Three victories, two shutouts, zero goals conceded from the run of play and alone atop the early Supporters’ Shield standings.
All things considered, Sporting Kansas City couldn’t have asked for a much better beginning to the 2016 season. The club is off to its third 3-0-0 start in club history — despite the fact that Justin Mapp, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic and reigning team MVP Benny Feilhaber have yet to play a single minute — and boasts wins against three capable opponents who qualified for the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Which brings us to the feat never before seen in Sporting Kansas City’s 21-year existence. Sunday's 1-0 triumph over Toronto FC marked the first time in team history that Sporting KC has won three consecutive regular season matches in regulation against clubs that made the postseason the previous year.
Sporting KC has won at least three straight regular season matches on 24 occasions since 1996, but never have all three victories come in regulation (excluding overtime or shootouts) against playoff teams from the previous campaign. With overtime and shootouts included, Sporting KC has done it just four times.
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
05/22/97<br>
05/30/97<br>
06/06/97<br>
06/08/97 |
W 3-1<br>
W 3-1<br>
W 2-1 (shootout)<br>
W 3-2 |
vs. Columbus<br>
at Los Angeles<br>
at Dallas<br>
at San Jose |
08/02/97<br>
08/09/97<br>
08/17/97<br>
08/24/97 |
W 2-1<br>
W 2-0<br>
W 4-3 (shootout)<br>
W 3-2 (shootout) |
at Dallas<br>
at Tampa Bay<br>
vs. New York<br>
at San Jose |
09/27/03<br>
10/04/03<br>
10/11/03<br>
10/18/03 |
W 2-1<br>
W 4-2<br>
W 2-1 (overtime)<br>
W 1-0 |
at Los Angeles<br>
vs. Colorado<br>
vs. Los Angeles<br>
vs. Dallas |
03/06/16<br>
03/12/16<br>
03/20/16 |
W 1-0<br>
W 2-1<br>
W 1-0 |
at Seattle<br>
vs. Vancouver<br>
vs. Toronto |
One reason for the club’s early success appears to be continuity in the lineup. Manager Peter Vermes fielded the same starting 11 for the third straight regular season match — the first time he has done so since April 2013.
“There is a lot of attention to detail,” Sporting KC captain Matt Besler said of his team’s strong start. “I think our organization defensively has been excellent, when the team has the ball and then when we have the ball as well. We call it active defending: when our attacking when our attacking players are going forward with the ball, we are organizing the people in front of us, so when we do lose it, we are able to be in the right spots to cut off plays.”
Besler’s analytical remarks shed light on the club’s steady defensive displays this season. The backline has leaked just one goal through 270 minutes — a second-half penalty kick against Vancouver on March 12. As a result, Sporting KC has its second three-game start to a season with zero goals conceded from the run of play. Vermes’ men went the first six games of 2012 without allowing such a goal.
Sporting Kansas City is off next week during FIFA’s international window, but will return to Children’s Mercy Park on April 2 for a 2013 MLS Cup rematch with unbeaten Real Salt Lake (1-0-2). A limited number of tickets for the match are available at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.
