Recap: Sporting KC rallies for 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders

Sporting Kansas City rallied for a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday at Sporting Park in a Western Conference clash that saw both teams' leading scorers find the back of the net.

The visitors struck first through Paul Rothrock with a goal in the game's first two minutes as the Seattle native tucked a left-footed strike inside the far post for his fourth goal of the year. The Sounders nearly doubled their lead 10 minutes later as Jesus Ferreira's kissed the crossbar.

Instead, it was Sporting Kansas City that produced the game-tying goal in the 18th minute as Sporting captain Dejan Joveljic raced onto a misplayed pass from Sounders captain Cristian Roldan and buried his first-time shot from the edge of the penalty area through the legs of goalkeeper Andrew Thomas to level the score at 1-1. The goal not only snapped Sporting's 350-minute scoreless streak across all competition, but also brought Seattle's 420-minute regular season road shutout streak to an end.

The Serbian striker, who has three goals in his last four games against Seattle, now has a team-best five goals this year and he becomes the only player in Major League Soccer with five or more regular season goals in each of the past five seasons (2022-2026).

Each side would carve out one prime scoring opportunity apiece in the remainder of the first half as Roldan bounced a header over the bar on a corner kick in the 29th minute and Shapi Suleymanov forced a diving save from Thomas in the 34th minute with a well-struck effort from 22 yards out.

Sporting KC goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland made his club debut -- and first MLS appearance since July 2023 -- on Saturday and it came against a Seattle side for which he made 24 appearances in four seasons from 2020-23. The 31-year-old was called into action twice in the opening minutes of the second half, first to deny Jordan Morris from point-blank range in the 47th minute and then to keep out an attempt from Rothrock five minutes later after Ethan Bartlow had cleared a header from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi - his former college teammate -- off the goalline.

Sporting Kansas City then nearly pulled in front in the 65th minute on a counter attack that culminated with Capita Capemba racing behind the Seattle backline to reach a pinpoint pass from Joveljic only to see his shot superbly saved by Thomas. On the opposite end, Cleveland did well to keep out Kossa-Rienzi's shot in the 70th minute and quickly reacted to smother the rebound before Danny Musovski could pounce.

Suleymanov would try his luck from beyond 30 yards out in the 73rd minute, sending Thomas low to his left to keep the scoreline deadlocked. The Sounders too would continue to apply pressure -- racking up 27 total shots, second most in a regular season match in the club's history -- however Cleveland would not be beaten, diving at full extension to push away Ferreira's curling effort from the edge of the area in the 81st minute.

The game's last big chance would fall to second-half substitute Taylor Calheira, who entered the match in the 84th minute and nearly made an immediate impact if not for Thomas getting a right hand to Calheira's left-footed shot from eight yards out.

Saturday's result extends the Sounders unbeaten run to seven straight MLS matches, while the point was Sporting's first in seven games across all competitions. SKC, who are winless in eight straight at home dating back to 2025, will return to the road next Saturday with a trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Portland Timbers at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 9 at Providence Park.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 10
Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,378
Weather: 61 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis, Ethan Bartlow, Wyatt Meyer, Jayden Reid; Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia (Taylor Calheira 84'); Capita Capemba (Calvin Harris 74'), Dejan Joveljic (C), Shapi Suleymanov

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe, Zorhan Bassong, Ian James, Jansen Miller, Cielo Tschantret, Stephen Afrifa

Seattle Sounders: Andrew Thomas; Kalani Kossa-Rienzi (Peter Kingston 86'), Alex Roldan, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou Tolo; Snyder Brunell, Cristian Roldan (C), Jordan Morris (Albert Rusnak 67'), Jesus Ferreira (Hassani Dotson 86'), Paul Rothrock (Paul Arriola 67'); Danny Musovski (Osaze De Rosario 76'

Subs Not Used: Stefan Frei, Cody Baker, Sebastian Gomez, Antino Lopez

Scoring Summary:
SEA - Paul Rothrock 4 (unassisted) 2'
SKC - Dejan Joveljic 5 (unassisted) 18'

Misconduct Summary:
SEA - Jackson Ragen (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 31'
SEA - Hassani Dotson (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 90'

Referee: Sergii Demianchuk
Assistant Referee: Meghan Mullen
Assistant Referee: Jeffrey Greeson
Fourth Official: Alejo Calume
VAR: Lukasz Szpala
AVAR: TJ Zablocki