by Brian Turrel
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia made the previously impossible look easy Sunday night, becoming the first goalkeeper in MLS history to stop the first three penalty kicks of a shootout.
Melia’s heroics saw his side safely past the San Jose Earthquakes and through to the semifinals of the Western Conference MLS Cup playoffs.
Melia’s talent for denying penalty kicks is already well-known. He has won all six of his career matches that have gone to a penalty shootout, and he’s the MLS career leader in opponents’ penalty kick percentage. Even so, head coach Peter Vermes was surprised.
“He’s just really good at it,” Vermes said. “I’ve never seen that in my life. I’ve never seen a goalkeeper make the first three saves in penalty kicks. I’ve never witnessed it. It says a lot about Tim. He does this regularly. It’s something special that he has. It really is. He’s a different level. I don’t get surprised a lot, but I was surprised tonight.”
In the penalty shootout, Johnny Russell, Ilie Sanchez and Khiry Shelton all reached the net past San Jose goalkeeper James Marcinkowski. The shootout was needed because the teams were tied at three at the end of regulation, and 30 minutes of overtime play failed to yield a winner.
Kansas City thought it had the match won in regulation when Gianluca Busio scored to put the team ahead 3-2 in the first minute of stoppage time. Gerso Fernandes made a deep run down the left side and crossed the ball into the box. Khiry Shelton touched the ball back to Busio, who was trailing him, unmarked by a defender. Busio took a single touch to stretch out the goalkeeper and then surely knocked the ball past him.
However, as stoppage time dragged on to seven minutes, San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski found the crowd-deflating equalizer that sent the match to overtime.
Ilie Sanchez notched the 2-2 equalizer in the 47th minute to bring KC back from a 2-1 halftime deficit. Ilie received a corner kick from Busio at the near post and headed it across the face of the goal, just inside the far post.
In the first half, Kansas City scored in the fourth minute when Johnny Russell earned a corner kick with a deep run into San Jose’s end. Russell took the kick and swung it in toward a crowd in the middle of the box. Roger Espinoza headed it in to give Kansas City the early lead.
In the next round of playoffs, Sporting Kansas City will play host to Minnesota United FC, which defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-0 to advance. The contest will be played on Dec. 1 or 2 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, the date depending on the outcome of other playoff matches.
