387-3400. To purchase single-game tickets outside of these ticket packages, visit www.Ticketmaster.com/kcwizards.
 

BY ALAN HOSKINS

For the fourth time this season, Kansas City Kansas Community College has knocked off a nationally ranked soccer team.

Coming from behind twice, the Blue Devils added No. 17 ranked Iowa Central to its list of upsets with a 3-2 win Sept. 30.

However, the Blue Devils had a five-game winning streak snapped Saturday, losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to Cowley County just hours after blanking Fort Scott 3-0 Friday night. At home against Garden City Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Wizards Practice Facility in Swope Park, the weekend conference split left the Blue Devils (9-4-1) in third place in both the Jayhawk (4-1-1) and Region VI (5-1-1).

Turning in one their best halves of the season, the Blue Devils got two goals from Diogo Ferreira and one from Arnaldo Miranda in the first half while Kyle Joseph and Andy Miller shared halves in the 3-0 shutout of Allen County Friday night.

However, the four-hour bus ride to Cowley County Saturday morning took its toll and playing a man short, KCKCC gave up a goal with 15 minutes remaining in the 1-0 loss. “The energy level and focus from the night before was not there,” said Coach Dayton Owens.

Reon Thomas scored on a pass from Travis Roberts in the 3-2 win over Iowa Central, which led twice only to have KCKCC tie on goals by Mirando and Ferreira, whose mother from Florida was watching. The win avenged a loss to Iowa Central a year ago.

Other wins over ranked teams have included No. 8 Garden City, No. 11 Barton County and No. 19 Parkland while three of the four loses have been to No, 3 Illinois Central, No. 12 Northern Oklahoma and No. 14 Maple Woods.

After over a month without a victory, the Kansas City Wizards have won two out of their last three games.

The Wizards hope to continue the streak tonight in CommunityAmerica Ballpark at 7:30 p.m. as they take on FC Dallas. Both teams come into the game with identical records of 7-11-6, good enough for 27 points.

The game will feature two of the hottest players in Major League Soccer right now: Kansas City's Josh Wolff and Jeff Cunningham. The two have won the last two MLS Player of the Week awards.

Kansas City will look to get some revenge against Dallas, as they shutout Kansas City 6-0 in what was former head coach Curt Onalfo's last game for the Wizards.