Sporting Kansas City is the only MLS club to win its first three games of the season, but its players are not getting ready to lift the MLS Cup.
Brad Davis scored his first goal for the club as Sporting defeated Toronto FC 1-0 on Sunday night, the team's third straight victory.
And though they already have a three-point lead over the rest of the league, midfielder Roger Espinoza said it's too early for him and his teammates to celebrate.
"This doesn't mean that much to me," said Espinoza, who was sent off in a debatable decision in the 84th minute on Sunday.
"Obviously, I'm happy that we're 3-0, but at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything in terms of trying to get to the MLS Cup. You've got to stay humble and do well."
Captain Matt Besler, who has spent his entire career with the club, has good reason to downplay early results. In 2012, Sporting started with seven straight wins but lost early in the playoffs.
"And the following year, we went 3-3-3 -- exactly .500 -- through the first nine games, and that was the year we won [MLS Cup]," Besler said. "So the first 10 games, I don't think you can read into anything."
Sporting, which has yet to concede a goal from open play, is one of only three teams in MLS without a loss so far, but that number will shrink after the international break when Kansas City takes on Real Salt Lake.
"I think the team is disciplined," manager Peter Vermes said. "I think we have been taking our chances pretty well. Everyone is stepping up from different places. I think that is the reason why we are getting results.
"But it is so early in the season; I can only imagine what is going to come. It doesn't really matter because we have only played three games.
"We have a lot more ahead of us. We have an incredibly tough opponent [Real Salt Lake] in two weeks, and that is what we need to get ready for."
Sporting's lone goal on Sunday came after a controversial play where Dom Dwyer clashed with Toronto defender Justin Morrow before winning the ball and feeding Davis.
Toronto players were left screaming for a foul, but referee Baldomero Toledo did not blow his whistle.
"He fouled me," Morrow said of Dwyer after the game. "I was between him and the ball. He stuck his legs in between mine, fouled me, and that was it. I asked the ref, and he said it wasn't a foul."
Davis, however, had no complaints, saying: "Dom battled there for us and played the ball.
"To be honest, I don't think it was a foul. I think we were just battling there, and I got my body in front of him, and I was able to take a touch. I was able to come back on my left foot and place the ball in the corner. It was a good little play there and for me."