The Never-Ending Nightmare: Sporting Kansas City 2, Philadelphia Union 1

Remember when Sporting Kansas City started out so poorly in 2011? We laughed and we laughed and we laughed and we laughed and now they have won the Eastern Conference for the second straight season.

Hearty congrats to Sporting Kansas City. Without question they are the best team in the Eastern Conference this season. But for the Philadelphia Union, this nightmare of a season continues. While losing to the best team in the conference will hardly be seen as a serious failing for the Union, the monotony of the losses this year has certainly grown tiresome.

A period of early dominance from the home side was capped off by a Jacob Peterson goal in the 40th minute. In the second half, the Union would equalize thanks to Matt Besler fouling Danny Cruz in the box. After Michael Farfan had his penalty attempt saved by Jimmy Nielsen, the first missed penalty in Union history, Antoine Hoppenot raced to the rebound and converted it to even the ledger.

The ledger would not stay even for the entire game, though. In the 82nd minute, C.J. Sapong perfectly finished a beautiful ball from Kei Kamara to give Sporting KC the shot that would ultimately be the game-winner and 1st place clincher for the home side.

The Philadelphia Union end their disappointing season on Saturday when they host New York Red Bulls at PPL Park in a game that will be seen nationally on NBC. If they can't salvage the season, perhaps they can salvage a tiny bit of pride by beating their hated rivals on national television.