First Touches | #MINvSKC

Molino SKCvMIN

MATCHUP QUICK FACTS


  • Minnesota has already claimed a win against Sporting KC in 2020, coming from behind to take a 2-1 result on July 12. The game was part of the MLS Is Back Group Stage and counted toward the 2020 regular season.
  • Kevin Molino scored the game-winning goal against SKC in the 97th minute.
  • The tally was Molino’s third of the season.
  • Raheem Edwards provided the assist to the deciding goal, his first since joining MNUFC.
  • No MNUFC player has scored multiple goals in the all-time MLS series between the clubs.
  • This will be the 10th league meeting between the teams since 2017 and the 14th in all competitions since 2014.
  • Sporting KC sits on top of the Western Conference, with just one point separating them from the second-place Loons.
  • Minnesota’s last game that counted toward the regular season was on July 22 against the Colorado Rapids. After the Loons took a 2-1 lead in the first half, the Rapids scored in the 59th minute to split the points.
  • Ethan Finlay scored both of the Loons’ goals just seven minutes apart in the first half.
  • The Loons reached the semifinals of the MLS is Back Tournament, falling to the unofficial host Orlando City SC by a 2-1 margin.
  • This game begins a stretch of six games in 23 days as part of the first phase in the return to regular season play in home markets.
  • The Loons will face SKC again on Sunday, September 13 at Children’s Mercy Park.
  • Jan Gregus is tied for second in MLS with four assists this season.
  • Gregus tops the league leaderboard with 24 corner kicks served up in 2020.
  • Luis Amarilla is in a four-way tie for the most game-winning goals in the league with two.
  • Molino is currently averaging 1.05 goals per 90 minutes played.
  • Ike Opara has scored on both of the shots he has taken this season. He is one of three players in the league with a perfect conversion rate this year.
  • Tyler Miller is tied for the league lead with three wins on the season.
  • The Loons are third in MLS with 12 goals to their credit.
  • Minnesota has scored multiple goals in four of its five regular season games this year.
  • MNUFC and SKC have the best scoring percentages in the league, finding the back of the net on 18.5% and 18.6% of their shots respectively.


MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS


  • Ike Opara spent six seasons with Sporting Kansas City, representing the club from 2013 through 2018. He made 127 regular season appearances for SKC, scoring 13 goals and providing five assists.
  • Peter Vermes and Manny Lagos were teammates on the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for the inaugural MLS season in 1996. Lagos played the 1997 season on the MetroStars with current Sporting KC Assistant Coach Kerry Zavagnin.
  • Graham Smith and Hassani Dotson both played for Oregon State in 2015.
  • Aaron Schoenfeld played against SKC’s Gadi Kinda for five minutes in the Israeli Premier League when Schoenfeld’s Maccabi Tel Aviv faced Kinda’s FC Ashdod on December 2, 2017. Schoenfeld came on in the 77th minute while Kinda was subbed off in the 83rd minute of a 1-1 draw.