Nearly 50 years have passed since professional soccer teams from Kansas City and Vancouver first played in 1968 with three meetings between the Kansas City Spurs and the Vancouver Royals in the North American Soccer League.
May 19, 1968 - KC 2, VAN 2 (NASL)
June 2, 1968 - KC 2, VAN 1 (NASL)
June 26, 1968 - VAN 2, KC 0 (NASL)
Four decades would pass before the inter-city match-up resumed when the Vancouver Whitecaps FC entered Major League Soccer in 2011 and played Sporting Kansas City seven times in their first five seasons.
April 2, 2011 - SKC 3, VAN 3 (MLS)
June 25, 2011 - SKC 2, VAN 1 (MLS)
April 18, 2012 - SKC 3, VAN 1 (MLS)
July 3, 2013 - SKC 1, VAN 1 (MLS)
August 10, 2014 - VAN 2, SKC 0 (MLS)
July 12, 2015 - SKC 1, VAN 0 (MLS)
August 15, 2015 - SKC 4, VAN 3 (MLS)
Then, in 2016, came the arrival of the Swope Park Rangers alongside Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 in the United Soccer League and a CONCACAF Champions League draw which placed both MLS teams together for the group stage.
Combined, the three competitions produced eight meetings between the two organizations in the past eight months.
March 12, 2016 - SKC 2, VAN 1 (MLS)
April 27, 2016 - VAN 2, SPR 1 (USL)
April 27, 2016 - SKC 1, VAN 1 (MLS)
June 12, 2016 - VAN 3, SPR 2 (USL)
August 20, 2016 - SKC 2, VAN 0 (MLS)
August 23, 2016 - VAN 3, SKC 0 (CCL)
September 13, 2016 - VAN 2, SKC 1 (CCL)
October 15, 2016 - SPR vs VAN (USL)
Tomorrow's marquee match-up in the Western Conference Final will go down as the first postseason meeting in the all-time Vancouver-Kansas City series despite no shortage of playoff appearances for either side.
At the senior team level, Vancouver Whitecaps FC have reached the playoffs in 34 of the club's 41 seasons and have won seven championships since their inaugural campaign in 1974. Most recently, Vancouver won USL First Division titles in 2006 and 2008.
Sporting Kansas City has reached the MLS Cup Playoffs in 14 of the club's previous 20 seasons and are on the cusp of a sixth straight postseason berth. In 2013, Sporting KC won a second league championship.
Now the playoff spotlight shines on Saturday's fixture, where the winner between the Swope Park Rangers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 will lift the USL's Western Conference Championship Trophy and advance to the 2016 USL Cup Final. Tickets for the match start at $12 and are available to purchase online at Ticketmaster.com.
Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the first 500 fans through the venue's north entry will receive a Swope Park Rangers playoff t-shirt.
