Starting XI, presented by Ford, is a biweekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights 11 of the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City, MLS and soccer around the globe. Click here to visit the Starting XI archive.
1. Gerso Fine You Blow My Mind
Gerso scored a second-half hat-trick on Wednesday as Sporting Kansas City moved atop the Western Conference table with a 3-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC at Children’s Mercy Park. The 26-year-old was the first Kansas City player to record an MLS hat-trick since 2010, tallying three times in a 13-minute span as Sporting KC (6-2-4, 22 points) pushed its club-record home unbeaten streak to 15 regular season matches at the expense of the reigning MLS Cup champion Sounders (2-5-4, 10 points).