Sporting KC exits Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with shutout loss at Colorado Springs
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sadam Masareka had a first-half goal and an assist in Colorado Springs' 3-0 win.
- Sporting KC suffered an opening-game exit from the U.S. Open Cup, losing 3-0.
- Shapi Suleymanov was shown a red card late in the second half of the 3-0 defeat.
Sporting Kansas City selected Sadam Masareka with its third-round MLS SuperDraft pick in December.
Playing for the USL Championship’s Colorado Springs Switchbacks in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 match on Tuesday evening, Maseraka tortured Sporting KC’s defenders.
The 21-year-old forward’s first-half goal and assist paced the host team to a shocking 3-0 defeat of Sporting KC, marking the Major League Soccer club’s first opening-game exit in this tourney since 2023.
Sporting KC was a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinalist in 2022 and runner-up in 2024.
“We were not ready in the first half for this fight,” SKC head coach Raphael Wicky said. “Cup games are fight games first, and then against lower-division teams, you have to be ready mentally to accept the fight.”
Starting mostly first-choice players against a second-division team, Sporting KC’s intent was to take the tournament seriously. But inside five minutes at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the same old issues reappeared.
The Switchbacks’ chances came easily, while Sporting KC hurt itself in possession.
The home team capitalized around the 12-minute mark. Kansas City’s Jansen Miller overpursued a simple ball over the top. Masareka nutmegged him and then dished off to Juan Tejada, who scored.
Then Masareka pressured KC’s Jayden Reid into a very poor pass to an unsuspecting Diego Borges. Masareka picked up the ball and drove in on goal, finishing with ease past Sporting keeper John Pulskamp to make it 2-0.
Wicky said Sporting KC’s issues weren’t necessarily tactical in nature. The coach, who is in his first year with Sporting, listed a number of effort-related stats to support that assertion.
He said he told his players they must ask themselves why they weren’t ready for this game.
“That’s a question every individual has to ask themselves,” Wicky said. “Why were they more hungry? Why did they want it more? Because I believe it was that, first and foremost.”
Kansas City’s Shapi Suleymanov picked up a red card late in the second half. Replays showed the shove that drew the penalty actually came from Borges‘ arm wrapping around Suleymanov. Whether the red card will stand for next year’s U.S. Open Cup remains to be seen.
Khori Bennett added the Switchbacks’ third and final goal in the 84th minute, punctuating Colorado Springs’ stunning upset over a higher-division opponent.
Sporting KC’s Taylor Calheira didn’t start Tuesday night’s game, but he starred in the last two editions of the U.S. Open Cup — both times with lower-division clubs: NYCFC II in 2024 and Tulsa FC in 2025. He knows what it’s like to go up against top-division opposition as a USL or MLS Next Pro player.
He was on the other end of one of those outcomes Tuesday.
“Everyone, their dream has probably been (to play in) MLS,” Calheira said. “So when you get a chance to play against an MLS team, you play like it’s your World Cup final. ... It doesn’t have anything to do with talent. I think it’s just desire and wanting to prove something.
“But we’re an MLS team,” he added, “and we should prove that we deserve to be there.”
Up next: Sporting KC travels to Vancouver on Friday night to take on the first-place Whitecaps at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The game is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. Central Time.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 9:30 PM.