August 26, 2000, 25 years ago: The New York/New Jersey MetroStars beat the Dallas Burn, 6-4 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Clint Mathis of the MetroStars scored 5 goals, and he remains the only player to score 5 goals in a Major League Soccer game.
He opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, and scored again in the 26th. Dallas pulled a goal back in the next minute. Mathis got his hat trick in the 40th, before the Burn scored in stoppage time of the 1st half. In the 54th, the Burn tied the game, and they took the lead in the 64th, 4-3. Mathis took matters into his own hands -- or so to speak; it's soccer, where you can't use your hands -- by tying the game in the 68th. "Metro" were awarded a penalty in the 83rd, and Mathis converted it. They got one more in the 88th.
Born on November 25, 1976 -- a Thanksgiving Day -- in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, Mathis became a star forward at the University of South Carolina. He played in MLS from 1998 to 2010, helping Real Salt Lake win the 2009 MLS Cup. He also played a season in Germany for Hannover 96. He helped the 2002 U.S. national team win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and reach the World Cup Quarterfinal.
Both teams in this game have changed their names. In 2004, the Burn were rebranded as FC Dallas ("FC" for "Football Club," like in the rest of the world). In 2006, the MetroStars were bought by Austrian soft drink maker Red Bull, and were renamed Red Bull New York -- usually written in New York media sources as "the New York Red Bulls," and usually abbreviated "NYRB" rather than "RBNY."
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