Sporting Kansas City II cruised to a 4-1 preseason win over Iowa Western Community College on Saturday afternoon at Swope Soccer Village.
Christian Duke fired the hosts ahead midway through the first half, and although Iowa Western conjured an equalizer through Sporting Kansas City Academy product Mario Magana, Sporting II closed strong with three unanswered goals from Ze Pedro, unsigned MLS SuperDraft selection Jaret Townsend and trialist Fredinho Mompremier.
Under the guidance of third-year head coach and longtime MLS veteran Paulo Nagamura, Sporting II began brightly and were rewarded in the 22nd minute when Mushagalusa slipped a clever pass to Duke, who slotted home inside the near post.
Magana capitalized on a Sporting II giveaway four minutes after the restart to level terms, but parity lasted just three minutes as Portuguese winger Ze Pedro sent a fantastic curler past the keeper to make the score 2-1.
Sporting II goalkeeper Remi Prieur came up big near the hour mark, saving a penalty kick to preserve his side's lead, and MLS midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal set up Townsend 10 minutes later to double the advantage.
Kuzain was one of two first-team midfielders to feature in the match alongside Felipe Hernandez, who won Sporting KC II a penalty kick with 74 minutes on the clock. Mompremier buried the ensuing spot kick in the final flashbulb moment of the exhibition contest.
Sporting KC II will conclude their preseason campaign next week, visiting USL League One champion North Texas SC at 2 p.m. CT Thursday and fellow USL Championship outfit FC Tulsa at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Sporting Kansas City II vs. Iowa Western Community College
Preseason Friendly | Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020
Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, Missouri)
Scoring Summary:
SKC -- Christian Duke 22'
IWCC -- Mario Magana 49'
SKC -- Ze Pedro 52'
SKC -- Jaret Townsend 67'
SKC -- Fredinho Mompremier 74'
Sporting Kansas City II Lineup (R-L)
Remi Prieur; Sam Raben, Petar Cuic, Danny Barbir, Luis Olivera; Wan Kuzain^, Felipe Hernandez^, Christian Duke (Duval Wapiwo 61'); Ze Pedro (Jaret Townsend* 60'), Dominik Resetar (Kohl Hurtado* 61'), Enoch Mushagalusa* (Fredinho Mompremier 46')
^ Sporting KC first team player
Trialist
** Unsigned MLS SuperDraft pick
Sporting Kansas City II Preseason Schedule
<strong>DATE</strong> |
<strong>OPPONENT</strong> |
<strong>TIME (CT) /<br>
RESULT</strong> |
<strong>LOCATION</strong> |
Feb. 15 |
OKC Energy FC |
<a href="https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2020/02/15/recap-sporting-kc-ii-opens-preseason-1-1-draw-vs-okc-energy-fc-wichita"><strong>T 1-1</strong></a> |
Stryker Sports Complex (Wichita, Kan.) |
Feb. 22 |
Iowa Western CC |
<a href="http://www.sportingkc.com/sportingkcii"><strong>W 4-1</strong></a> |
Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, Mo.) |
Feb. 27 |
North Texas SC |
2 p.m. |
Toyota Soccer Center (Frisco, Texas) |
Feb. 29 |
FC Tulsa |
1 p.m. |
Titan Sports Complex (Tulsa, Okla.) |
