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Ricardo Sanchez

2009 Third Round: Wizards need penalty kicks to survive extra time thriller with Minnesota Thunder

June 30, 2009 by

National Sports Center – Blaine, Minn. | 8:35 p.m.
Match Reports: Minnesota | Minneapolis Star Tribune | Kansas City Star

3
AET
3
Kansas City advances on PKs 4-2
Ricardo Sanchez 41’ (PK), 83’ (PK)
Melvin Tarley 115’
     
17’ Michael Kraus
19’ Abe Thompson (PK)
105’+ Rauwshan McKenzie
Penalty Kick Summary
Jonathan Greenfield – GOAL       GOAL – Claudio Lopez
Ricardo Sanchez – GOAL       GOAL – Josh Wolff
Jeremiah Bass – SAVED       GOAL – Abe Thompson
Dale Weiler – SAVED       GOAL – Herculez Gomez

The nightcap of the first day of the Third Round turned out to be arguably the most exciting of them all. Six goals, including two in extra time, weren’t enough to settle this battle between the Kansas City Wizards and the Minnesota Thunder, so in penalties, the Wizards emerged triumphant as Boris Pardo made two saves to lead Kansas City to the Quarterfinals.

Kansas City started off the game in fantastic fashion, as Michael Kraus opened the scoring in the 17th minute off a cross from Roger Espinoza. Just two minutes later, Kraus was taken down in the penalty area to give the Wizards a spot kick, which Abe Thompson converts to give KC a two-goal lead.

Minnesota fought their way back into the game with a pair of penalty kicks of their own. First, in the 41st minute, a player was taken down in the box, giving Ricardo Sanchez the opportunity to pull the Thunder within one, which he did. Then, in the 83rd, Kurt Morsink pulled down Melvin Tarley in the box to give the Thunder another kick from the spot. Once again, Sanchez put the ball past Pardo to tie the game at 2-2.

In extra time, just before the end of the first 15-minute session, Rauwshan McKenzie took advantage of a failed keeper clearance off a Claudio Lopez corner kick, using his momentum to put the ball in at the back post and give the Wizards the 3-2 lead. But the Thunder wouldn’t go down easy. Tarley received a long ball past the back line and chipped it over a charging Pardo to tie the game in the 115th minute. As if three penalty kicks weren’t enough, it would take quite a few more to settle the score as 120 minutes decided nothing.

Kansas City and Minnesota each converted their first two penalty kicks, but that’s when the similarities finally ended. Abe Thompson converted the third kick for the Wizards, but Jeremiah Bass places a ball to his left, which is easily saved by Pardo. Herculez Gomez converted the fourth kick for the Wizards, which left it all up to Dale Weiler for the Thunder to stay alive. Weiler kicked the ball on the opposite side, to the right, but once again, Pardo was there to make the stop, which gave the Wizards the win.

Kansas City moves on to the Quarterfinals next week to take on the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2009 Third Round, Abe Thompson, Boris Pardo, Melvin Tarley, Michael Kraus, Minnesota Thunder, Raushan McKenzie, Ricardo Sanchez, Sporting Kansas City/Kansas City Wizards

2008 First Round: Tarley’s brace helps Thunder tame St. Louis Lions, 4-1

June 10, 2008 by

Melvin Tarley opened the scoring and then squelched any hopes of a comeback by the St. Louis Lions, as the Thunder beat the PDL side 4-1 in Blaine, Minn.

With the Thunder up 2-0 after Ricardo Sanchez’s 57th minute goal, Tommy Heinemann got the Lions on the board and sliced the lead to 2-1 in the 79th minute. But a minute later, the lead was back to two thanks to Tarley, who scored his seventh and eighth career Open Cup goals. The Liberian striker scored six goals in the 2005 tournament, tying him for the top total in the competition. Six goals also ties him for the most goals scored in a single tournament during the Professional Era (1995-present).

Dayton O’Brien set up Tarley’s second goal, then set up Aaron Paye for an insurance goal in the 89th minute as Minnesota earns a Second Round game against the Cleveland City Stars of the USL Second Division.

Starting Lineups:
Minnesota: Platter; Kallman, Taylor, Arango, Friedland; Greenfield, Barron (O’Brien, Dan 83), Sanchez (Gibson 74), deRoux (O’Brien, Dayton 78); Gonzalez (Paye 79), Tarley.

St. Louis: Sailor; Gelven, Mueller, Merrick, Gregory (Dyson 70); Angus, Clayes, Patterson, Speiss (Plow 76); Holmes, Heinemann.

Scoring Summary:
MIN: Tarley 45 (deRoux)
MIN: Sanchez 57 (Kallman)
STL: Heinemann 79 (Patterson)
MIN: Tarley 80 (O’Brien, Dayton)
MIN: Paye 89 (O’Brien, Dayton)

Game Statistics:
Minnesota: Shots 15, Fouls 5, Offside 5, Corners 6.
St. Louis: Shots 7, Fouls 3, Offside 2, Corners 7.

Goalkeeper Statistics:
Platter (Minnesota): Shots faced 3, Saves 2, Goals allowed 1.
Sailor (St. Louis): Shots faced 7, Saves 3, Goals allowed 4.

Cautions:
STL: Gelvin 45
STL: Merrick 45
STL: Heinemann 70
MIN: O’Brien, Dan 88

Attendance: 483

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2008 First Round, Aaron Paye, Melvin Tarley, Minnesota Thunder, Nic Platter, Ricardo Sanchez, St. Louis Lions, Tommy Heinemann

2007 Second Round: After four red cards, California earn hard-fought 1-0 win over Minnesota

June 26, 2007 by

In a match that sometimes resembled a wrestling battle royal, the California Victory defeated the Minnesota Thunder 1-0, just two days after Minnesota prevailed over the Victory by the same score in a USL-1 league match.

The Thunder wasted no time jumping on attack, forcing Victory goalkeeper Eric Reed to thwart two breakaway attempts in the first twenty minutes. The Thunder also struck the crossbar during this time, off a shot from Brian Farber.

The first half wasn’t all Thunder, however. California’s Jose Retiz forces GK Nic Platter to make a flying save to knock the ball over the crossbar.

The first of four red cards were issued just after the restart, when California’s Cameron Dunn was sent off for his second caution of the match. Minnesota would only keep the man advantage for twenty minutes, as Jeremiah Bass was sent off in the 79th minute for his second yellow card. The teams finished scoreless after 90 minutes, and moved onto extra time.

Just five minutes into the extra session, California got the eventual game-winning goal. Ricardo Sanchez put away a free kick to give the Victory a 1-0 lead, as was also ejected from the match for his goal celebration, in which he mimicked urinating towards some of the Thunder fans. Just after the start of the second extra time period, the sides were once again level, as Ansu Toure was shown a straight red card for a tussle with Cal’s Jose Retiz. All told, the two teams combined for 45 fouls, 12 cautions, and 4 red cards.

Scoring
(CAL) Ricardo Sanchez 105’

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2007 Second Round, Ansu Toure, California Victory, Cameron Dunn, Eric Reed, Jeremiah Bass, Minnesota Thunder, Nic Platter, Ricardo Sanchez

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U.S. Open Cup History

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1995 US Open Cup Rewind series: The Modern Era begins

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