COLUMN: St. Louis City SC's historic playoff entrance ruined by rain, refs and rival

Rain, referees, and rivals led to the ruination of St. Louis City's first-ever MLS Playoff game.

City SC goalkeeper Roman Bürki was bombarded by Sporting Kansas City's 11 shots on goal and succumbed to a 4-1 defeat to open the best-of-three first-round series on Sunday, Oct. 29, in St. Louis. It was the first time City SC lost an MLS game by three goals at CityPark.

City SC became the first MLS expansion team to win 17 games and finish the regular season in first place in the Western Conference. And what was their reward? A miserablely cold defeat with rain that persisted like a middle finger to the face.

Remarkably enough, the rain didn't bother the fans. This is a fan base that supported their new soccer team with sellout after sellout. Not even a nearby tornado deterred them when City SC crushed FC Cincinnati (winners of the Supporters' Shield) 5-1 on April 15.

"Not a good result by us by any sense, but I've got to give credit to the fans and thank them for the atmosphere," St. Louis coach Bradley Carnell said during his post-match press conference.

Logan Ndenbe scored his first goal as a professional in the 27th minute to start the scoring for Sporting KC. After going half of the first half without a score while soaking by the second, a 0-1 hole dampened the energy from the crowd.

St. Louis City SC midfielder Indiana Vassilev celebrates on top of Tim Parker after he scored a goal during a 4-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City in the first round of the MLS Playoffs on Sunday, Oct. 29, in St. Louis. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

City SC brought the environment back to life one minute later when Tim Parker scored the equalizer to tie the game at 1-1. For the next eight minutes, there was excitement in the air. City SC looked like the top seed that would showcase their superiority over their rivals.

Then the harsh reality of the moment set in, as Rémi Walter and Gadi Kinda scored in the 36th and 39th minute to give KC a 3-1 first-half lead that seemed insurmountable.

Then came the referees, and everything just fell apart for City SC. From the final minute of the first half on, five St. Louis players received yellow cards, an absurd amount in a given game.

Dániel Sallói rounded out the scoring KC with a goal in the 61st minute. This is clearly not the same Kansas City team that started the season with only one win in its first 11 games. SKC scored more goals during this playoff game alone than through the first 10 games of the season.

St. Louis Cardinals legend Ozzie Smith presents the game ball at the beginning of the MLS Playoff game between St. Louis City SC and Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, Oct. 29, in St. Louis. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Now the rivalry has reached its boiling point. Game 2 on Sunday, Nov 5, in Kansas City, Kansas, can either put a bitter end to the best expansion season in North American sports since the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights of 2018 or prolong armageddon on the pitch.

"We know how they play, they know how we play," Carnell said. "I think it's just in the moments, these critical moments that kind of get away from us and dictate games. The higher the stakes are, the bigger the rewards are for you or against you. Today, we lost three moments and go three down, and that's just the nature of the game."

City SC owes it to their fans to bring the series back to St. Louis.