Sporting Kansas City will kick off their 2018 postseason campaign in the Western Conference Semifinals of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. As the No. 1 seed in the West, Manager Peter Vermes' side will play the first leg on the road this Sunday and host the decisive second leg on Sunday, Nov. 11, at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for Sporting KC's first home playoff match since 2013 are on sale now via SeatGeek.com.
In the buildup to the conference semifinals, SportingKC.com will take a position-by-position look at arguably the most balanced team in Sporting KC history. Serving as a regular season recap and a playoff preview, the series will unfold in the following order: Goalkeeper Tim Melia on Monday, defenders on Tuesday, midfielders on Wednesday and forwards on Thursday.
It was always going to be hard for Tim Melia to replicate a lights-out 2017 campaign that resulted in MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors. But one season removed from his crowning individual achievement, the Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper has shown no signs of slowing down.
The 32-year-old veteran, now in his ninth MLS season and his fourth at Sporting KC, has become a shining example of consistency between the posts as one of Major League Soccer's premier keepers.
A year after being named the best player at his position, Melia has followed up in 2018 with career-highs in wins (18), shutouts (13) and saves (106). His 13 clean sheets are the second-most in MLS and make him one of eight goalkeepers in league history to hit double-digit shutouts in consecutive seasons.
Moreover, Melia has been an ever-present fixture for a Sporting KC side that ranks third in scoring defense at 1.18 goals allowed per game. He is the only MLS goalkeeper with at least 10 shutouts, 15 wins and 100 saves this year, having played every minute in all 34 regular season matches.
Among players with at least 10 MLS appearances, Melia also ranks fifth in save percentage (72.6%) and second in passing accuracy (77.6%), a clear indication of his comfort with the ball at his feet in Manager Peter Vermes' possession-oriented system.
Perhaps the most impressive skill up Melia's sleeve is his ability to deny kick takers from the penalty spot. His three saved penalties this year and his six saved penalties since the start of 2017 are both MLS bests. Remarkably enough, Melia has stopped six of the 13 penalties he has faced over the last two seasons. No other goalkeeper has more than four saved penalties during that time.
Below is a statistical aggregate of his regular season totals from 2017 and 2018. This body of work shows that any discussion about the league's best goalkeeper should (must?) include Melia.
Tim Melia in 2017 and 2018 combined
(MLS regular season)
<strong>Stat</strong> |
<strong>Total</strong> |
<strong>MLS Rank</strong> |
Wins |
30 |
3rd |
Shutouts |
23 |
2nd |
Goals Against Avg. |
0.98 |
1st |
Saves |
200 |
6th |
Penalty Saves |
6 |
1st |
Save Percentage |
75.5 |
2nd |
Passing Accuracy |
73.5 |
1st |
Minutes |
5,819 |
4th |
Games |
65 |
t-2nd |
Like a slew of other players on the Sporting KC roster, Melia can view the 2018 playoffs as a shot at redemption. He was injured in the late stages of Sporting KC's knockout round loss at Portland in 2015, a game his team wound up losing on penalties. He kept Seattle off the scoreboard for 88 minutes in the 2016 knockout round, only to concede a goal that should have been disallowed for offside. And in 2017, Melia missed the final four games of Sporting KC's season, including their knockout round defeat in Houston.
Although he enters the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs seeking his first postseason victory, Melia boasts plenty of big-game experience in win-or-go-home situations. This is the man, after all, who helped propel Sporting KC to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles in 2015 and 2017. Melia is 8-1-2 in the cup competition, with those two draws accounting for a pair of clutch shootout wins.
The 2015 Open Cup final against the Philadelphia Union and the 2017 Open Cup semifinal are two of the most memorable moments in Sporting KC history. Melia was the star on each occasion, thwarting the opponent from 12 yards out as Sporting KC secured silverware in dramatic fashion. If given a similar opportunity in the 2018 playoffs, expect Melia to welcome the challenge with open arms and open mitts.
