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After going two weeks without a win and two weeks without a goal, . Louis City SC then had to wait two more hours as a result of severe weather that moved through the area, with thunder, lightning and tornado warnings.

Anyone thinking the previous two weeks had exposed City SC as a fa莽ade, a team that was the product of its schedule and that when the fluky goals ran out and the competition got tougher, the team would revert to ordinariness, or something less, was shown otherwise.

City SC scored early 鈥� the third minute of the game 鈥� and often 鈥� a season-best five times 鈥� as it beat up on FC Cincinnati 5-1. Coming into the game, Cincinnati was one of two teams in Major League Soccer yet to lose and had the most points in the league. Things look a little different now.

Now it鈥檚 City SC with the most points in the league (18, the most ever for an MLS expansion team after eight games), the most wins (six), the most goals (20) and the biggest goal difference (11). City SC scored five goals in one game against a Cincinnati team that had allowed just four combined in its first seven games and remains a team that has shown it can compete with anyone in the league, other than maybe Seattle on the road.

鈥淲e never really want to speak about anything鈥檚 broken,鈥� City coach Bradley Carnell said. 鈥淲e are the creators of our own destiny. We got off the blocks really quickly with the five wins, and so we as a group set our standards really high and when we lose two in a row, and then it doesn鈥檛 feel great, right?

鈥淲e said this week, this is about us. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any cause for complacency when you have just lost your last two games and you didn鈥檛 score a goal. So that pushed us. We were unhappy about that and yeah, the guys, I wanted them to play with courage, drive and passion and that鈥檚 what they did.鈥�

Even with Cincinnati without two of its best offensive players 鈥� midfielder Luciano Acosta is out because of a shoulder injury and forward Brenner is awaiting a transfer to Italy 鈥� this was another statement game for City SC, showing not only that it can compete with the best in the league, it can beat the best in the league. And it served up a reminder that this team isn鈥檛 going away.

It certainly seemed like Saturday never would go away. The match ended at 11:41 p.m. because of the delayed start caused by the storms, though the chaos began around 6:10 as fans were told to exit the stadium bowl and take shelter on the concourses.

Inside the City SC dressing room, spirits were light. Kyle Hiebert played chess with backup goalie Ben Lundt. There was even dancing, though the details on that were lacking. Others watched the East Coast MLS games, though there was disagreements over which games to watch. (Vice captain Tim Parker ultimately made the decisions, apparently the grownup in charge of the remote control.)

When it was done, more than 15,000 fans had stayed around and City SC had scored more goals than Cincinnati had allowed all season.

Jared Stroud started the scoring, followed by Eduard Lowen, Hiebert, Niko Gioacchini and finally an own goal, caused by a shot from Rasmus Alm that caromed off the post and then in off Cincinnati鈥檚 goalie. It was the fifth time in eight games City SC has scored three or more goals (only the third team in MLS history to start a season doing that) and the club now has a league-high five players with multiple goals.

It was not quite a picture perfect performance but it was successful on multiple levels. On City SC鈥檚 voyage of discovery this season, the team once again found a valuable lesson.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say our performance wasn鈥檛 great,鈥� Lowen said. 鈥淥ur performance was amazing, but gotta be honest, Cincinnati lost some very good players. But still, I mean, Cincinnati is a very good team. And I mean, we won 5-1. And I think we could have scored some more goals. I think that there was a great preparation of the coach to not focus so much on Cincinnati, but more focus on us and you could tell that there was the performance we wanted to have like in the first game. We pressed, we were always there. It was so ugly for Cincinnati to play against us and you could feel that we just dominated the game.鈥�

鈥淚 think it shows our resolve,鈥� said Hiebert, who headed in a cross from Stroud two minutes into first half injury time effectively ended the game. 鈥淲e knew we weren鈥檛 going to go through the season undefeated. Every team goes through a spell where the goals weren鈥檛 coming and so to be able to put five past a Cincy team that really doesn鈥檛 give up much. Like yeah, they were missing two of their top players but defensively that same structure was there, so that was a big time for us for our confidence moving forward.鈥�

鈥淪hows resilience,鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had tough times in the year where we鈥檝e been down a goal and we鈥檝e come back and won those games. It鈥檚 important for us to have the right mentality. It shows the guts that the guys in the locker have and the camaraderie we have.鈥�

Stroud鈥檚 goal three minutes into the game was the catalyst for City SC. Off a free kick, Lowen whipped the ball into the box. It bounced off Klauss and caromed to Stroud, who one-timed it in for his third goal of the season.

鈥淚 told Klauss we were going to score in the first 10 (minutes),鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淵eah, it felt good, helped us get a couple more things. Honestly, I think I was probably supposed to be standing somewhere else. Now, when I look back at it, maybe Brad won鈥檛 be so mad. Just smacked it when it came to me.鈥�

And after two weeks in which the team couldn鈥檛 score, getting one so early in the game seemed to set City SC free.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a massive weight lifted off the shoulders,鈥� Carnell said. 鈥淵ou can feel the relief of the group and you could feel the energy of the group and they were really excited for that. I think Jared鈥檚 a worker. He has some final third quality, and I鈥檓 happy he could reward himself then, which then rewards the team later on and sets the tone for the game.鈥�

Stroud had one goal in his first 47 MLS games; he now has three in eight games with City SC.

Lowen followed it with a half volley off a shot by Gioacchini that was blocked and came right to him. After a couple close calls earlier in the game, he put this one away.

鈥淚鈥檓 very thankful that it went in,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was a little bit disappointed that I couldn鈥檛 score one of the free kicks. The one was very close. I鈥檓 very happy that I could score but even more because the win.鈥�