The disappointment of watching Sporting KC lose another game late has worn off.

There is still a lot of season left and plenty of winnable contests. It is comforting to know that Sporting Kansas City has not yet been dominated in a game. It’s simply beaten itself a few times by losing focus and playing some lax defense. It doesn’t help, of course, when that defense has featured different players four out of five games. That should be an issue that’s relatively simple to address and correct in the coming weeks and months. Players just need to be healthy and available and the defense will improve.

The offense wasn’t spectacular Saturday when KC took on New England, but it wasn’t awful either. Kei Kamara played well and scored one goal and was gifted a second on a questionable penalty kick call. The most important thing is he took advantage of the opportunities he had. That’s promising.

It’s not time to panic yet. It is concerning however that KC has only claimed one point from its past three league matches. The team needs to collect some road points if a potential home field advantage is even going to matter come June 9th.

It will obviously be easier for them to do that with a full team on the field for the entire game. For some reason Sporting has found that a hard task to accomplish so far. They have played three of their first five games with only 10 men for some period of time. From those contests they earned zero points. From the two games they played with everyone on the field for 90 minutes they earned four.

Seems like a pretty simple equation to solve moving forward. Keep your composure on the field. Stay in the game. Get points.

Kansas City fans did receive some good news Wednesday when the league announced it had rescinded Sporting KC newcomer Aurelien Collin’s red card from this past Saturday. The league determined the card was given as a result of mistaken identity. Collin will be allowed to play in the upcoming Saturday match against New York. The defender was pleased about the decision.

“I’m very happy at the end they sorted it out,” he said in response to the decision. “It’s very honest, and I’m grateful to them. It’s very rare that something like that happens.”

Casual fans might look at Sporting KC’s last-place standing in the Eastern Conference and think the season is over and Kansas City is one of the worst teams in the league. They might not realize that game schedules aren’t always even. In the Eastern Conference, Kansas City has played fewer matches than all but one of the other eight teams. With one more victory, KC would be tied for fourth. With two more, the team would potentially be tied for second. In such a young season, point totals and differentials can be misleading.

ESPN.com might want to update its current power rankings. The current standings show Sporting KC just three spots from the bottom in the entire league. Their reasoning hinges on the red card that is no longer a red card.

Smart phone application: If you’re looking for an easy way to stay informed on game scores and happenings, you should download the MLS Matchday app. You select your favorite team and it caters the content to you. It will also alert you when games start, end and when anyone playing in that game scores. Pretty handy and a friendly reminder on those Saturday nights.

What lies ahead:

Sporting KC travels to take on the New York Red Bulls (one of the worst team names in the league, even if you like the drink) for its sixth of 10 straight road games. This one won’t be easy. New York is currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference and has rolled in its last two games. The Red Bulls have failed to earn a point in only one contest so far this season. Thierry Henry is healthy and playing like it, scoring two goals in the team’s 4-0 victory last Thursday. New York is sporting a goal differential of +7, meaning they are scoring way more often than they’re being scored on. They are also moving the ball well. The team has nine assists on nine goals. Kansas City only has six on 10.

Sporting is still without Omar Bravo, who is still recovering from sports hernia surgery. Kansas City will have to get Teal Bunbury and Kamara involved once again if they want to have any chance of gaining ground in the league.

I’m currently going to give the edge to the obvious favorite with a scoreline of 2-0. New York has played well on both sides of the ball and I don’t see a reason for that trend to change at home. Look for New York to pass around and through Kansas City, finding and exploiting holes and taking advantage of KC’s ever-changing defense.

Other notes:

Kansas City is scheduled to play New England in the next step of the U.S. Open Cup. It will be a chance for some sweet redemption after giving up a late lead last week. The game will be played May 25.

Many fans have expressed displeasure at the new name of the team. Those fans enjoyed the Kansas roots of the Wizards, who before that were known as the Wiz. Here’s my take: The name Sporting KC is the same as many clubs around the world. The name does not, to me, mean you can’t still call them the Wizards if you want. That can serve as the team name while Sporting KC can serve as the name of the organization.

This is mirrored in soccer everywhere. Most fans know Manchester United as Manchester United. The team nickname however, is the Red Devils. Arsenal is know as Arsenal, but the team nickname is the Gunners. Barcelona is known as Barcelona, but the team is also called the Catalans. I don’t see a reason why fans can’t nickname the team the Wizards or Wiz. You’re the fans, so team nicknames should be up to you. The new designation does have a practical purpose in attracting international talent. Foreign players are probably more likely to notice a team named similarly to teams the world over. Time will tell.