Sporting Kansas City II (4-14-8, 20 pts.) and FC Tulsa (12-10-3, 39 pts.) battled to a wildly entertaining 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park on Friday night. Sporting KC Homegrown right back Kayden Pierre scored his first professional goal in the second half to earn his side a point after Dario Suarez’s early penalty kick for Tulsa.
Six Sporting KC Academy product started the match for SKC II in defenders Kayden Pierre, Kaveh Rad and Isaiah LeFlore, midfielders Christian Duke and Jake Davis along with forward Ozzie Cisneros who was continuing in a false 9 role.
Sporting II began the brighter of the two teams and laid siege on the Tulsa goal early, as both Rojay Smith and Enoch Mushagalusa threatened within the opening five minutes.
Against the run of play, Tulsa found the opener in the eighth minute. With the ball bouncing around the SKC II area, Isaiah LeFlore challenged for the loose ball but caught Marlon Santos in the process and the referee awarded Tulsa a penalty kick. Dario Suarez stepped up and rifled the ball into the top corner to give the visitors the lead with his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
Sporting II spent the rest of the first half working their way back into the game, intermittently threatening through Pierre and Jake Davis, the latter who struck a stunning free kick on frame that was tipped around the post by Tulsa goalkeeper Austin Wormell.
After a slow start to the second half, Pierre lit the touchpaper in the 65th minute when he carried the ball down the right wing, cut onto his left foot and fired a low shot that deflected ever so slightly before nestling into the bottom corner, setting up what proved to be a frantic finale.
Sporting II poured on the pressure as the skies opened up at Children’s Mercy Park, with Modou Jadama first producing some last-ditch heroics to deny Mushagalusa a one-on-one, before substitute Ropapa Mensah headed Petar Cuic’s free kick over the bar when all alone in front of goal.
The game’s controversial minute came in the 77th minute as Marlon fired home into an empty net, seemingly giving Tulsa a 2-1 lead. However, the ball squirted into his path after a hefty collision between teammate Suarez SKC II goalkeeper John Pulskamp, who required lengthy treatment. After deliberating with his assistants, referee Kevin Fikar adjudged that Suarez had fouled Pulskamp and disallowed the goal.
Another notable moment arose in the 84th minute as 16-year-old SKC Academy forward Mataeo Bunbury subbed into the game for his professional debut. Bunbury became the third member of his immediate family to represent the Sporting KC organization in a professional match, joining his father Alex Bunbury and older brother Teal Bunbury.
Bunbury was right into the thick of things two minutes later as his touch just let him down in front of goal before Cuic picked up the pieces and sent a deflected shot narrowly wide of the target.
In the 90th minute as the teams were getting set for eight minutes of stoppage time, Bunbury found Cisneros bearing down on goal and the 17-year-old exchanged passes with Mensah before seeing his close-range strike blocked.
Cuic, Cisneros and LeFlore each saw late efforts either saved or fly just wide as the hectic match finally came to a close in the 99th minute, with both teams sharing the spoils.
Sporting II remains at home next weekend as the side hosts Birmingham Legion FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Friday, Oct. 1. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
2021 USL Championship | Match 26
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Weather: 70 degrees and partly cloudy
Score |
1 |
2 |
F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting Kansas City II (4-14-8, 20 points) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
FC Tulsa (12-10-3, 39 points) |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Sporting Kansas City II: John Pulskamp; Kayden Pierre, Kaveh Rad (Graham Smith 60’), Danny Barbir, Isaiah LeFlore; Petar Cuic, Christian Duke (C) (Jahon Rad 51’), Jake Davis (Ropapa Mensah 60’); Enoch Mushagalusa, Ozzie Cisneros, Rojay Smith (Mataeo Bunbury 85’)
Subs Not Used: Remi Prieur, Aljaz Dzankic, Jamil Roberts
FC Tulsa: Austin Wormell; Matt Sheldon, Bradley Bourgeois (C), Modou Jadama, Jorge Corrales (Lucas Coutinho 70’); Eric Bird, Kembo Kibato, Marlon Santos, Dario Suarez (Raphael Ayagwa 84’), Rodrigo da Costa; Jason Johnson (Avionne Flanagan 70’)
Subs Not Used: Daniel Gagliardi, Johnny Fenwick, Ciaran Winters, Martin Martinez
Scoring Summary:
TUL – Dario Suarez 9 (Penalty Kick) 8’
SKC – Kayden Pierre 1 (Unassisted) 65’
Misconduct Summary:
TUL – Jason Johnson (Yellow Card; Time Wasting) 16’
SKC – Petar Cuic (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 55’
TUL – Michael Nsien (Yellow Card; Dissent) 82’
SKC – Ozzie Cisneros (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 87’
TUL – Avionne Flanagan (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 88’
TUL – Rodrigo da Costa (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 91+
TUL – Modou Jadama (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 95+
Stat |
SKC |
TUL |
|---|---|---|
Shots |
20 |
8 |
Shots on Goal |
5 |
3 |
Saves |
2 |
4 |
Fouls |
11 |
13 |
Offsides |
1 |
4 |
Corner Kicks |
9 |
2 |
Referee: Kevin Fikar
Assistant Referee: Justin Mack
Assistant Referee: Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Luis Tribaldo
