By: Eric He

The San Jose Earthquakes were in the match until the end, but could not find a late equalizer in a 3-2 loss to Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night.

Sporting KC held much of the possession throughout the match and outshot San Jose, stats, which were reflected on the scoreboard.

After halftime, with the score knotted at 1-1, Sporting KC took control. Graham Zusi put home a spectacular shot from long range and then Felipe Gutierrez connected in the 68th minute to put Kansas City up 3-1.

Chris Wondolowksi brought the Earthquakes closer in stoppage time, but San Jose ran out of time as Kansas City ran out the clock.

The home team opened the scoring on a penalty kick after Johnny Russell was tripped by San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell. Illie Sanchez nailed the kick past Russell to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

But San Jose would equalize in the 32nd minutes, as Nick Lima sent a cross on the rush and Valeri Qazaishvili punched it in the net after a few shots.

Sporting KC had 12 corner kicks to three for the Earthquakes, who drop their first game of the season after winning their home opener two weeks ago.

Up Next: The Earthquakes will host NYCFC at Avaya Stadium on Saturday, March 31 at 5:00 pm PST.