KANSAS CITY, Kans. — The San Jose Earthquakes erased an early deficit and defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-1 on Saturday night in front of a Sporting Park crowd of 16,921 fans to extend their club-record start to 6-1-0 and draw level with first-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC on points in the Western Conference.
The hosts opened the scoring in minute 27 when Dejan Joveljić snuck a short through ball to a streaking Jacob Bartlett, who slotted it home for a 1-0 SKC lead. But the Earthquakes would answer before the break in the 45th minute, as Niko Tsakiris took on multiple defenders down the right wing and delivered a perfect low cross for Jack Skahan, who clinically finished to equalize 1-1.
After intermission, the Quakes went right back to work and took advantage of a transition moment in the 49th minute when Benji Kikanović initiated a loose ball in his own box. Beau Leroux collected it and San Jose was off to the races. Preston Judd took the pass and laid it back for a streaking Niko Tsakiris, who pushed it across midfield for a sprinting Judd down the right wing. Judd drew the last defender and dished it to Skahan, who calmly placed his shot from the middle of the opposing box into the back of the net to give San Jose a 2-1 lead. The Quakes weren’t done, and in minute 75, Kikanović’s low cross from the right wing found Daniel Munie in the box. The ball was poked away but off Munie and right to an opportunistic Dave Romney, who put the ball on his right foot and blasted home an insurance goal for the final 3-1 margin and the Quakes' first season sweep of SKC since 2015.
The Black and Blue now return home next Wednesday, April 15, to face Phoenix Rising FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Kickoff from PayPal Park is set for 7 p.m. PT and will stream live on Paramount+, as well as air on CBS Sports Golazo Network.
MATCH SUMMARY | WATCH GAME
GAME NOTES
San Jose moved to 6-1-0 (13 GF, 2 GA) for the first time dating back to the club’s inception in 1974 in the North American Soccer League (NASL) and is even with first-place Vancouver on points with 18 in the very competitive Western Conference table, with Whitecaps FC having a slight advantage due to goal differential (+15 to +11). Sporting Kansas City moved to 1-5-1 (7 GF, 16 GA) and 15th place in the West with four points.
Tonight’s win propelled San Jose to 6-1-0, eclipsing the best start in club history after seven games in 2012 (5-1-1), which ended in capturing the Supporters’ Shield.
The Quakes’ regular-season record vs. SKC moves to 29-33-10 (93 GF, 96 GA). Their road record against SKC is now 10-24-2 (39 GF, 58 GA).
Tonight’s win gives San Jose their second consecutive win on the road in KC. Last season, the Quakes also won at Sporting Park 2-1.
The Quakes conceded their first goal on the road all season in the 27th minute.
Jack Skahan’s 45th-minute goal was his first goal of the season and fourth of his MLS career.
Niko Tsakiris’ 45th-minute primary assist was his third assist of the season and sixth of his MLS career.
Ousseni Bouda’s 45th-minute secondary assist was his first total assist of the season and second of his MLS career.
Jack Skahan’s 49th-minute goal was his second goal of the season and fifth of his MLS career.
Preston Judd’s 49th-minute primary assist was his second assist of the season and sixth of his MLS career.
Niko Tsakiris’ 49th-minute secondary assist was his fourth total assist of the season and seventh of his MLS career.
Dave Romney’s 75th-minute goal was his first of the season and ninth of his MLS career.
Daniel Munie’s 75th-minute assist was his first of the season and fourth of his MLS career.
Spreading the wealth: With Jack Skahan and Dave Romney scoring their first goals of 2026, the Quakes now have had seven different goal scorers. With Ousseni Bouda and Daniel Munie notching their first assists of 2026, the Quakes now have had nine different players make an assist.
With only two goals conceded in the first seven games, the Quakes’ defense has set a new club record for least goals conceded over a seven-game period in MLS play.
Five of goalkeeper Daniel’s seven starts have resulted in clean sheets and the other two just one goal conceded in each, bringing his current goals against average to a gaudy 0.28 on the season.
Bruce Arena won his 279th regular-season game, an MLS record. The late great Sigi Schmid is second is 140.
Niko Tsakiris had four key passes to up his league-leading total to 28. Tsakiris also leads MLS in corner kicks taken (41) and is second in crosses (20).
Collectively, the Quakes lead MLS in accurate longballs (37) and corner kicks won (56), and are tied for first in goals against (2). They are second in expected goals (18.67) and clean sheets (5).
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 1 Sporting Kansas City
Saturday, April 11, 2026 — Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kans.
Weather: 70°F Cloudy
Attendance: 16,921
NorCal Honda Dealers Man of the Match: Jack Skahan
*all stats unofficial
Match Officials:
Referee: Allan Chapman
AR1: Logan Brown
AR2: Brian Dunn
4th Official: Matthew Corrigan
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
Scoring Summary:
SKC (1-0) – Jacob Bartlett (Dejan Joveljić, Manu García) 27’
SJ (1-1) – Jack Skahan (Niko Tsakiris, Ousseni Bouda) 45’
SJ (2-1) – Jack Skahan (Preston Judd, Niko Tsakiris) 49’
SJ (3-1) – Dave Romney (Daniel Munie) 75’
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Shapi Suleymanov (caution) 54'
SKC – Taylor Calheira (caution) 82'
SPORTING KANSAS CITY: John Pulskamp (GK); Jayden Reid (Kwaku Agyabeng 81’), Diego Borges, Ian James, Justin Reynolds; Lasse Berg Johnsen, Manu García (Jake Davis 66’) Jacob Bartlett (Taylor Calheira 81’); Calvin Harris (Capita 57’), Shapi Suleymanov (Stephen Afrifa 66’), Dejan Joveljić (C).
Substitutes not used: Jack Kortkamp (GK), Ethan Bartlow, Jansen Miller, Cielo Tschantret.
POSS.: 49.3%; SHOTS: 11; SOG: 4; CORNERS: 2; OFFSIDES: 1; SAVES: 0; FOULS: 9; xG: 1.1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel (GK); Benji Kikanović (Jack Jasinski 76’), Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Dave Romney; Beau Leroux (Ian Harkes 69’), Ronaldo Vieira (C), Niko Tsakiris; Ousseni Bouda, Jack Skahan (Nick Fernandez 69’), Preston Judd (Paul Marie 87’).
Substitutes not used: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK), Nonso Adimabua, Noel Buck, Max Floriani, Jonathan González.
POSS.: 50.7%; SHOTS: 10; SOG: 3; CORNERS: 4; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 6; xG: 2.0
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On coming back from an early deficit to win on the road:
“I thought the last 15 minutes of the first half, we got back into the game the right way, got in a good rhythm, got dangerous and obviously, got a goal. ... I think we went in at halftime with confidence. We made a few simple adjustments in terms of our positioning and ball movement. But the guys from the 30th minute on understood what we needed to do and got into the game. Give Sporting Kansas City credit. This was an important game for them to try to get three points at home. They haven’t had a good start to the season and their team was ready to play. They got the early goal. But it showed the early character by our team to hang in there, get the equalizer and win the game in the second half.”
On having to rotate the roster with a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game this coming Wednesday and a road showdown with LAFC on Sunday:
“I’m not worried about it, but that’s professional soccer. You have to utilize your full roster. Tonight we got the first minutes out of Jack Jasinski, which was important. Paul Marie got back in again, Skahan started, not a regular. Romney got a start tonight. We’re rotating our roster as well. We’ll obviously make some changes Wednesday and be ready for the weekend game in Los Angeles as well. We’re going to utilize our roster this week, and if we have any aspirations of being a good team, it’s critically important that we can show that we can have depth and we can rotate our squad when it’s called upon. It’ll be an interesting week for us.”
On the status of Jamar Ricketts and Timo Werner, with the former making the trip but sitting out the match:
“Jamar should be ready this week as well as Timo. The only player out is DeJuan Jones, and he’ll probably be out for the rest of the year. But besides DeJuan, I believe we have a full roster available this week.”
On the club being even at the top of the West table and what it means at this stage:
“It’s certainly a good start to the season. We all know this league is pretty balanced. ... To be in this position at this point in the season is great, but we know it’s a long haul. It’s 34 games. I said last week we could possibly lose our next 28 games. That’s not going to be the case anymore but it’s going to be a battle. And it’s great to have a good start and have the 18 points, but we need to get 30-35 more point during the regular season to be a team well-positioned for the playoffs.”
EARTHQUAKES WINGER JACK SKAHAN
On winning their third consecutive road game to start 2026 and his game-winning brace:
“It’s just another win on the road for us. That’s the impressive part. We’re a team that’s winning on the road, and that’s extremely hard to do. Doesn’t matter what team you are. I scored two goals, right? That is because I was in front of the goal and the ball got there. That’s the DNA of our team. There’s going to be different people who score.”
On the team’s chemistry contributing to the club record 6-1-0 start:
“It’s almost a locker-room thing. The unity of the team—we run for each other. We’re not playing with egos. We pass to the open guy. We attack together. We don’t care who scores.”
On the team’s mindset heading into a busy week with games on Wednesday and Sunday:
"We’re confident. I feel like we approach every game that we’re just going to go out there and work really hard, and play as a team, if you do that, you’re going to have an opportunity to win every game. There are different types of teams. Open Cup games are hard against anyone, especially USL teams so we have to be prepared for that game the way we would be prepared against LAFC. Maybe even more. That’s been my experience.”
On the team’s overall speed contributing to their success on both sides of the ball:
“That definitely plays a role. Munie and Reid at center back, it’s really hard to get by them because of the speed. ... And then in a counterattack, everyone is fast. So it’s just so much for an opposing defense to deal with, even if it’s not the most decorated players in the world. Timo’s kind of an exception there, but it’s a lot of guys who are going to work hard and run fast, and it’s just a hard thing to play against.”