"Beyond The Box Score" is a weekly series presented by Compass Minerals that takes a statistical dive into every Sporting match, bringing to light the intriguing numbers and factoids that don't appear in the typical box score. To visit the series archive, click here.
Sporting Kansas City's narrow 2-1 defeat to Orlando City SC on Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park wasn't void of silver linings.
For starters, Manager Peter Vermes' men remain within a point of first place in the remarkably congested Western Conference table, which sees just six points separating co-leaders Seattle and Portland and the 11th-place Houston Dynamo.