Sporting Kansas City: 2018 feels like Sporting’s year

Sporting Kansas City defeated Real Salt Lake on Sunday and that means the good guys are heading to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in five years.

What a weekend for Sporting Kansas City! After a draw with Real Salt Lake at their house, SKC had to get a victory on Sunday in order to advance to the next round of the playoffs. The home team knew what they had to do and they did that and then some.

Sporting got off to a 2-0 lead and won the match by a score of 4-2. They’ll now face Portland in the Western Conference Finals and that will kick off in Portland next weekend.

When Sporting won the MLS Cup in 2013, they held home field advantage throughout that year’s postseason. They have the number one overall seed this year as well and we all know that this team is a whole different animal when they’re playing at home in front of that rabid Sporting KC crowd. While SKC won’t host the MLS Final, having home field advantage in the next round is still very important.

It’s been a tough stretch for SKC in the postseason since that 2013 season with the team essentially being one and done each year. This year just feels different though and it has ever since the guys went on a six-game winning streak early in the season.

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They’ve shown they’re a great offensive team and Tim Melia is one of the best goalkeepers in the sport, so why shouldn’t SKC fans have faith in this team going all the way? It certainly feels like the team has that confidence and the fans are only going to feed off that.

Here’s what’s trending in Sporting Kansas City news.

After that dramatic win over RSL, is it meant to be for Sporting KC? [Charles Boehm, MLSSoccer.com]

"Sporting are almost never out of contention in any game, because they are built on a sturdy system of play that’s inculcated their players with baked-in roles and identities."

Sporting KC advances to face Portland in conference finals [The Kansas City Star]

Royal Flush: Sporting KC advances to Western Conference Championship [Cody Bradley, The Blue Testament]

This season has been fun from the very beginning and Royals broadcaster Denny Matthews once saying, “When it’s your year, these are the games you win”. That’s exactly how it feels for Sporting Kansas City right now. They’re winning big games in big moments. That’s what champions do and what that 2013 team did.

There was some worry when Real Salt Lake crawled their way back into the match, but Sporting put the nail in the coffin in the final minutes, as Daniel Salloi put the ball in an empty net and solidified the eventual 4-2 victory.

As mentioned earlier, this is the first time Sporting has won a playoff series in five years and the fans were feeling it. Having home field advantage makes this team even more dangerous and the crowd has to be feeling like the cup could be returning to Kansas City in a few weeks. It just feels like that kind of season.