San Jose Earthquakes drop 1-0 result at MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City

The San Jose Earthquakes lost their first match of the season 1-0 to Sporting KC on Saturday night at Sporting Park. The Quakes, playing their fourth match in the past two weeks, battled KC to a scoreless tie at halftime, but allowed a goal early in the second half to fall to 0-1-1 in MLS play this season.

Sporting Kansas City moved ahead 1-0 in the 57th minute on a penalty kick. After a cross in the box fell between a group of players, the Quakes were whistled for a hand ball in the box. Dom Dwyer stepped up and slotted it past Quakes goalkeeper Jon Busch to put Sporting KC ahead.

Chris Wondolowski nearly equalized in the late stages as the Quakes attempted to mount a rally. Clarence Goodson rose up to redirect a loose ball into the center of the box and Wondolowski ran onto the ball and fired a shot that just missed the near post.

The Earthquakes return home next weekend, as they welcome the New England Revolution to Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. PT. The game will air live on Comcast SportsNet California, 1590 KLIV and 1370 KZSF.

Sporting Kansas City 1: San Jose Earthquakes 0
March 22, 2014 - Sporting Park
Attendance: 19,368

Scoring Summary: KC - Dominic Dwyer (penalty kick) 57.

Misconduct Summary: SJ - Victor Bernardez (caution) 9; SJ - Steven Lenhart (caution) 39; KC - Seth Sinovic (caution) 42; SJ - Clarence Goodson (caution) 57; SJ - Shaun Francis (caution) 66; KC - Paulo Nagamura (caution) 81; KC - Eric Kronberg (caution) 83.

San Jose Earthquakes: Jon Busch, Cordell Cato, Clarence Goodson, Victor Bernardez, Shaun Francis, Atiba Harris (Alan Gordon 76), Sam Cronin (JJ Koval 46), Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi, Shea Salinas, Chris Wondolowski, Steven Lenhart.

Sporting Kansas City - Eric Kronberg, Kevin Ellis, Aurelien Collin, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic, Paulo Nagamura, Benny Feilhaber, Lawrence Olum, Graham Zusi, Dominic Dwyer, Sal Zizzo (CJ Sapong 75).


SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MARK WATSON

On game:
"Our guys put the maximum effort into every game and they had that fight again tonight. Kansas City is a good team and they made it difficult on us out there and they deserved the three points. We talked about some adjustments at halftime and we came out a little better in the second half, but they got the goal and we couldn't get back into it."

On four games in opening two weeks:
"We are not making any excuses. We have played a lot over the past two weeks, but now we have a week to rest and get prepared for New England next Saturday. That is a big game for us, so we need to get our bodies rested and be ready for another difficult game."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI

On the match:
"That was not a pretty game for either side tonight. Both teams worked hard and put a lot into the game, but it was not a great performance. You have to give Kansas City credit. They deserved to win tonight and we did not do enough to get a result."

On chances:
"We didn't play our best tonight, but we had a few chances to get back into the game. We just couldn't finish them when we needed to. They took advantage of one of theirs and that is the story of the game."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER CLARENCE GOODSON

On physical battle:
"Both of the teams out there tonight play hard and it was a physical game. We are a hard team to score against, so we knew that we could stay in the game even though we weren't playing our best. We had a few chances to tie it up, but it wasn't our night."

On regrouping:
"We need to get back to training this week. We have had a lot of games over the past two weeks and we are looking forward to getting on to the field and working on some things as a unit. We weren't as sharp as we wanted to be tonight and that is something that we need to work on a bit this week. It will be good to play at home next Saturday and hopefully get back on track."

Match report and quotes courtesy of a San Jose Earthquakes press release.