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St. Louis CITY SC falls short in completing historic inaugural season

CITY SC's inaugural season came to an end after falling in Round 1 of the MLS Cup Playoffs to rival Sporting Kansas City.

ST. LOUIS — A historic inaugural season came to an end for St. Louis CITY SC Sunday night. 

It was a fairytale year for the newest Major League Soccer team, with records, wins and players to show for it. But, it all came to an end after falling in Round 1 of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs to rival Sporting Kansas City. 

As players, coaches and fans watch as the offseason begins, we take a look back at some of the biggest moments this season:

First win, goal

Center-back Tim Parker scored the team's first goal in franchise history on a corner, assisted by Eduard Löwen. The goal came in CITY SC's first match on Feb. 25 against Austin FC. 

St. Louis would also record its first win in the same game, winning 3-2. The other goals came from midfielder Jared Stroud and forward, João Klauss. They would join the 1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny as the only teams to rally for victories in inaugural matches.

First home win

In their second match and first time in front of their home crowd, CITY SC won 3-1 over FC Charlotte on March 4. St. Louis became the fourth expansion team to win its first two matches. 

Historic start to season

St. Louis won five straight games to start the season, claiming 15 points. Only two other teams did so in their first five games, the 1996 LA Galaxy and 2012 Sporting Kansas City. 

The team also set the record for the best start for an expansion team when it won its fourth, surpassing the 2009 Seattle Sounders.

They won five straight before falling to the Minnesota United on April 2. 

MLS All-Stars 

Roman Bürki, the team's captain and goalkeeper, and Tim Parker, vice-captain and center-back, were named to the MLS All-Star Game this season. 

CITY SC was one of seven teams in MLS to have two all-star selections. It was both Bürki and Parker's first selection to an MLS All-Star Game. 

Western Conference title 

St. Louis CITY SC got some help in locking up the top spot in the Western Conference after LAFC lost to Real Salt Lake. The team held the spot during most of the regular season, outpacing the rest of the conference. 

They became the first expansion team in MLS history to win a conference title during its inaugural season.

St. Louis also secured a spot in the  2024 Concacaf Champions Cup with their conference title win.

Overall records

CITY SC finished the regular season with a 17-12-5 record. The team's 56 points were the second most by an expansion team in MLS history. The 17 wins set the record for the most wins by an expansion team.

St. Louis joined Atlanta United FC, Los Angeles FC and Chicago Fire FC as the only expansion teams to score 60 or more goals in their inaugural seasons. 

Throughout the season, 16 players got on the scoresheet, tying the 2022 Charlotte FC squad for the most different goal scores for an expansion team in history.

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