Beyond the Box Score: SKC stuffing the stat sheet at Sporting Park

As the calendar turns to June, Sporting Kansas City is the most prolific scoring team in Major League Soccer.

Thanks to another offensive explosion in Friday’s 4-0 drubbing of FC Dallas, no club has more goals (21) or assists (26) than Peter Vermes’ side, who have hit the patented four-goal mark on three occasions since April 25 and twice in a row at Sporting Park.

By comparison, Sporting struck four goals three times in all of 2014 and three times from 2011-2013 combined.

With first-year forward Krisztian Nemeth and midfield talisman Benny Feilhaber leading the way, the club’s recent scoring output has reached heights rarely seen in club history. Victories over New England (May 20) and FC Dallas (May 29) saw Sporting Kansas City bag four goals twice in one month for the first time since August of the inaugural 1996 season.

VOTE: Krisztian Nemeth for MLS Player of the Month

“At the end of the day, we’re just playing well and we’re hitting the back of the net,” Vermes said in Friday’s postgame press conference. “As we’re on the move during the [offensive] build-up, the fans understand what’s coming. You can hear the level of the crowd sort of advance as we move up the field. They grow stronger as we go up the field. It’s exciting.”

TWO STRAIGHT FOUR-GOAL HOME GAMES IN KC HISTORY

Friday’s victory saw Nemeth, Graham Zusi and Kevin Ellis feature prominently as each player made a historic mark on the match. Nemeth—who now leads MLS newcomers with six scores in 2015—caused nightmares for the FC Dallas defense to the tune of a goal, an assist and eight fouls won (including both yellow cards on Zach Loyd), a league high this season.

Zusi, meanwhile, enjoyed a breakout performance in which he turned provider to Nemeth in the 19th minute and Ellis in the 57th minute before netting his first goal of 2015 to complete the rout. In doing so, he became just the third player in Kansas City history to record 25 goals and 50 assists for the club in all competitions.

SPORTING KC'S 25 GOAL, 50 ASSIST CLUB (ALL COMPETITIONS)

That brings us to Ellis, the homegrown defender who joined the club in 2011 as a 19-year-old. He won two notable headers from Zusi set pieces Friday night—the first of which provided Nemeth an easy finish at the far post; the second marked Ellis’s first career MLS goal. It marked the first time since August 2007 (Jose Burciaga Jr.) that a Kansas City defender had notched a goal and an assist in a league match.

By the final whistle, Sporting Kansas City had racked up seven assists—their highest total in an MLS match since June 20, 1999, when the side exploded for a team-record six goals and 10 assists. Moreover, Friday’s 15-point haul (four goals, seven assists) has been reached just five previous times in team history, all in the 1990s shootout era.

SPORTING KC: MOST ASSISTS IN AN MLS MATCH ALL-TIME

SPORTING KC: MOST POINTS IN AN MLS MATCH ALL-TIME

“We got the second and the third and the floodgates opened,” said Vermes, who collected his 100th coaching win for Kansas City in all competitions. “Credit to the guys, because it’s not easy the fact that we're playing a lot of different players in the field.”

Sporting Kansas City will take their high-flying offense into Saturday's showdown against Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders FC at Sporting Park. The match against Major League Soccer's No. 2 scoring team (20 goals) will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT, and a limited number of tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com. The sides met just two weeks ago in Seattle, playing to a 0-0 draw.