Beyond the Box Score: Shots fired as super-sub saves Sporting KC

For 90 minutes on Sunday, Sporting Kansas City turned Children’s Mercy Park into a shooting gallery as a once-stuttering offense burst to life in a gripping 2-1 victory over Orlando City SC.

By the end of the afternoon, Peter Vermes’ men had pulled the trigger 34 times, a new club record and the third-most in an MLS match all-time. Sporting Kansas City put 13 of those attempts on target, tied for third-most in KC history and eclipsing the team’s total from the previous five matches combined (12). The visiting Lions, meanwhile, mustered just seven total shots and failed to test goalkeeper Tim Melia the entire game. 

SPORTING KC: MOST SHOTS IN AN MLS MATCH (INCLUDING PLAYOFFS)

What made Sunday’s plot so wild, though, was the fact that Orlando City had weathered Sporting Kansas City’s onslaught and — somehow, some way — went ahead on 67 minutes. Jimmy Medranda’s unfortunate own goal gave the Lions a lead to defend and left nearly 20,000 fans at Children’s Mercy Park wondering what on earth it would take for their team to break through. 

The first 30 shot attempts had yielded zero goals, the team’s scoreless streak had passed 300 minutes and an ugly winless skid was in danger of reaching eight games.

Enter Jacob Peterson, an 11-year MLS veteran aptly nicknamed “The Answer.” The do-it-all serviceman had played just 14 minutes all season, but his second-half cameo on Sunday could go down as a decisive turning point in Sporting Kansas City’s season.

Peterson was the catalyst to unlocking Orlando City’s defense, assisting Dom Dwyer’s goal in the 74th minute before nodding home the game-winner in the 79th. In doing so, he tallied the first multi-goal performance of his 236-game MLS career and — more impressively — became the first player in Sporting Kansas City history to tally a game-winning goal and an assist after being subbed in past the 60th minute.

SPORTING KC SUBS WITH 1 GOAL & 1 ASSIST (MLS REGULAR SEASON)

“I appreciate the fact that Jake hasn’t played a lot of minutes this year, but the fact that he comes in and holds true to the first value we have as a group which is the team is first,” Vermes said postgame. “Not only was he calm and cool on the assist, it was a great finishing play to be in the position he was. We needed guys in the box late in the game like that.”

Peterson even allowed one of his teammates to reach a special milestone of his own. His headed assist on the equalizer gave Dwyer 50 career goals for Sporting Kansas City in all competitions. The Englishman becomes the third player in club history to reach that mark, trailing only Preki (81) and Davy Arnaud (52).

Another twist to Sunday’s crazy storyline saw Dwyer notch his 50th Sporting KC goal against the team with which he first caught fire as a professional. Dwyer went on loan to then-USL side Orlando City in 2013 with zero goals in Sporting colors. He bagged 22 for the Lions before returning to Kansas City later that year and continuing his fine form for much of the past three seasons.

DOM DWYER: 50 GOALS FOR SPORTING KC

Goals on Sporting Kansas City’s 31st and 34th shot attempts ultimately sealed three precious points, giving the club its first win since April 9. The result also ended Vermes’ wait for his 100th MLS coaching win since taking the reigns in 2009. He becomes just the sixth coach in league history to win 100 MLS matches with the same team (including playoffs).

“The great thing is that now I don’t have to listen to all of these questions about whether or not we are winless in so many games,” Vermes said. “At the end of the day, the focus should be on how good of a team we are when we play the way we did tonight. We have that in us and when we do, I think it’s very tough to play against us.”

100 MLS COACHING WINS WITH SAME TEAM (INCLUDING PLAYOFFS)

Sporting Kansas City will look to carry their winning momentum into the first 2016 edition of MLS Heineken Rivalry Week on Saturday. Real Salt Lake comes to town for the second time this season, having emerged with a 2-1 road win on April 2. The game could feature a pair of MLS-lifers in Kyle Beckerman and Brad Davis, who rank first and second respectively in all-time MLS regular season appearances among field players. Davis played his 379th regular season match on Sunday, moving into sole possession of second place and nine games behind Beckerman (388). Kickoff on Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and a limited number of tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.