Jacob Peterson used a rare opportunity to spark Sporting Kansas City’s win Sunday

The deficit arrived in the 67th minute Sunday, and Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes promptly signaled to his bench. Forward Jacob Peterson removed his warmup jersey, and two minutes later, a man who had scored only three times over the past three years jogged onto the field as a remedy for his club’s offensive woes.

At least one teammate prepared for precisely that.

“The thing that Jake doesn’t get enough credit for is that he makes really, really good runs,” Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber said. “That causes problems for the defense.”

Five minutes later, Peterson made one of those runs. And Feilhaber was ready.

Feilhaber delivered Peterson a pass in the six-yard box, and he shifted it to Dom Dwyer, who scored the game-tying goal against Orlando City SC.

Another five minutes later, Peterson supplied the game-winning tally in a 2-1 victory Sunday that broke Sporting Kansas City’s seven-game winless skid.

“He changed the game,” Dwyer said.

All in less than a half hour’s work.

All in just his second appearance of the season.

The opportunities have been scarce for Peterson in 2016. After making at least 16 appearances in each of his first 10 seasons in the league, the competition for playing time has limited him to only two this year. He concluded preseason sitting behind younger players Jimmy Medranda and Connor Hallisey on the depth chart.

“There’s no doubt it’s added a motivation factor to try to get back to being a regular on the team,” Peterson said. “But we knew when we were putting the roster together this offseason, the minutes were going to be harder to come by.

“But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to play more. Everybody wants to play.”

Peterson sat out each of the first 11 matches of the season. His 2016 debut — which came in Wednesday’s loss against Colorado — lasted only 14 minutes. It wasn’t a lot of time to make an impression.

But the 21-minute stint Sunday provided plenty.

“It’s difficult not to try to do too much when you haven’t been on the field a lot,” he said. “But you have to understand your role and what’s needed in the moment, and you’ll be fine.

“But there’s no doubt you want to make an impact.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Jacob Peterson used a rare opportunity to spark Sporting Kansas City’s win Sunday."