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.
Twenty-four years ago today, when Major League Soccer was just a few weeks into its inaugural season, the second-highest scoring match in MLS history took place here in Kansas City.
On May 2, 1996, in the second MLS fixture played at Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Wiz claimed an astounding 6-4 win over the visiting Columbus Crew.
In an offensive salvo for the ages, playmaking talisman Preki put Columbus to the sword with two goals and two assists, Scottish forward Mo Johnston bagged a brace of his own and the Wiz erased a 4-2 deficit in the final 25 minutes to emerge victorious. Mark Chung and Mike Sorber also scored their first MLS goals as head coach Ron Newman's side emerged triumphant in a game that was televised nationally on ESPN.
The 10-goal barnburner could have been an exaggerated microcosm of Kansas City's inaugural MLS campaign. The Wiz ranked third in MLS with 63 goals scored at the end of the regular season, only to have conceded a league-high 61 goals of their own.
The May 2 matchup against Columbus, which saw Kansas City battle the likes of U.S. international Brian McBride and Sporting's current technical director Brian Bliss, remains a vintage MLS classic to this day.
