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Henry vs Montreal, 2012
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From Savarese to BWP: 16 Metro hat-tricks
May 16, 2020
Exactly 24 years ago, on May 16, 1996, the MetroStars beat Colorado 3:0 for the first regulation win in team history. Giovanni Savarese scored all three goals. From that point on, Metro would earn a few more wins, and collect 15 more hat-tricks, from heroes Clint Mathis, Amado Guevara, Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips, and non-heroes Alex Comas, Mamadou Diallo, and Edson Buddle. The full list can be seen here; we already wrote up the first ten years ago. So here are the last six... one name will be rather prominent.
March 31, 2012: New York 5, Montreal 2; Thierry Henry
After Metro hit for three hat-tricks in 2006, they would have to wait a long time for the next occurrence. It came from none other than the French ubermensch Titi Henry, who made a meal of Montreal (alas, the team he currently coaches). After the Impact opened the scoring, Henry responded with a header in the 28th. The teams exchanged goals before halftime, when Titi took over. In the 55th, he took a Dax McCarty pass, spun around, and scored. In the 79th, he didn't score, but backheeled to Mehdi Ballouchy for the team's fourth. The hat-trick came in the 89th, on a rebound from a Kenny Cooper blast.
April 23, 2014: New York 4, Houston 0; Bradley Wright-Phillips
It's easy to forget, but with just three goals in 15 games to his name, coming off a five-game scoreless drought, BWP's quality was still very much under question. That was no longer the case after this game. A good build-up in the 12th ended with Henry supplying Wright-Phillips for the opener. In the 24th, BWP redirected a Roy Miller cross. Titi made it 3:0 in the 65th, and Wright-Phllips slammed a penalty kick home four minutes from time. The legend began on that day.
May 10, 2014: New York 4, Chicago 5; Bradley Wright-Phillips
It didn't take long for BWP to get his second hat-trick, but the game didn't exactly go right. A quick exchange of goals saw the game level 1:1 after six minutes; Tim Cahill scored for Metro. In the 39th, Wright-Phillips gave Metro the lead from (who else!) Henry. But an awful collapse early in the second saw Metro allow four goals in just 15 minutes. Down three, BWP tried to put Metro on his back, scoring on a rocket in the 67th. In the 78th, Henry was brought down in the box and Wright-Phillips converted from the spot. Alas, a comeback could not be completed.
September 20, 2014: New York 4, Seattle 1; Bradley Wright-Phillips
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| BWP vs DC, 2018 |
The game is probably best remembered for Luis Robles' incredibly double-save, but Metro was already comfortably ahead by that point. Metro got the lead less than a minute in, when a bad Seattle backpass led to a shot by Lloyd Sam and a BWP rebound goal. In the 54th, Sam was taken down in the box, and Wright-Phillips made the penalty. Two minutes later, BWP knocked in a Miller cross, and that was that. Seattle responded, Cahill added Metro's fourth, and only then Robles made his amazing save.
May 28, 2016: New York 3, Toronto 0; Bradley Wright-Phillips
Metro played the entire second half with ten after a Gonzalo Veron red card. It didn't matter, as they entered halftime with a 3:0 lead, all courtesy of BWP. In the 4th, he headed in a Sacha Kljestan free kick. In the 25th, Kljestan found Wright-Phillips again, who sent the ball through the defender's feet and in. Just two minutes later, Mike Grella miss-hit the ball, but it got to BWP instead, and that was all Metro needed. Luis Robles saved a penalty to preserve the shootout.
September 16, 2018: DC United 3, New York 3; Bradley Wright-Phillips
BWP's last hat-trick was the most dramatic. Three times the Scum took the lead; three times Wright-Phillips answered. In the 41st, Bill Hamid flubbed he ball, and BWP converted with an overhead kick. In the 76th, he took a Michael Murillo pass and once again went through the defender's legs to tie the match. DC scored in the 87th, but Alex Muyl found Wright-Phillips in the 90th for one of the best ties in team history.
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