Sporting Kansas City came into Saturday’s match knowing it would be a tough go against San Diego, and it proved to be just that.

Goalkeeper John Pulskamp made multiple saves to keep Sporting KC in the game until the final whistle. But ultimately, San Diego’s quality was the difference, as Anders Dreyer’s first-half goal gave the visitors a 1-0 win.

Sporting (0-2-1) had two chances late, one at the feet of Taylor Calheira and the other for Stephen Afrifa. Neither of the shots got past 19-year-old Duran Ferree in goal.

Going into the game, Sporting KC knew San Diego would want the majority of the ball. And with Sporting KC also wanting to play possession-based soccer, something had to give.

That battle went San Diego’s way, to the tune of 67% possession.

While Sporting KC was competitive for the first 30 minutes, San Diego took control for the next 50 and dictated the game. SKC coach Raphael Wicky felt that Sporting wasn’t good enough in its time on the ball.

“I think we had way too many sloppy balls,” said Wicky. “We tried to play behind them because they don’t like to defend playing behind them. But (the SKC players were) too fast, too quick. I think that was the reason why we lost the ball again pretty quickly, and then you’re in this spiral.”

SKC’s Manu Garcia said the idea was to quickly get the ball in behind after winning possession. But Sporting didn’t want to be chasing the ball for long stretches, and the players didn’t manage to keep possession often enough.

“I think their pressure after they lost the ball was quite good,” Garcia said. “We struggled to find spaces to keep the ball a little bit more in the first half. In the second half, it was better, even though we opened ourselves up a little bit more without the ball. When we had the ball, I think it was much better.”

San Diego scored first thanks to a stunning strike off the left foot of Dreyer from just outside the penalty area. Dreyer is picking up where he left off last season. The goal was his second of the year to add to three assists through the first three matches of 2026.

San Diego thought it had doubled the lead in the 60th minute when Amahl Pellegrino finished a lightning-quick counterattack at Sporting Park. But the goal was disallowed after a video review, as the ball clearly struck his hand and went into the goal.

Calheira’s big chance came in the 88th minute, as he got in behind the San Diego defense. But pressure from a San Diego defender didn’t allow him to get a clean shot away.

Minutes later, Afrifa’s volley was powerfully struck but well saved in stoppage time.

Up next: Sporting KC will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy next weekend. It’s a 9:30 p.m. start on Saturday, March 14, in SoCal.

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

This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM.

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