Starting XI: Gerso Fine You Blow My Mind

Starting XI, presented by Ford, is a biweekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights 11 of the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City, MLS and soccer around the globe. Click here to visit the Starting XI archive.

Gerso scored a second-half hat-trick on Wednesday as Sporting Kansas City moved atop the Western Conference table with a 3-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC at Children’s Mercy Park. The 26-year-old was the first Kansas City player to record an MLS hat-trick since 2010, tallying three times in a 13-minute span as Sporting KC (6-2-4, 22 points) pushed its club-record home unbeaten streak to 15 regular season matches at the expense of the reigning MLS Cup champion Sounders (2-5-4, 10 points). Goalkeeper Tim Melia was another star of the show, making five saves on the way to his league-leading seventh shutout of 2017.

2. Vancouver Visit

First-place Sporting Kansas City will have just two days of rest before facing Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-5-1, 13 points) at 6 p.m. CT Saturday. FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest will televise three hours of live coverage at BC Place in Vancouver beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT, while listeners can follow the action live on ESPN 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). Sporting KC owns an impressive 6-1-3 all-time regular season record against Vancouver, including two wins and a draw last year.

All fans are welcome to attend the official watch party for Saturday’s match at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.). Beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT, No Other Pub will offer 16-oz. Corona cans for $5 as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet with bottomless soda and domestic beers.

3. Loons Loom Again

Sporting Kansas City will begin their 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on June 14 at 7:30 p.m. CT, hosting fellow MLS club Minnesota United FC in the fourth round of the prestigious tournament at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets for the Open Cup match are included in Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Member packages as Game A. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning at 10 a.m. CT Friday via SeatGeek.com.

4. Korean Quest

Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown will captain the United States U-20 Men’s National Team at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be held from May 20 – June 11 in Korea Republic. Coached by Tab Ramos, the U.S. U-20s will begin their World Cup campaign Monday, facing Ecuador at 3 a.m. CT on FS1. The U.S. will play two further group stage matches – versus Senegal next Thursday (6 a.m. CT) and Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 28 (4 a.m. CT). Each game will be televised live on FS1.

5. Playoff Push

The Sporting Kansas City Academy U-18s and U-16s return to Swope Soccer Village for a doubleheader against the Colorado Rapids. Both matches are free and open to the public, with the U-18s kicking off at 10 a.m. before the U-16s take the field at 12:30 p.m. With three games remaining in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy regular season, the Sporting KC U-18s and U-16s are well positions to qualify for the Development Academy Playoffs that run from June 20-26 in Westfield, Indiana. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter for live updates.

6. Meet REX

Children’s Mercy and Sporting Kansas City have collaborated to provide a one-of-a-kind experience to patients who are unable to physically attend a match at Children’s Mercy Park. With the help of REX, a remote experience robot consisting of an iPad on a pole with a pair of self-balancing wheels, patients can experience MLS in a way that even kids physically attending the games aren’t able to. REX debuted as the first technology of its kind to be used at a major league event when Sporting KC hosted Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday. REX’s debut received national coverage from the likes of ESPN and the Associated Press. Learn more about the Center for Sports Medicine and Child Life at Children's Mercy, as well as the innovative REX technology.

7. Patio Pointers

Sporting Kansas City is teaming up with Westlake Ace Hardware in May for the All-Star Patio Sweepstakes. One entrant will win Sporting KC merchandise, tickets to an upcoming match and a variety of patio essentials. Fans can enter the sweepstakes and learn more at SportingKC.com/westlakepatio.

8. Humpday Rewind

Wednesday offered up a busy slate of Major League Soccer, as five interconference matches were played across the country. The Philadelphia Union stayed hot with a 2-0 home win over the Houston Dynamo, a result that helped Sporting KC move to the summit of the Western Conference standings. Nemanja Nikolic moved atop the Golden Boot race with two goals in Chicago Fire’s 3-0 win over the Rapids, Real Salt Lake edged past New York City FC 2-1, and San Jose and Orlando played to a 1-1 stalemate. MLSsoccer.com analyst Matt Doyle broke down all the action, notably praising Gerso for his devastating performance against Seattle.

9. Soccer Sunday

The Week 12 MLS schedule includes two nationally televised matches on Sunday. At 4 p.m. CT, expansion outfit Minnesota United FC welcomes LA Galaxy to TCF Bank Stadium on ESPN. Both sides started slowly this year but have shown signs of improvement of late, as Minnesota topped Sporting KC on May 7 and LA snapped the New York Red Bulls’ 19-game home unbeaten streak with a 3-0 road win last Sunday. The second game of the doubleheader pits Orlando City SC against New York City FC at the new Orlando City Stadium on FS1, igniting a rivalry that began in 2015 when both teams entered MLS.

10. Championship Sunday

English Premier League fans will revel in 10 matches played simultaneously on 10 different networks at 9 a.m. CT Sunday, drawing a close to the 2016-17 season. With Chelsea already crowned champions and Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull City already relegated, the drama lies with Liverpool, Manchester City and Liverpool. Two of these three teams will finish in the top four and thus qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, while the fifth-place finisher will drop into the UEFA Europa League. Liverpool and Manchester City control their respective destinies, knowing they will secure a top-four spot with a win.

11. Sunday Bloody Sunday

On the same day the Premier League ends in England, the La Liga title race will be decided in Spain. Entering Sunday’s final round of fixtures, Real Madrid holds a three-point lead over archrivals Barcelona. Both teams will play simultaneously at 1 p.m. CT, with Real Madrid needing just a point from their visit to Malaga to clinch the title, while Barcelona will look to beat Eibar at home to give themselves a chance at winning a third straight Spanish crown. Should Real Madrid lose, the championship will go to Barcelona due to their two victories over Madrid earlier this season.

Games to Watch (May 19-22)