Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo battled to a 0-0 draw Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park, closing out the 2025 MLS regular season on a windy 69-degree evening and setting the stage for an offseason of change and uncertainty.

Goalkeeper John Pulskamp made seven saves to earn the shutout, his fourth clean sheet of the season. The result snapped Sporting’s five-game losing streak and brought the team’s final record to 7-20-7 for 28 points.

Pulskamp became the fifth player in club history to play every minute of a 34-game regular season. His 121 saves are tied for second-most by a Sporting KC goalkeeper in a single season.

Midfielder Manu Garcia made his first start since July 19, when he sustained a quad injury, and Garcia created Sporting’s first chance in the 7th minute, spinning free and finding Daniel Salloi in the 18-yard box. Salloi couldn’t get enough pace on the shot to beat Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

Salloi had another opportunity in the 17th minute, curling a 15-yard shot inches over the crossbar after his initial cross for Dejan Joveljic was cut out by Houston defenders.

Houston created three looks before halftime. Ondrej Lingr’s off-balance breakaway effort was saved by Pulskamp in the 22nd minute. Ezequiel Ponce had a shot smothered from a tight angle in the 35th minute. Lawrence Ennali forced a save from Pulskamp shortly before the break.

The game’s most controversial moment came in the 60th minute when Ennali beat Sporting’s defensive line to go one-on-one with Pulskamp. The goalkeeper appeared to win the ball bravely with a clean sliding challenge. Rookie referee Nabil Bensalah awarded a penalty kick, but the assistant referee called an offside in Houston’s attacking buildup, undoing the penalty.

Pulskamp made another big save in the 73rd minute, diving at full extension to tip away Ennali’s shot onto the far post.

Both teams had chances in stoppage time. In the 96th minute, Ponce’s header went just wide of the near post. At the opposite end, Salloi curled the ball neatly in to Joveljic, but the Serbian striker’s header lifted over the crossbar.

Players face uncertain futures

Seventeen players, including eight who played Saturday, are out of contract or have team options that must be decided for the 2026 season. Only eight players have contracts for next year.

“It’s strange. It’s part of sports, but we’ll see,” said Salloi, one of the players with a contract for the 2026 season. “I don’t think anybody should feel safe whatsoever.”

Team captain Erik Thommy is among those out of contract. “The club needs a huge transition,” Thommy said. “We have not only me, 16, 17 players out of contract next season. It’s going to be interesting who’s going to stay.”

Forward Mason Toye, whose contract includes a club option for 2026, made his position clear.

“I’ve made it very clear that I want to stay and I want to be a part of this rebuild,” Toye said. “I know I want to stay here, but again we’ll see what happens. It’s out of my hands.”

Newly-hired President of Soccer Operations David Lee previously said he won’t wait for a permanent head coach to be hired before making roster decisions, but as of Saturday, he hadn’t yet had individual conversations about their futures.

“One-on-one, not yet,” Salloi said. “He’s spoken to the team, obviously. He’s been very busy, but I’m sure we will get a chance to talk and connect, see where his head’s at.”

Thommy echoed the same. “He’s here since a week, ten days or something, and he has a lot of things to do,” the captain said. “I will have conversations with him. I didn’t have conversation the last few weeks or days with him.”

Difficult season ends

Sporting finished the season with the worst record in club history, missing the playoffs for the third time in the past four years.

“It just sucked, honestly. Losing,” Toye said. “This is not the way that this organization usually moves. Obviously it’s been a tough couple of years and this one included.”

Thommy praised the team’s mentality despite the results. “I’m really proud of my team. Proud to be the captain of the team,” he said. “The mentality was always on the peak, I would say. And we gave our best and at the end, a lot of things weren’t going our way.”

Salloi acknowledged the emotional toll. “Look, it’s tough, obviously,” the Hungarian winger said. “This club has been on top and found ourselves at the bottom as well. It’s very difficult to deal personally with emotions.”

Despite the hardship, Salloi expressed confidence in the club’s new direction. “I believe the club’s going to get back to where it belongs. It’s just a matter of time,” he said. “Everybody should be excited. And everybody should be positive.”

Zavagnin’s future unclear

Interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin has been with Sporting Kansas City for 25 years as both a player and coach. Saturday’s match may have been his final game on the sideline.

“I’ve loved representing this club both as a player and as a coach. It’s been a tremendous honor to coach the team this year,” Zavagnin said. “But it’s much, much bigger than me and the role that I play within the group.”

Zavagnin praised his players’ resilience through a difficult season. “I think if we saw anything out of this group that I’m incredibly proud of is that they never gave up,” he said. “We’ve been knocked around. We’ve been pushed around and we’ve fallen down and we’ve gotten back up.”

He highlighted the development of young players who gained significant experience. “Jansen Miller, as an example, played a thousand minutes at Indiana University last year and played 2,300 minutes this year in a professional environment,” Zavagnin said. “Maybe a little bit unfair at times for him for the minutes that he accumulated, but I think it’s going to bode well for him and all the other young guys.”

Zavagnin thanked the fans for their support. “I think tonight was just another clear example of how they’ve gone through the great moments with us and they’ve also been with us during some of the storms,” he said. “We’re stronger when we’re together as a community, as a club, as a group. And I think the storm is almost over.”

Looking ahead, Zavagnin remained optimistic. “I am incredibly excited about the direction of where this club is going,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement behind the scenes. There’s a lot of flexibility, there’s a lot of opportunity, and there’s going to be a lot of new faces in this club next year that hopefully wears the badge with pride.”

The 2026 MLS season begins in late February.