Before the calendar turns to 2018, SportingKC.com is counting down the top 10 moments from Sporting Kansas City’s 2017 season. From thrilling wins and heroic performances to individual accolades and new arrivals, let’s revisit the very best of 2017.
#10-9: Homegrowns arrive and Rangers shine | #8-7: Ilie signs and Benny climbs
#6-5: Gershow Erupts and Nats lift the Cup | #4-3: Epic duel and Tim and Ike rule
2. This One’s for Neal
Of all the events that unfolded throughout the 2017 campaign, none followed the Hollywood script quite like this one. Indeed, anyone who witnessed Sporting KC’s 3-0 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal victory over FC Dallas on July 11 won’t soon forget it.
This particular match had just about everything: red cards, near misses, controversial moments, heart-stopping injury scares and finally — in the late stages of extra time — a barrage of goals that sent Children’s Mercy Park into a euphoric frenzy.
All of which came two days after the passing of the iconic entrepreneur Neal Patterson, Sporting KC’s co-owner and the long-time Chairman and CEO of Cerner Corporation.
Sporting KC played a man down for 86 minutes — the result of a 15th-minute red card that seemingly put the team behind the eight-ball — but managed to keep FC Dallas off the score sheet and force extra time. That’s when the visitors had two men sent off themselves, and that’s when the floodgates opened.
Latif Blessing scored twice and Daniel Salloi’s late third was the icing on the cake, rounding out a 3-0 result that reminded everyone just how much heart the collective unit had amidst a tragic loss just 48 hours earlier.
Manager Peter Vermes’ remarks after the match encapsulated the emotional evening quite appropriately: “I don’t know of a different way we could’ve paid tribute to him,” he said, before adding, “For some reason I believed that we were going to win the game. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it was Neal, I don’t know. I just felt it tonight, I really did.”
