Sporting KC cashes in on penalty kicks to beat Colorado 4-1 in preseason match

The last time Paulo Nagamura scored two goals in a single game, they came in the final minutes of a stunning 4-3 comeback win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in front of a sellout crowd last Aug. 15 at Sporting Park.

These were a tad less meaningful.

And perhaps a bit easier, too.

Nagamura scored two penalty kicks in a two-minute span to lead Sporting KC to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night in the Desert Diamond Cup preseason tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

Dom Dwyer, making his preseason debut in the tournament, converted a second-half penalty kick, and Seth Sinovic added a goal during the run of play.

“When the first group started pushing the game and got on the front foot, we were a different team,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said in a phone interview after the match. “When the second group came in, they really took their chances and started pressing the game well. That was a big difference.”

The victory was trumped by an injury to defender Ike Opara, who was removed in the first half after grabbing his hamstring. Vermes did not have specifics immediately following the match but said he assumed the injury was muscle-related from fatigue.

Opara suffered season-ending injuries in 2015 and 2014.

Sporting, now 1-0-2 in the tournament, will face the Houston Dynamo at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Sporting KC cashes in on penalty kicks to beat Colorado 4-1 in preseason match."