Sporting Kansas City returns home this weekend to take on longtime rivals Seattle Sounders FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be available to stream in English and Spanish on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV. The match will also be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS
Sporting Kansas City is still searching for solutions to the club’s 10-game winless run in MLS regular-season play, including seven straight losses following Saturday’s 3-1 loss against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field. The seven-game losing streak in regular season is Sporting’s longest since 2006 and tied for the longest in club history.
While the club has advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals, Sporting is still looking to get the team’s MLS campaign back on track following a decent start that saw the team go 2-1-3 through their first six matches of the 2024 season. Since then, Sporting has gone 0-8-2 - the joint longest single-season winless run in club history having also reached 10 games in 2011 and 2023.
Sporting has continued to find ways to score in 2024, tallying 1.50 goals per game which ranks tied for 10th in MLS and would be the team’s eighth best scoring season in club history if it held for the remainder of the year - while Sporting also leads MLS with eight goals from outside the penalty area. However, Sporting has posted just one shutout in MLS action this year (0-0 at LAFC on March 9), and their 1.94 goals against average is third worst in MLS.
2. FIRST MEETING WITH SEATTLE SINCE PIVOTAL 2023 CLASH
Sporting Kansas City finally had a week to prepare for its next match this week having closed out a stretch of five matches in 15 days with the 3-1 loss to Minnesota United at Allianz Field last Saturday night. Sporting will be hoping the time to ready for its next opponent pays dividends as the squad gets set to face off against Seattle Sounders FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night.
Sporting and Seattle will meet for the first time this Saturday since that fateful matchup at Lumen Field 13 months ago on May 7, 2023. Entering that match, Sporting was a winless 0-7-3 through 10 matches in the 2023 season while Seattle was perched atop the West. Nevertheless, Sporting earned a 2-1 victory on the road behind goals from Erik Thommy and Alan Pulido which sparked one of the greatest in-season turnarounds in MLS history as Sporting posted the best record in the West for the remainder of the season and advanced deep into the postseason.
The last meeting between the two sides at Children’s Mercy Park came early last season on March 25, 2023. Despite Willy Agada striking early to give Sporting the lead, Seattle’s Jordan Morris and Leo Chu ruled the day as Morris tallied four unanswered goals with Chu tallying assists on all four strikes from the American striker.
Sporting trails the all-time series with Seattle 11-12-4, including a 5-6-2 mark at Children’s Mercy Park, but Sporting has had the better of the series over the last 10 years with a 10-5-3 record since 2015.
3. RUSSELL FINDS BACK OF THE NET AT MINNESOTA
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell appeared off the bench for the second consecutive match last weekend, coming on as a halftime substitute and firing home a consolation goal in the club’s 3-1 setback to Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Saturday night.
Russell picked up a loose ball in midfield before driving at the heart of the Minnesota backline and firing an unstoppable strike beyond Dayne St. Clair and into the back of the net in the 86th minute to make the final score 3-1.
The goal was Russell’s second of the season, having also tallied the opener in the 3-2 loss to Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on May 18 - meaning he has scored in two of his last three starts for the club.
Russell now has 58 goals in MLS regular-season action for Sporting KC, overtaking Dom Dwyer for second all-time in club history and only trailing Sporting Legend Preki - now an assistant coach with Seattle - by 13.
4. SPORTING KC ACADEMY HOSTS PATTERSON CUP
The 2024 Patterson Cup kicks off this month as the prestigious competition returns to Swope Soccer Village from June 5-9 with 31 teams from 19 different MLS NEXT Academies descending on Kansas City. This rendition promises to be a highly competitive week of soccer at the U-14, U-13 and U-12 levels. The inaugural Patterson Cup occurred in March 2019 with six MLS academies squaring off at the U-12 level.
Teams competing in the U-14 and U-13 age groups will play four group stage games apiece with four spots in the semifinals up for grabs. The U-12s will play six matches in a round-robin format, and the top two teams will meet in the finals at the end of Saturday.
The Patterson Cup is named after Sporting KC co-owner Neal Patterson and his wife Jeanne, both of whom lost their lives to cancer in 2017. For almost two decades, the Patterson Family has helped transform Sporting KC into the model MLS organization it is today. Their unwavering commitment to the growth of soccer in Kansas City has been manifested through the development of state-of-the-art facilities, technological innovation at sporting events and significant investment in soccer at the youth level.
5. CRUZ SHINES AS SKC II GRAB DRAMATIC VICTORY
Sporting Kansas City II forward Sebastian Cruz has been named the MLS NEXT Pro Player of Matchweek 12 after scoring twice in a 4-3 win at Minnesota United FC 2 last Sunday. Cruz came on in place of an injured Beto Avila in the 31st before striking in both first and second-half stoppage time for his second and third goals of the campaign.
The Sporting KC Academy product’s first goal came in the fourth minute of additional time in the first half, bringing the match even at 2-2 right before the break. After Minnesota leveled the match at 3-3 in the 85th minute, Cruz stole all three points from the home side, finding the back of the net in the 91st minute following a brilliant ball from Pau Vidal and terrific bit of composure to round the keeper and slot home.
The win moved SKC II to 6-3-2 on the season and fifth-place in the Western Conference. The squad will host Houston on Friday, June 7 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
