Beyond the Box Score: Dwyer ends drought with rare pair of penalties

Dom Dwyer entered Saturday's match-up with Toronto FC scoreless in his last five MLS matches, a span of 450 minutes that marked the longest dry spell during a season in which the Sporting Kansas City forward was averaging a goal in every 100 minutes of MLS action through 18 games.

By the 33rd minute, Dwyer was mid-backflip and celebrating his second goal of the night -- the game-winner -- in a convincing 4-1 victory at Sporting Park that moved the reigning MLS Cup champions atop the Supporters' Shield standings with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

The brace brings his total to 16 goals this year, second in the MLS Golden Boot race and the most in a single-season by a KC player since Preki scored 18 in 1996.

Both of Dwyer's goals on Saturday came from the penalty spot, where he is now six-for-six on the season after becoming the first player in club history to successfully convert two penalty kicks in an MLS match. Previously, the team had earned multiple penalties on just four occasions:

KC HISTORY: ONE GAME, TWO PK'S
Sept. 12, 1997: Preki (1') and Mo Johnston (45') each miss from the penalty spot in a 1-0 loss against New York
July 28, 2004: Chris Klein scores first PK (37') but has second (52') saved in 2-1 loss versus New York
Sept. 10, 2004: Josh Wolff nets in the 11th minute but is later turned away in the 81st minute of a 3-1 loss at Colorado
July 4, 2012: Kei Kamara buries his initial attempt (57') before Graham Zusi adds another (75') in a 3-1 win at Montreal

Dwyer's six successful penalties are now second most in team history and fourth most in a single-season by an MLS player all-time. Additionally, he is now one of only 20 players in League history to score on each of his first six career penalty kicks (chart at bottom).

The consecutive conversions by Dwyer continue recent trends for Sporting Kansas City from the penalty spot. The club has now scored on 13 straight  attempts dating back to 2012 -- the longest active streak in MLS -- and has proven successful on 26 of their last 27 penalty kicks dating back to 2007.

Saturday's brace was Dwyer's fifth of the season, most in MLS this year and third on the club's career charts. Only six MLS players have recorded more multi-goal games in a season over the League's 19-year history:

MLS HISTORY: MULTI-GOAL GAMES
8: Stern John (1998), Mamadou Diallo (2000)
7: Carlos Ruiz (2002)
6: Landon Donovan (2008), Chris Wondolowski (2012), Camilo Sanvezzo (2013)

Remarkably, all five of Dwyer's multi-goal games in 2014 have come against Canadian opposition. His 10 goals against Montreal and Toronto rank him fifth when looking at MLS player strike rates against teams north of the border. He trails Chris Wondolowski (17), Thierry Henry (11), Juan Pablo Angel (11) and Kenny Cooper (11).

*Active streak