Storm postpones Sporting Kansas City’s match Saturday against Colorado

Sporting Kansas City entered its scheduled matchup Saturday without a home loss against the Colorado Rapids since 2002.

The streak still stands.

Thanks to Mother Nature.

The Major League Soccer match at Sporting Park was postponed Saturday because of inclement weather conditions. The makeup date will be announced at a later time, but it will not be replayed Sunday.

The two teams warmed up before the 7:30 p.m. scheduled start time, but the match was suspended shortly before kickoff. Aftger an 80-minute delay — marked by intermittent lightning and heavy rain — the match was postponed for the evening.

It's the first Sporting KC match at Sporting Park ever to be postponed.

The club was without four regulars in its starting lineup Saturday — winger Graham Zusi (concussion), midfielder Roger Espinoza (groin strain), defender Marcel de Jong (hip strain) and defender Seth Sinovic (illness).

Even with the postponement Saturday, those four represent ill-timed absences, with the club scheduled to play a home match against New England on Wednesday before it travels to face Seattle on Saturday night.

During the delay, Zusi said he began to feel better as the week has progressed, though a return Wednesday remains unlikely. Espinoza was injured during Friday's training session and is considered day-to-day. Sinovic was originally in the starting lineup against Colorado, but he was removed because of an undisclosed illness and replaced by Amadou Dia.

Teenage defender Erik Palmer-Brown was in the starting lineup for the second straight match Saturday, but he will depart the club Sunday to join the United States Under-20 men's national team for its final preparations before the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, which runs May 30 through June 20.

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Storm postpones Sporting Kansas City’s match Saturday against Colorado."