Things did not go according to plan in Sporting Kansas City’s 2026 MLS opener in San Jose, California, on Saturday night.

Earthquakes defender Daniel Munie delivered the first punch and the knockout blow to sandwich a goal from Preston Judd as the Quakes coasted to a 3-0 win over Sporting KC.

All three Earthquakes goals came in the span of 15 minutes of game time.

“The first thing we said in the dressing room is it’s a wake-up call,” said SKC midfielder Manu Garcia. “Because we were feeling great in the preseason. But this has nothing to do with preseason. This is a real game, and now is when it matters.”

The visitors entered the season significantly shorthanded, already with eight open roster spots following the trade of Daniel Salloi to Toronto FC and down two additional players — Zorhan Bassong and Stephen Afrifa — due to injury.

Sporting called up two players on short-term loans from Sporting KC II, academy products Shane Donovan and 15-year-old Zamir Loyo Reynaga. Neither saw game action, but both were on the bench Saturday night.

Sporting KC (0-1-0) only put one shot on target in the match, a chance that came just before conceding a third goal.

The first 40 minutes of the game were relatively even. Sporting looked to be gaining confidence while limiting the Earthquakes to manageable chances.

“I think the first 40 minutes were actually pretty interesting, pretty good,” said new head coach Raphael Wicky. “We were in the game. We suffered from the beginning a bit with set pieces. They’re a strong, tall, physical team. But other than that, we controlled the game. We had some moments going forward.”

At least until a three-minute stretch undid all that work.

Munie’s first goal came after goalkeeper John Pulskamp’s quick-reaction save off a corner kick. The ball trickled across the goal, and Munie was first to react just before halftime.

Then, a giveaway — an overcooked pass from Ian James that Jacob Bartlett couldn’t control — led to a counterattack that was finished off by Judd in first-half stoppage time.

Wicky said Sporting’s young team failed to focus on reaching halftime at 1-0.

“After the first goal, I think we went a bit crazy,” Garcia said. “We didn’t keep doing the things that we had to do, and you could see that the game changed completely. I think we were not comfortable at all. We were trying to do too much, me included.”

Out of halftime, Sporting KC recorded its first shot on target, which forced a difficult save by San Jose goalkeeper Daniel. But the Earthquakes went right back down and earned a corner kick.

Sporting KC couldn’t clear its lines, and an uncontested cross from inside the box found the head of Munie to ice the game at 3-0.

The pendulum began to swing in San Jose’s favor minutes before. Sporting had been getting closer to breaking the game open, but an injury to starting right back Justin Reynolds moved Jake Davis out of the midfield.

The reshuffling of backline combinations — for a backline that had never played together — led to a long stretch of discomfort. By the time Sporting made another change and began to figure things out, it was too late.

“It’s a wake-up call once again, to work even harder this week,” Garcia said.

At least there was one positive, in that regard.

“Learn from the bad, but take the good ones and keep them,” Garcia said. “And make those (first) 40 minutes a bit longer.”

Up next: Sporting KC returns home to host the Columbus Crew at Sporting Park next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:40 p.m. Central.

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM.

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