It didn’t take long for Dom Dwyer to make an emphatic mark in the 2016 home opener at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday.
A fatal turnover from Vancouver Whitecaps FC in their own half allowed the striker to find a pocket of space 28 yards from David Ousted’s goal. A split-second later, the ball nestled in the corner of the net — a metaphoric strike for a player who has seemingly ascended Sporting Kansas City’s all-time scoring charts in the blink of an eye.
Dwyer’s thunderbolt in the fifth minute of his side’s 2-1 win over Vancouver vaulted him into a tie for third place in club history with 46 goals across all competitions. He would take sole possession of third before halftime on the end of a brilliant passing sequence involving Graham Zusi and Chance Myers. Five more tallies will see Dwyer pull level with recently retired midfielder Davy Arnaud at 52.
Among players to have netted at least 20 total goals for the club, none come close to the goalscoring rate of the 25-year-old Englishman. With his sixth regular season brace on Saturday, he is averaging one multi-goal game every 10 MLS appearances since April 2014.
SPORTING KC GOALS PER GAME - ALL COMPETITIONS (MIN. 20 GOALS)
<strong>Games Played</strong> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
<strong>Goals / Game</strong> |
|
<strong><em>Dom Dwyer</em></strong> |
<strong><em>107</em></strong> |
<strong><em>47</em></strong> |
<strong><em>0.439</em></strong> |
Kei Kamara |
126 |
41 |
0.325 |
Preki |
254 |
81 |
0.319 |
Igor Simutenkov |
63 |
20 |
0.317 |
Scott Sealy |
96 |
30 |
0.313 |
Josh Wolff |
163 |
46 |
0.282 |
Vitalis Takawira |
111 |
31 |
0.279 |
Teal Bunbury |
105 |
24 |
0.229 |
Mark Chung |
104 |
21 |
0.202 |
Davy Arnaud |
273 |
52 |
0.190 |
C.J. Sapong |
143 |
27 |
0.189 |
Mo Johnston |
170 |
32 |
0.188 |
Chris Klein |
235 |
43 |
0.183 |
Benny Feilhaber |
112 |
20 |
0.179 |
Chris Brown |
150 |
21 |
0.140 |
Graham Zusi |
206 |
27 |
0.131 |
On an evening that included a rock performance from the Architects and a stirring rendition of “I Believe” from KC rapper Tech N9ne, Dwyer continued the theatrics with the longest strike of his MLS career. As ESPN's Paul Carr points out, the 28-yard blast (No. 37 on the graphic below) was just his third-ever league goal from outside the penalty box, ensuring that he became a top-three scorer for the club in grand style.
“It was a super goal, wasn’t it?” acknowledged Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson after the game. “Goals change games and unfortunately for us we were on the wrong end today, especially in the first half.”
The victory over Vancouver extended Sporting KC’s unbeaten run against Cascadia foes to 10 straight regular season matches (6-0-4) since the start of 2015. It was also the team’s 24th regular season win against Canadian opposition (24-8-8) — more than any other American MLS club.
Manager Peter Vermes will hope his side maintains a stranglehold on teams north of the border when Toronto FC visits Children’s Mercy Park next Sunday. The star-studded Reds — who feature the likes of league MVP Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore — have yet to win in six visits to the stadium, going 0-5-1 with a minus-11 goal differential.
“It was a good day,” Dwyer said in the post-game press conference. “We came out and we got three points, and I think there was a nice burst tonight. The crowd was right behind us and it was goosebumps again coming out tonight. It’s been a while, so it’s nice to get back out there, and I think we have nice momentum going into next week.”
