Recap: Sporting KC suffers 3-1 loss to San Jose

Sporting Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 pts.) suffered a 3-1 loss to San Jose (6-1-0, 18 pts.) on Saturday at Sporting Park as the Earthquakes moved into a share of the Supporters' Shield lead. 

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Jacob Bartlett, a 20-year-old Sporting Kansas City Academy product from Overland Park, Kan., put Sporting ahead in the first half with his first professional goal however San Jose rallied with a pair of goals from Jack Skahan before Dave Romney closed out the scoring with 15 minutes remaining.

Fielding the second youngest starting lineup for an MLS match in club history, Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky gave a first start to 21-year-old Brazilian centerback Diego Borges while 24-year-old Angolan forward Capita Capemba made his debut as a second-half substitute on Saturday.

Both teams exchanged early chances -- with Preston Judd snapping a header just wide of the near post in the 14th minute and Calvin Harris sending his shot narrowly beyond the far post in the 16th minute -- before Sporting took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute against a San Jose side that had only conceded once in their previous six games.

The Designated Player duo of Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic both earned assists with Joveljic slipping the final pass into the path of Bartlett for a first-time finish from 15 yards out. Bartlett becomes the youngest player to score for SKC in MLS play since Alenis Vargas in March 2024 and the first Kansas City native to score for the club since Kortne Ford in June 2022.

Joveljic, who now has 75 goal contributions (56 goals, 19 assists) in his MLS regular season career, came close to doubling Sporting's advantage in the 37th minute however his half-volley missed the target.

Instead, San Jose found an equalizer on the cusp of halftime as Skahan scored his first goal in nearly two years, and his first of two goals on the night, with a simple finish from six yards out off a cross from Niko Tsakiris.

After both teams had scored on their only two shots on goal of the first half, San Jose continued to apply pressure to start the second half as Beau Leroux threatened just 40 seconds after halftime with a curling effort from inside the penalty area. Minutes later, Skahan would produce the game-winning goal on a swift counter attack in the 49th minute for the first multi-goal game of his MLS career.

Capita, the club's newest arrival via a transfer from Radomiak Radom in Poland, nearly made an instant impact off the bench with an opportunity to level the score in the 68th minute. Justin Reynolds and Jake Davis combined on a give-and-go in the buildup before Capita raced onto the cross from Reynolds only to see his first-time effort carry over the crossbar.

San Jose would seal the three points with a third goal of the game in the 75th minute as Romney hit the back of the net for the first time since 2023. Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel would take care of the rest, collecting a shot from Reynolds in the 77th minute and then tipping Stephen Afrifa's long-range attempt over the bar in the 86th minute.

Sporting, now winless in a club-record seven straight regular season home games dating back to last season, will return to action on Tuesday with a Round of 32 match-up in the U.S. Open Cup against the USL Championship's Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. Kickoff at Weidner Field is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will stream live on Paramount+.

2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 7
Sporting Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 16,921
Weather: 75 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Justin Reynolds, Ian James, Diego Borges, Jayden Reid (Kwaku Agyabeng 81'); Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jacob Bartlett (Taylor Calheira 81'), Manu Garcia (Jake Davis 66'); Shapi Suleymanov (Stephen Afrifa 66'), Dejan Jovaljic (C), Calvin Harris (Capita Capemba 57')

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Ethan Bartlow, Jansen Miller, Cielo Tschantret

San Jose Earthquakes: Daniel; Benji Kikanovic (Jack Jasinski 76'), Daniel Munie, Reid Roberts, Dave Romney; Beau Leroux (Ian Harkes 69'), Ronaldo Vieira (C), Jack Skahan (Nick Fernandez 69'), Niko Tsakiris, Ousseni Bouda; Preston Judd (Paul Marie 87')

Subs Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Noel Buck, Max Floriani, Nonso Adimabua, Jonathan Gonzalez

Scoring Summary:
SKC - Jacob Bartlett 1 (Dejan Joveljic 2, Manu Garcia 2) 27'
SJ - Jack Skahan 1 (Niko Tsakiris 3, Ousseni Bouda 1) 45'
SJ - Jack Skahan 2 (Preston Judd 2, Niko Tsakiris 4) 49'
SJ - Dave Romney 1 (Daniel Munie 1) 75'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC - Shapi Suleymanov (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 54'
SKC - Taylor Calheira (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 82'

Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referee: Logan Brown
Assistant Referee: Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Matthew Corrigan
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Fabio Tovar