The glimpse of Sporting Kansas City’s future appeared Wednesday in northern Utah, in the form of three teenagers integrated into a starting lineup averaging just 24.2 years in age.
A day earlier, tipping his hand, coach Peter Vermes had expressed an eagerness to see how a homegrown-heavy group would respond to the opportunity to commence the team’s U.S. Open Cup title defense. “A great experience,” he called it.
And a win, to boot.
Sporting KC defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 on the road Wednesday, moving into the Open Cup’s Round of 16. The remaining bracket will be drawn Thursday.