On This Day in 2000, the Georgia Native Shattered MLS Records in a Division-Clinching Victory
Sometimes, a career-defining moment arrives not through careful planning, but through pure, unstoppable momentum. For Clint Mathis, that moment came on a humid August evening in Texas, where the MetroStars forward would rewrite the record books in the most emphatic fashion possible.
The 2000 season had already transformed Mathis from a frustrated role player into MLS's most dynamic attacking threat. After two and a half seasons of playing second fiddle to Cobi Jones with the Los Angeles Galaxy, his May trade to the struggling MetroStars had unleashed something special. The Georgia native immediately found his rhythm in New York, flashing his trademark "I ♥ NY" shirt after goals and helping transform a team that had posted the league's worst record the previous season into Eastern Division contenders.
By August, the numbers told the story of a player finally in his element. The MetroStars were 10-3-2 with Mathis in the lineup, compared to their 3-6 start before his arrival. Playing as a pure striker for the first time in his career, rather than being shuttled between midfield and forward, Mathis had found the freedom that coach Octavio Zambrano knew he needed. "I have a lot more freedom," Mathis had said earlier that month. "This is the first time I've had a solid position."
That freedom had been on full display just weeks earlier at the MLS All-Star Game, where Mathis announced his arrival on the national stage. Taking a long feed from teammate Mark Chung, he poked a shot past goalkeeper Tony Meola for the East team's first goal in their eventual 9-4 victory. It was the kind of moment that hinted at bigger things to come. August 26 brought MetroStars to Dallas with the Eastern Division title hanging in the balance. What followed was nothing short of extraordinary.
Mathis struck first just three minutes in, converting a through pass from Alex Comas with a perfectly placed shot into the upper right corner past goalkeeper Matt Jordan. It was clinical finishing, but just the beginning of something unprecedented. The second goal arrived in the 26th minute, this time from a rebound that Mathis pounced on with the instincts of a natural goalscorer. By the 40th minute, another Comas assist had produced a third goal, completing what the MetroStars would later call the fastest hat trick in team history.
But Mathis wasn't finished. Even as Dallas fought back to make it 3-2 before halftime, the striker remained relentless. The fourth goal came in the 64th minute off a blast after a scramble on a corner kick, followed quickly by his fifth just four minutes later from the penalty. Five goals. Ten points. Both MLS records that would stand as monuments to one player's perfect night.
"I was in the zone and every shot I took went in each time," Mathis would reflect afterward, though he was quick to emphasize the bigger picture: "What is important is not my five goals, but the fact that we won the Eastern Division title."
The 6-4 victory did indeed clinch the Eastern Division crown, capping a remarkable transformation for both player and club. For Mathis, who would finish the season with 16 goals and 14 assists while earning MLS Best XI honors, the performance represented vindication of his belief in his own abilities. The boy who had once circled an opposing team's bench after scoring in college had found his stage in MLS.
For the MetroStars, it marked the completion of one of the league's most dramatic turnarounds, from worst to first, powered by a player who had finally found his proper position and the confidence to take the risks that separated good players from great ones.
The record-setting night against Dallas would prove to be more than just a statistical curiosity. It was the moment when Clint Mathis announced himself as American soccer's next great attacking talent, setting the stage for World Cup dreams and cementing his place in MLS lore. In one perfect evening, he had shown what coach Octavio Zambrano meant when he said, "There is no ceiling for Clint Mathis at this point." Five goals can change everything.