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One thing was pretty obvious to San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye minutes after a 4-1 loss on March 22 in Charlotte.

“This is not the way we want things to go,” he said. “We understand some games aren’t going to go the way we planned so we need to go back to the training field, watch film and push ourselves to a higher standard. We will bounce back.”

Kaye and San Jose will try to make that happen Saturday night when they host another struggling team, the Seattle Sounders.

San Jose (2-3-0, 6 points) started out with consecutive wins over Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City, but new coach Bruce Arena has watched his team lose three straight with a combined 7-2 score. It trailed 4-0 just seven minutes into the second half in Charlotte before falling 4-1.

However, Arena wasn’t in the mood to burn the boats after the result.

“We deserved to lose the game but there were some good moments for us and we have to build on that,” he said. “There are things we need to clean up.”

The same can be said for Seattle (1-2-2, 5 points), which is coming off a scoreless draw on March 22 at home with Houston. The Sounders have been blanked in consecutive MLS fixtures since a 5-2 home win over Los Angeles FC on March 8.

They didn’t lack for opportunity against Houston, earning a 16-6 advantage in shots and commanding 54.2 percent of possession time. But they couldn’t find the back of the net against two Dynamo goalkeepers.

“We seem to be snake-bit right now, but we have to keep pushing forward and make up some points before it’s too late,” said Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer.

This is the start of a three-match road trip for Seattle.

–Field Level Media