When the dust settled after the New England Revolution series, Sporting Kansas City found themselves with their familiar foe in the playoffs. Yes, the Houston Dynamo had been Sporting’s kryptonite. In the past two seasons, Sporting was eliminated by Houston in Kansas City as they proceeded to the MLS Cup Final. Before the Eastern Conference Final, there was a sense of cautious confidence. Sporting was finally hitting on all cylinders but Houston had beaten them twice and they eliminated the Supporters Shield Champions, the New York Red Bulls. The two games between KC and Houston will be the toughest games either team will face and that’s how they both prefer it.
The first game in Houston, which seemed like a lifetime ago, began and ended like the typical Houston/Kansas City rivalry. It was very physical, very choppy, very ugly and was low scoring (well no scoring). Both teams used tactical fouls to slow down the game and were both satisfied with a 0-0 draw. Houston was okay with the draw because they were playing three games in a week and were desperate for the international break and Sporting was okay with the draw because they could go back to Sporting Park on even footing and cause a single game elimination.
Two weeks after the unenthusiastic draw, the teams battled again in Kansas City for the conclusion of Sporting/Houston III. This prizefight culminated in rather unusual, exciting fashion. In what almost everyone (me included) thought would be the usual choppy, low scoring affair, Houston broke out early with a Boniek Garcia goal in the 3rd minute. A beautiful move by Garcia left Seth Sinovic just about doing a split and created a golden chance at the goal with which Garcia converted. Déjà vu was setting in and Houston was beating Sporting in Kansas City in the playoffs once again.
The pessimism was setting in on Sporting Park for a few minutes at least. Sporting Kansas City pushed early and often and wanted to equalize as soon as possible. A Chance Myers cross connected with a slipping Dom Dwyer in the 8th minute that almost created the equalizer but Dwyer didn’t get full contact and the ball was cleared. Then in the 14th minute, a fortunate bounce from the Houston defense worked its way to CJ Sapong who took advantage of his opportunity and buried it home to make it a 1-1 game. Sapong had been struggling and showed that forwards on Sporting KC can still score goals. Unlike in the New England series where only defenders scored.
The game really shined the spotlight on a few Sporting players who needed to be recognized and deserved to have a great game. Dom Dwyer was as confident as I had ever seen him and it showed on the field. His backheel flick and individual effort in the middle of the first half wouldn’t normally be something he would try before last weekend but he got his chance at the start and ran with it. Oriol Rosell has cemented himself as the anchor of the Sporting midfield. The guy is 21 and he just doesn’t give the ball up. He’s so efficient in his passing that he will be a future legend wherever he plays in the future. Last, but not least, many people (including me) were ready to write off Benny Feilhaber. He didn’t seem like he was fit at all this season and wasn’t at all who he used to be and what Peter Vermes expected him to be when he signed him to near DP wages. In a game where Sporting needed him the most, Feilhaber delivered and finally lived up to the expectations and potential.
Speaking of Feilhaber, he used the middle of the field as his personal playground, owning the attacking end and placing accurate passes one right after the other. He needled the ball ever so slightly onto the right foot of Dom Dwyer. Dwyer, juking like an NFL Running Back, maneuvered his way through the tough Dynamo defense and scooped it past Tally Hall to take the lead for Sporting and give them the lead for the first time in the three year series.
The Dynamo had one last big chance to equalize in around the 80th minute. The ball fell toward Corey Ashe who got perfect contact and would’ve been the hero for Houston if it wasn’t for the brilliant save by Jimmy Nielsen. I imagine this was the same for Nielsen but seeing it live on TV and seeing the ball bounce off of Nielsen’s hands, it seemed like time moved in slow motion and that couple of seconds before he got his hands on the ball seemed like it was forever. It was the biggest scare for Sporting but they held on to FINALLY win the Eastern Conference Championship over Houston 2-1. With the win, it meant the MLS Cup Final would be played in Kansas City at Sporting Park against Real Salt Lake. It will be the first time a stadium played host to an MLS Cup Final, MLS All Star Game and a US Men’s National Team game in a calendar year.
In addition to the great game people saw on the field, the fans who braved the coldest MLS game in history should be commended as well. Once again, setting a new attendance record by filling an 18,500 seat stadium with 21,650 people, the fans were world class in their commitment to the game. Kansas City is one of those places where you would want to take an MLS or soccer hater to in order to get them to change their mind on the sport. Seattle may lay claim they have more fans who attend games, and they’re correct, but there’s just something about the intimate feel of fans being right on top of you being as loud as any soccer crowd in the world that makes Sporting Park an ideal place to witness a game in. A decibel meter was set up to gather crowd noise and it reached a high of 111 decibels. That’s getting into jet engine and jackhammer territory in terms of how loud it was. And to put it in more perspective, just recently, Kansas City set the world record for the loudest crowd at a sporting event where a crowd at Arrowhead Stadium recorded 137 decibels at a Chiefs game. While impressive, Sporting got to 111 with only a third of the fans at the Chiefs game. Sporting Kansas City fans sure took #LOUDER to another level and will not let up now that they’re hosting the MLS Cup Final.
The MLS Cup Final may be a two week wait but I know everyone is looking forward to it. On December 7 at 4:00 PM ET on ESPN, the stadium will be rocking one last time this year and the two best teams in the league will battle it out for their 2nd MLS Cup. Interesting tidbit, whichever team wins this year’s Final, they will be the first team to win an MLS Cup as an Eastern and Western Conference Champion. Sporting was Western Conference Champions when they won the MLS Cup as the Wizards in 2000 while Real won the Eastern Conference (due to MLS rules at the time, they were still in the West) Championship when they won the Cup in 2009. I hope to be at the game after being away from the stadium for a couple years now. Looking forward to catching up with friends I’ve made the past couple years and who I haven’t seen in a while and at the same time, watch Sporting KC win another trophy for the case. It’ll be a tense couple of weeks for every Sporting and Salt Lake fan, but it’ll be fun for a neutral. Enjoy the game wherever you are going to be watching.
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