Sporting Kansas City will travel to Canada this weekend for a cross conference contest against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. on Sunday with live coverage locally on KMCI’s 38 The Spot beginning at 6:30 p.m. Additional coverage will be available on SKCTV across the Midwest.
Sporting Kansas City is in the midst of a five-game road winning streak including two victories in Canada against Montreal and one against Toronto FC.
Sporting KC earned a 2-1 result at Toronto on July 26 as Graham Zusi opened the scoring for the visitors and Jacob Peterson notched the game-winner. Sporting KC’s eight MLS regular season wins in Canada are tied for most all-time among American clubs and Sporting KC is the only MLS club that Vancouver has yet to beat in their four-year existence.
Sporting KC defeated the Whitecaps 3-1 the last time these two clubs met at BC Place on April 18, 2012.
A victory on Sunday would tie Sporting KC with the 2005 San Jose Earthquakes for most consecutive MLS roads wins (6) since 2000.
International duty and injuries have been a major story for the 2013 MLS Cup champions this year.
Manager Peter Vermes will be without defenders Ike Opara and Chance Myers, midfielder Paulo Nagamura and goalkeeper Eric Kronberg on Sunday. However, Sporting KC remains in first place in the Eastern Conference with 39 points and an 11-5-6 record, despite starting 22 different lineups through 22 matches played in 2014.
The Vancouver Whitecaps have lost only four matches this season, fewest in MLS along with the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. Vancouver has earned a draw in each of the club’s last four outings against Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas and the Chicago Fire and is undefeated (3-0-5) against Eastern Conference opponents in 2014.
Vancouver features first-year midfielder Pedro Morales who is tied for second in MLS with eight assists this season while Sporting KC features Major League Soccer’s second-leading goalscorer in Dom Dwyer.
– Story from Sporting KC