With the 2020 MLS season on temporary hold, SportingKC.com is taking daily strolls down memory lane with an "On This Day" web series that celebrates memorable moments in team history. As one of Major League Soccer's proud charter members, Sporting has a decorated past full of thrilling victories, amazing goals, momentous off-the-field developments and more. "On This Day" pays tribute to these specific instances, turning back the clocks while treating fans to nostalgia and club history lessons. To catch up on the series as it unfolds, visit SportingKC.com/OnThisDay.
To this day, Kansas City's 2003 curtain raiser against D.C. United at Arrowhead Stadium remains one of the most dramatic home openers in team history.
Seventeen years ago today, on April 12, 2013, head coach Bob Gansler and the Wizards welcomed a D.C. outfit that had missed the previous three postseasons after winning three of the first four MLS Cups from 1996-1999.
The prevailing storyline for Kansas City was a changing of the guard in central defense. Stalwart Peter Vermes had retired. Replacing him was a newly acquired 26-year-old named Jimmy Conrad, who had won an MLS Cup with the San Jose Earthquakes two seasons earlier. The Wizards had also picked up a promising U.S. international forward in Josh Wolff, who ultimately joined Conrad as a Sporting Legend inductee many years later.
The spectacle would boast a larger than normal audience, as well—so large, in fact, that the 22,403 fans in attendance set a new club record at the time and still stands as Sporting's largest home-opening crowd ever. And much to the satisfaction of Kansas City's players, coaches and ticket sales staff alike, spectators were treated to an absolute classic.
The hosts needed just three minutes to draw first blood, with 39-year-old Preki beating D.C. goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Kansas City's legendary attacking midfielder was only getting started, as he would end 2003 with a dozen goals and 17 assists. His age-defying campaign culminated with an MLS MVP award, making him the first and only player to win the honor on multiple occasions in league history.
D.C. responded in the 36th minute when eventual MLS head coach Mike Petke leveled the score at 1-1. The visitors would then surge ahead on the stroke of intermission as MLS legend Marco Etcheverry assisted 18-year-old Santino Quaranta, much to the frustration of Gansler and company.
The second half belonged to Kansas City, which outshot D.C. 9-3 in the final 45 minutes and limited United to zero shots on goal. Wolff had entered as a halftime substitute, giving the Wizards an attacking impetus and a decisive foothold on proceedings. Sporting Legend Chris Klein restored parity once more in the 61st minute, Francisco Gomez notching the assist, and the sides would stay knotted up at 2-2 through regulation.
Oh, but the game wasn't over. From 2000-2003, regular season matches that finished tied after 90 minutes went to a 10-minute, golden-goal overtime session. If neither team scored during the overtime period, the match would end in a draw.
Just two minutes into the extra frame, Wolff assisted midfielder Chris Brown's dramatic game-winner to send 22,403 supporters home with a memorable victory in the bag.
