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The Kansas City Wiz's first-ever penalty shootout was an absolute doozy.
On April 21, 1996, eight days after defeating the Colorado Rapids in their inaugural MLS match and roughly 72 hours after taking a road loss to the Dallas Burn, Kansas City traveled west for a showdown against the San Jose Clash that culminated with one of the wildest shootouts in league history.
The game began ominously for head coach Ron Newman and the Wiz, who fell behind after seven minutes on a Ben Iroha goal, but veteran defender Uche Okafor restored parity nine minutes later on an excellent overhead kick that beat San Jose goalkeeper Tom Liner.
The Clash reclaimed their lead through Paul Holocher in the 33rd minute and held that slender advantage until the late stages, only to see two Kansas City substitutes combine for an 87th-minute equalizer. Alan Prampin, who had entered the match just two minutes earlier, finished off a feed from Eric Eichmann to pull the Wiz level and send the sides into a seemingly never-ending series of dribble-and-shoot penalties.
Neither team was particularly ruthless in the marathon shootout, as the clubs combined to convert just 15 of 32 penalties over the course of 16 rounds. Among the Kansas City players to bury his effort, however, was goalkeeper Pat Harrington. After making seven saves in regulation, Harrington not only dispatched his penalty but saved four San Jose attempts to lift Kansas City to an 8-7 victory in the shootout.
From 1996-1999, MLS used a 90-minute countdown clock that paused during stoppages in play. If games were tied after regulation, penalty shootouts determined the winner. The wild result in San Jose was Kansas City's first of five shootout victories in 1996, tied for the second most in the league. The Wiz ended the regular season with a 5-2 record in shootouts, then experienced the highs and lows of penalties in the playoffs. After beating Dallas in the decisive third game of the conference semifinals via penalties, Kansas City suffered a season-ending loss to the LA Galaxy after falling short in a shootout that decided the conference finals.
