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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Visits Vancouver on Saturday

June 2, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


After back-to-back home victories, Sporting Kansas City will return to the road for a league-leading 10th time this season as the club crosses the Canadian border to visit the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at BC Place.

All 13 MLS matches on Saturday, beginning with NYCvNE at 2:30 p.m. CT and culminating with VANvSKC in the Matchday 17 finale, will be available free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as Major League Soccer reaches the halfway point of the 2023 season. Saturday's showdown in Vancouver will stream live in English, Spanish and French as fans in over 100 countries and regions are able to watch MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices from Roku, Amazon, and Google, game consoles, and tv.apple.com.

In addition, all Sporting Kansas City matches are shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network and local radio coverage of the clash in Canada will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams available in the Sporting KC app.

Since a winless start in the team's first 10 matches of the year, Sporting Kansas City is 4-1-1 with the most points of any team in the Western Conference during the month of May and will now face a quick turnaround as the team begins a five-game slate in June. Sporting earned an emphatic 4-1 victory over Portland on Sunday before dispatching FC Dallas in a 2-1 win on Wednesday, setting the stage for Saturday as SKC has the opportunity to record three regular season wins in a seven-day span for the first time in team history.

Daniel Salloi scored the game-winning goal in both games as the 2021 MLS All-Star and MLS MVP finalist has scored or assisted on half of Sporting's 18 goals in all competitions this year with five goals and four assists. The 26-year-old SKC Academy product leads the team in both categories and also ranks among the league leaders in several statistics, including shots on target (2nd), successful crosses from open play (4th), expected assists (6th) and chances created (10th).

Salloi has five career goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in seven regular season appearances against a Vancouver side that has beaten Sporting in each of the last three regular season meetings and has won three straight home matches in 2023. Most recently, the Whitecaps scored a club-record six goals for a 6-2 win over Houston on Wednesday in the highest scoring game of the MLS season to move into sixth place in the Western Conference.

The victory extended Vancouver's home unbeaten run to seven matches (5-0-2) inside BC Place, which hosted the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final and will host matches during FIFA World Cup 2026. The Whitecaps scored an MLS-best 14 goals during the month of May as Brian White leads the team with eight goals in all competitions and leads the league with 8.11 expected goals, while fellow forward Simon Becher - who was born in Topeka, Kansas - has contributed seven goals in his second season as a professional.

After navigating his club's participation in the Concacaf Champions League in March and April, head coach Vanni Sartini is managing another busy stretch of the season as the Whitecaps play 11 games in a 36-day span from May 6 to June 10. A run of five straight mid-week matches will culminate with the 2023 Canadian Championship final on Wednesday, June 7 as the Whitecaps defend their title against CF Montreal.

Sporting Kansas City is 11-6-4 all-time against Vancouver in the MLS regular season, including a 5-4-2 record at BC Place, however Manager Peter Vermes will be without six players on Saturday due to injuries. Willy Agada (tibia), Kortne Ford (Achilles), Tim Melia (quad), Kayden Pierre (hamstring) and Johnny Russell (hamstring) remain sidelined while Graham Zusi suffered a hamstring injury on Wednesday as a second-half substitute.

Sporting Kansas City at Vancouver Whitecaps FC

2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 17

Saturday, June 3 | 9:30 p.m. CT (9:39 kickoff)

BC Place | Vancouver, British Columbia

Broadcast Schedule:

Apple TV | Free on MLS Season Pass

English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB

Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM

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