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Sporting can clinch playoff berth with win over N.Y.

Oct 15, 2011 - 12:54 AM Kansas City, KS (Sports Network) - Sporting Kansas City hosts Red Bull New York on Saturday with a chance to seal a spot in the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Sporting is sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points on the year. A victory over New York is the only way Sporting could clinch a postseason berth this weekend. Any other result would leave its fate to be determined on the final matchday.

The Eastern Conference is wide open down the stretch. The Red Bulls are hanging on to the final playoff spot with 43 points, but are still only four points shy of the first-place Philadelphia Union and one point behind the Columbus Crew for the last automatic playoff berth in the East.

In their last outing, the Red Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 at home to secure their third win in five games. Over the past eight matches, the Red Bulls have posted a 3-1-4 record, shutting out their opponents in each of the three victories.

The win over Los Angeles sets up a crucial close to New York's season, with the final match coming at home against Philadelphia. Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry insists that the remaining fixtures are must-win situations.

"We all knew it was a must-win game," said Henry. "It's funny because when we must win, we win, so I think every game is a must-win game and now we have the last two of the season. There is no reason why we can't win them both and finish on top of the [East]."

Sporting is coming off a 1-1 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium against the San Jose Earthquakes. Both goals came late in the second half, as Chris Wondolowski thought he had given the 'Quakes the win in the 85th minute, but Teal Bunbury hammered home an equalizer just 50 seconds later.

"Our first thought wasn't 'Oh, let's put our heads down. The game is over,'" Bunbury said. "We picked ourselves up, and we went right at them immediately. We kicked it off, C.J. [Sapong] did his magic and I knew that I had to take off, make a good run in behind and finish it."

Sporting head coach Peter Vermes remains optimistic despite dropping two points at a crucial point in the season.

"We would like to have won," Vermes said, "but sometimes you have to battle and scrape and scrap the way we did in the first half. The bottom line is that the game is 90 minutes plus injury time. The guys did a really good job of staying in the game and realizing that it wasn't over until the end."

Sporting has made a habit of finishing matches strong, recording seven goals in the final 15 minutes of games to lead MLS.

With a plethora of attacking options in Bunbury, Sapong, Omar Bravo, and Kei Kamara, a New York lead in Saturday's tilt may not safe down the stretch.