Sporting Kansas City (4-6-2, 14 points) returns to Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday for an interconference matchup against 2015 expansion team Orlando City SC (2-2-5, 11 points) at 2:30 p.m.
The afternoon game will kick off Sporting KC’s three-game home stretch, with the team squaring off with Real Salt Lake the following Saturday, May 21, and D.C. United on May 27.
For tickets, visit Ticketmaster.com or call 888-4KC-GOAL. The first 10,000 fans through the gates on Sunday will receive free cinch. For those unable to attend, the interconference clash will be nationally televised on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, with live radio broadcasts airing on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340.
Sunday’s match marks the first time Orlando City will travel to Children’s Mercy Park since the team joined MLS last year. Led by Brazilian World Cup veteran Kaká and 2015 MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin, the Lions sit at fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Sporting KC has dropped to seventh place in the Western Conference after a seven-game winless streak – the longest current drought in MLS. But Orlando City isn’t too far behind the heartland team, with a five-game winless streak of its own.
There’s a lot of rivalry heading into the Sunday encounter, especially since Orlando City previously served as Sporting Kansas City’s USL affiliate in 2013 and 2014. The teams may have only come face-to-face once since Orlando joined MLS last year, but the two do have a history in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, clashing in both 2012 and 2013.
Sporting KC took home the victory in 2012 with a 3-2 triumph over Orlando, but the Lions exacted revenge a year later with a 1-0 upset over manager Peter Vermes’ side.
Both Sporting KC and Orlando City SC last took home three points more than one month ago. April 9 marks the last time Sporting KC brought home a win, with Orlando’s last victory taking place on April 3. Sporting KC most recently fell to the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, holding the Western Conference rival at 0-0 until Dillon Serna’s 78th-minute strike only two minutes after defender Ike Opara was ejected on his second yellow card of the evening.
Orlando, on the other hand, finds itself coming off two draws in its most recent matches against New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls.
– Story from Sporting KC