Starting XI: Rising to the Top

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.

Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City (7-4-4, 25 points) will look to extend their club-record 16-game home unbeaten streak this Saturday when they face the Montreal Impact (4-4-4, 16 points) at 7 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest. Tickets for the interconference battle are available at SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a free Rally Wear Bandana courtesy of match sponsor Mainstreet Credit Union.

Saturday's matchup will air live on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM, and The Final Whistle postgame show will air immediately after the match on 810 WHB. The Sporting KC Uphoria app will also provide live updates and an exclusive offer for free Oreo cookies at Kansas City-area Price Chopper locations.

In addition to boasting a year-long home unbeaten run, Sporting KC is one shy of equaling its all-time record of seven consecutive home wins in the regular season. Manager Peter Vermes’ men are 4-0-1 in their last five meetings against the Impact, who have one win in six road fixtures this season.  

2. Soca Showdown

The U.S. Men’s National Team continues its World Cup qualifying campaign tonight when Trinidad and Tobago visits Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Kickoff is set for 6:50 p.m. CT on FS1, UniMas and UDN, giving the U.S. MNT a chance to #Get3 and climb into the upper half of CONCACAF’s Hexagonal table for the first time during the current qualifying cycle.

After more than two months of uninterrupted action with their respective clubs, 26 players have been called in by head coach Bruce Arena for two qualifiers that could go a long way in deciding whether the U.S. MNT will make an eighth straight World Cup appearance. Among them are Sporting Kansas City defenders Graham Zusi and Matt Besler, who will be available for selection Thursday as well as Sunday, when the U.S. MNT duels Mexico at the harrowing Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

3. Sunshine on SPR

The Swope Park Rangers (4-4-1, 13 points) return to Children’s Mercy Victory Field inside Swope Soccer Village when they host Tulsa Roughnecks FC (5-5-0, 15 points) on Sunday. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 4 p.m. CT and tickets are available via SeatGeek.com or at the venue box office on game day. The Rangers are fresh off a 0-0 draw at unbeaten San Antonio FC and will look to get back into the victory column against a much improved Tulsa outfit that has already matches its win total from the entire 2016 season.

4. Know the Foe

The Sporting  KC Academy U-18s and U-16s learned their group stage opponents on Wednesday for the 2017 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs, set for June 22, 24 and 26 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. The tournament’s official draw split 32 academy clubs at each age level into eight groups of four, with all teams playing three group stage matches across the abovementioned dates.

The U-18s join a daunting Group B that includes No. 1 overall seed Atlanta United FC as well as fellow MLS academy LA Galaxy and FC Boston Bolts. The U-16s were drawn into Group E alongside Weston FC of Florida, Pateadores of Southern California and New York outfit Everton FC Westchester. Group stage schedules and kickoff times for the U-18 and U-16 divisions will be announced in the coming days.

5. Animal House

Sporting Kansas City and the Kansas City Zoo are teaming up yet again to offer a soccer-themed experience on Sunday. Fans are encouraged to join Sporting KC players Benny Feilhaber, Ike Opara, Soni Mustivar and Kevin Ellis for the third annual Sporting KC Day at the Zoo. To mark the occasion, the Kansas City Zoo is offering $1 off the price of admission to guests that wear Sporting KC apparel on Sunday. Tickets for Sporting KC Day at the Zoo are available online at kansascityzoo.org or at the Kansas City Zoo gates, and more information is available by clicking here.

6. Youngsters Take Titles

For the tenth straight year, the Sporting Kansas City Academy has lifted a Kansas State Youth Soccer Association State Cup title. The Sporting KC U-12s and U-13s won their championship matches Tuesday at the U-13 and U-14 levels, respectively, propelling both teams to the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championship, which will take place June 23-28 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The U-12s knocked off KC Fusion 3-1 in the U-13 final before the U-13s edged the same foe by a 1-0 scoreline in the U-14 final. Tuesday’s State Cup victories are the 22nd and 23rd in the history of the Sporting KC Academy dating back to 2008. Click here for more information.

7. What the Hex?

Immediately following tonight’s World Cup qualifier between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Trinidad and Tobago, two other matches will round out Matchday 5 in CONCACAF’s Hexagonal. First-place Mexico will host fifth-place Honduras and second-place Costa Rica will welcome third-place Panama, with both contests kicking off at 9 p.m. CT.

Each team has six qualifying matches to play between now and October, with the top three teams punching their ticket to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The fourth-place finisher will progress to an intercontinental playoff in November with a World Cup berth up for grabs.

8. Two More on Tap

With World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies dominating this weekend’s slate of soccer, only three matches are on the docket for Week 15 in MLS. In addition to Sporting Kansas City hosting Montreal, Saturday’s league action kicks off at 3 p.m. CT when the second-place Chicago Fire (7-3-4, 25 points) host high-scoring Atlanta United FC (5-5-3, 18 points) in an intriguing Eastern Conference showdown. The evening will end with a mouthwatering matchup in the West, as the fourth-place Portland Timbers (6-5-3, 21 points) host third-place FC Dallas (6-2-5, 23 points) at 9:30 p.m. CT.

9. Pasher Provisional

Sporting Kansas City defender Tyler Pasher was named to Canada's 40-man provisional list for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday. Pasher joined the Canada Men's National Team last week ahead of an intra-squad match on Friday and an international friendly against Curacao next Tuesday, June 13 at Stade Saputo in Montreal.

All 12 countries participating in the Gold Cup can only select players from their respective 40-man rosters, all of which were finalized Wednesday. Later this month, each team will select a 23-player squad that will compete in this summer's tournament. Matt Besler, Graham Zusi and Dom Dwyer were named to the U.S. MNT’s provisional roster on Saturday as three of the 82 MLS players who were selected to provisional 40-man lists.

10. Radio Review

With Sporting Kansas City occupying first place in the Western Conference ahead of Saturday's showdown with the Montreal Impact at Children's Mercy Park, three players made radio appearances on Wednesday to preview the encounter and look back on an impressive 3-0 win over Minnesota United FC last weekend. Click here to listen to interviews with Benny Feilhaber, Seth Sinovic and Saad Abdul-Salaam, who joined either Sports Radio 810 WHB or 610 Sports Radio leading up to this weekend’s match.

11. Mighty Mazuma

Mazuma Credit Union and Sporting Kansas City are hosting a two-week Matchday Experience sweepstakes from June 1-15. Sporting Kansas City fans who enter the sweepstakes will have the opportunity to win tickets to a future Sporting KC home match in 2017, including a pregame tour, field access for pregame warmups and access inside the postgame press conference. The winner will also receive a $100 Visa gift card and a customized Sporting KC jersey. Click here to participate.

Games to Watch (June 9-12)