Monday through Friday of this week, the Kansas City Star is counting down the 25 biggest sports plays involving its professional, college and high school teams and individuals.
The Star is unveiling five a day, with No. 16-20 published this morning. As authors Pete Grathoff and Blair Kerkhoff note, these aren’t the best single-game performances or milestones; these are singular moments, the kind where you readily recall where you were and who you were with when you watched them.
No. 16 certainly fits the bill for Sporting fanatics and Kansas City sports followers alike.
With 76 minutes on the clock and Sporting trailing Real Salt Lake in MLS Cup 2013 at Children's Mercy Park, French center back Aurelien Collin rose above the rest to head home a Graham Zusi corner kick and level the score at 1-1. The equalizer ignited wild celebrations among the 21,650 in attendance and effectively tilted momentum in favor of Manager Peter Vermes' men.
As fate would have it, Collin also delivered heroics in the penalty shootout that decided the match. His inch-perfect spot kick in the 10th round of penalties came second before RSL's Lovel Palmer was denied by the crossbar, giving Sporting their second MLS Cup title in club history.
Visit KansasCity.com throughout the week as the top 15 moments in Kansas City sports history are unveiled.
