KANSAS CITY, Kan. — City SC right back Tomas Totland got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Synne Raa, a couple of weeks ago and, like many soccer players, had a plan for how he would commemorate the event on the field if he scored a goal.
It seemed unlikely he would need a plan, having scored just one goal in the past three seasons. Still, maybe make a heart with his hands. If it was a game at CityPark with his fiancee in the stands, he’d point at her.
“As a fullback, it’s not as easy as a striker,†Totland said a few days before the game. “But when it comes, I might have some sort of a celebration.â€
That moment came very late in City SC’s game Saturday with Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. With City SC trailing 3-2 and seeing what had looked like a nice road win about to turn into a frustrating loss, there was Totland, beating a defender to the ball in SKC’s end, leaping over the defender sliding and regaining the ball in stride and nicely firing it in for his first MLS goal. It tied the game two minutes into a very brief second-half stoppage time to rescue a 3-3 draw for City SC.
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And then — nothing.
“At that point, the curtains went down, and I forgot about where I was,†Totland said, grinning, after the game. “I just blanked out, and then I just slid on my knees. ... It was a big relief getting that goal, almost more than joy, but I dedicate that goal to her.â€
It was a fitting finish on a wild night in Kansas in what is shaping up as a very entertaining — and high-scoring — rivalry, with both teams taking leads and losing them. As befits a tie, there were equal amounts good and bad, of events to be recognized and events for City SC to hope never happen again. The game managed to be both encouraging and discouraging.
Ties have become the norm for City SC this season. Two-thirds of its first nine games have ended in a tie, to go with two wins and one loss. While City SC is one of just five teams in the league with one loss or fewer, its six ties are keeping it in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference — though in the tightly packed West, the middle of the pack isn’t all that far away from the top. City SC outshot SKC 20-7 and held it to just three shots on goal, all of which went in.
“For us to dominate away from home was an incredible performance for the boys,†said City SC coach Bradley Carnell. “But we all feel a little dejected about the type of goals we gave up.â€
The goals City SC gave up were one off a turnover by City SC in its own end; another that goes into the books as an own goal after goalkeeper Roman Burki got his hands on a shot from a tight angle by Daniel Salloi, only to see it redirect just enough to go in off the far post; and then City SC’s outside backs keeping Erik Thommy onside to set him up for a breakaway that Burki couldn’t stop.
Asked if each of the goals was annoying in its own way, Carnell said, “For two or three minutes, we lose the shape, we lost the momentum of the game. I also have to look back at it because I’m as flabbergasted as you.â€
“Learning moments,†said Klauss. “But how long and how many times do we have to make these mistakes to learn?â€
The big thing on the encouraging side is that Klauss is, clearly, back. After getting his first goal in the run of play in 1,001 minutes a week earlier, he scored a goal and had an assist Saturday (and he had a touch in the build to Totland’s goal).
On the goal that made it 2-1 for City SC, Klauss assisted in a bunch of ways: He slammed into Willy Agada and sent him flying with a firm shoulder hit to win the ball. He then passed it to Celio Pompeu and then ran past him, taking a defender with him while pointing to a spot on the field and telling fellow Brazilian Pompeu in Portuguese to go to the middle rather than giving the ball back to him. (“That’s a good thing about speaking the same language,†Pompeu said.)
Pompeu blasted it in from just outside the box.
Klauss’ hit wasn’t the only one in the game. Chris Durkin used his shoulder to win the ball from Tim Leibold before getting it to Rasmus Alm, whose perfectly placed pass allowed Klauss to one time it in to tie the game at 1-1. After both goals, Sporting KC players protested to referee Allen Chapman, and the video review took a long look at them before deciding they didn’t need to be reviewed by Chapman.
“I mean, it’s a derby, right?†Carnell said. “And we get up for these moments. And there’s a lot on the line. There’s a lot that happened here over 12 months. So for us, it was a natural reaction to want to and believe that we can. ... I think the goals were well taken, well deserved. But again, we have to go back to the drawing board for conceding although we’ve been so stout the last couple of games.â€
“Maybe a lot of people will argue that was a foul,†Klauss said of his hit on Agada. “But I think it was just a normal duel for me. We were running on each other, and I think it’s just a normal duel and I’m happy to beat him because I was able to find Celio and then Celio, unbelievable.â€
And just when it looked like City SC was going to see that all go for naught after Thommy’s 77th-minute goal, Totland came through. As a goal kick from SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia pinballed around the midfield, Totland started his run down the right. SKC’s Salloi won the ball but put his clearance right into Totland’s path. He got to it an instant ahead of a sliding Leibold, pushing the ball ahead and then leaping over the sliding defender in one motion. He took one more touch, then lined it up and on his next touch drove it past Melia, who had come out to challenge him and was pounding his fists on the turf after the ball went in.
“I actually thought about if I should pass it,†Totland said. “But the keeper came out and opened that space. ... It looked like the game was going away from us ... but we showed again that we don’t give up and we take back a point.â€
“It was great,†said Klauss, assessing Totland’s finishing. “I think it was very important for us. Being away in MLS is always tough. Getting one point here was good for us. And I think for the first half that we played and for the game, they had maybe 20 minutes better than us. I think we didn’t deserve to lose this game. So I think we got our reward.â€