An exhilarating start had crumbled into a hollow finish for Sporting Kansas City late Thursday night, and now, after the early thunder at Children’s Mercy Park, the most notable noise in the Sporting Kansas City postgame locker room was the sound of backslaps from farewell hugs and hushed attempts at perspective.
Even as they acknowledged the anguish of the moment after the 3-2 loss to Portland, some tried to muster the big-picture view. Goalkeeper Tim Melia called the season itself “phenomenal” and Daniel Salloi called it “great,” adding that “we’re not going to get worse, we’re going to get better next year,” and even coach Peter Vermes offered this conciliatory take:
“At the end of the day, I think the guys accomplished a lot this year,” he said.