St. Louis CITY SC (17-10-5, 56 points) travels to Canada to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-10-10, 43 points) in their final road match of the regular season on Wednesday, October 4. The match kicks off at 9:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed free on MLS Season Pass and can be heard by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
In their last match, St. Louis CITY SC dominated cross-state rivals Sporting KC, scoring four goals in the last 17 minutes to secure a 4-1 win at home. Sam Adeniran, Jared Stroud and João Klauss (2) all etched their names on the scoresheet with Eduard Löwen also playing a pivotal role in the win, providing a hat trick of assists. After splitting the first two meetings against Sporting KC, Saturday night’s win means CITY SC takes the lead in the young overall head-to-head battle.
With the victory, St. Louis became the first expansion club (excluding the shootout era) in MLS history to win 17 regular season games in their inaugural season. CITY SC’s four-goal outburst against Sporting KC also pushed them to 62 goals on the year – making them one of four expansion clubs to break the 60-goal mark (LAFC – 2018, Atlanta – 2019, Chicago Fire – 1998).
After taking care of business at home and LAFC failing to defeat Real Salt Lake on Sunday, CITY SC clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and became the first expansion team in MLS history to earn the top seed in their conference in their debut season. St. Louis has also clinched a spot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup and remains on the cusp of more expansion team history, sitting just two points away from beating LAFC’s 57 points in 2018.
CITY SC has now earned 35 points in home matches this season, good for the second most home points by an expansion team in their inaugural season in MLS history (excluding the shootout era). CITY SC also earned its 11th home victory of the season, tying Atlanta United for the most by an expansion team in their inaugural season.
At home, St. Louis has tallied 41 goals in 16 games (2.6 goals per game ratio), which is tied for first in the league with Atlanta United. After clinching the No. 1 seed in Western Conference, CITY SC are guaranteed playoff matches at CITYPARK, which has become a tough place for away teams, and has seen a sellout crowd for all 16 regular season games so far.
With his brace against Sporting KC, CITY SC’s Designated Player Klauss has raised his goal tally to 10 goals this season. The forward has scored five times in the last five matches, rounding out the month of September with five goals. Even after missing 15 regular season matches, Klauss’ 10 goals are tied for 15th in the league, only five behind front-runners Lucho Acosta, Hany Mukhtar and Giorgos Giakoumakis. Klauss has scored 10 times in only 1,200 minutes this season, with his 0.75 goals per 90 minutes ranking as the third-best mark in MLS behind Adeniran at 0.82 and Atlanta’s Giorgos Giakoumakis at 0.87 (minimum seven goals).
Adeniran scored the game’s first goal against Sporting KC. The forward has now opened the scoring for the fifth time this season. Adeniran, who also celebrated his birthday on Saturday, has scored five goals in his last seven matches and has raised his goal total to eight this season. Adeniran has 0.82 goals per 90 minutes which is second-best in the league.
CITY SC midfielder Löwen continues to play a vital role in St. Louis’ success story this season. The German recorded a hat trick of assists against Sporting KC, the second time he has accomplished the feat this season (the other match was against Austin FC on August 20). Löwen who also missed five regular season matches through injury, has raised his assists total to 14, which is tied for second in the league – two behind Atlanta’s Thiago Almada. Löwen has 20 goal contributions (six goals, 14 assists) this season.
The match on Wednesday will mark the second time the two sides meet, with CITY SC winning the first match 3-1 at CITYPARK on May 27. Vancouver has a 7-3-5 record at home this season, scoring 31 goals with plus-13 goal differential. Vancouver’s leading goal scorer is Brian White who has 14 goals this season followed by Brian Gauld with 11 goals.
