Recap: SKC II bested 3-0 at North Texas SC 

Sporting KC II (7-9-2, 23 points) lost their third straight match Sunday night against North Texas SC (10-5-3, 34 points) at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. SKC II has now been kept off the scoreboard in three straight matches as they enter the home stretch of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season. Bernard Kamungo bagged a brace for his 10th and 11th goal and Jose Mulato scored his seventh goal of the year.

Head coach Benny Feilhaber trotted out a new-look SKC II starting XI making six changes. Carlito Saylon and Edgar Bazan, two Sporting KC Academy products, made their professional debut, Matthew Fisher made his first pro start, and Bakary Bagayoko, Spencer Glass Kaveh Rad and Joseph Addo Tetteh re-entered the starting lineup. Jake Davis was the only first-team loanee starting in his field player loanee-high seventh MLS NEXT Pro match.

Sporting KC II had the first look at goal on the match's first corner. Josh Coan served a delicious ball into the area where centerback Esai Easley leaped above the pack and redirected the ball on goal. North Texas goalkeeper Antonio Carrera made a solid save, catching the ball that was destined for the back of the net.

Three minutes later, with their first true attack of the night, the hosts grabbed the lead. Hope Avayevu sprung Kamungo forward with an aerial through ball over the top. The North Texas forward slipped the ball past a charging Saylon for his 10th goal of the season and Avayevu's league-high seventh assist.

The match slowed with the next advancement coming from North Texas. Curtez Kellman did a terrific job to get back goalside of the play to touch the ball over the byline. The ensuing corner was played towards Kamungo but missed the target and rolled for an SKC II goalkick.

The host's talisman Kumongo continued to ask questions of the SKC II defense with Glass answering one of them with a terrific tackle springing a counter for the visitors. Bagayoko slowed down allowing reinforcements to arrive, got back on the ball, entered the 18 and rolled a shot across the face of goal just outside the far post.

Saylon made his first professional save in the 25th and it was fantastic. The 16-year-old keeper dropped to his right, reached out and denied Avayevu's one-time attempt from the top of the box. Davis and Fisher served a pair of crosses into the area, however, the former's was cut off by North Texas and the latter's sailed high of the targets and past the far post.

One of SKC II's most lethal-looking attacks came in the 36th off a setpiece. J. Rad leaped above his mark to win a header in the area, thundering it inches wide of the goal. On the other side of the pitch, Saylon made a second save, standing firm on the goalline to block a tap-in effort. North Texas took the one-goal lead into the break despite SKC II's best efforts.

SKC II's combatants doubled their lead 12 minutes into the half with a quick counter-attack being turned in by Mulato. A minute later Coan took the ball off the kickoff into the final third and caught a shot off the wrong part of his foot that rolled to Carrera. In the 64th Glass stood strong in the six to block a shot with his chest. Bagayoko tracked all the way back from his number nine position to then shut down the attack.

Bazan and Fisher's days came to a close in the 65th as Texas native Guy Michaeli and Sporting KC Academy product Mikey Lenis entered. Kamungo got his brace in the 68th on a headed goal from up close. In the 74th Collin Fernandez and Nati Clarke came on for Glass and Tetteh. Clarke made his mark on the game, going step for step with his man from midfield deflecting his cross away from goal.

In the 82nd Saylon slammed the door on another attempt at the goal, dashing off his line to win a 50/50 ball loose in the box. A moment later fellow SKC II newcomer Ryan Reid made his professional debut taking off Coan.

Davis won SKC II a restart in the final third and Fernandez chipped a good ball into the area that was played out for a corner. The first corner floated barely over Easley, but Clarke latched onto it getting it through the crowd but not past the final defender's body. J. Rad got on the end of another corner. Similar to the first his attempt drifted just off target.

The final shot of the match went to Michaeli who brought the ball down, cut up three defenders and zipped a shot narrowly over the goal. North Texas took home all three points, ending a stretch of four straight matches without a win. SKC II is in the midst of a three-match losing streak but has a chance to snap that next Sunday at Houston Dynamo 2. Kickoff for next Sunday's MLS NEXT Pro showdown is set for 7 p.m. CT as SKC II looks for their second straight win at Houston.

2022 MLS NEXT Pro | Match 18
Choctaw Stadium | Arlington, TX
Weather: 99 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City II: Carlito Saylong; Matthew Fisher (Mikey Lenis 64'), Esai Easley, Jahon Rad, Spencer Glass (Collin Fernandez 73'); Curtez Kellman, Edgar Bazan (Guy Michaeli 65'), Jake Davis; Josh Coan (Ryan Reid 84'), Bakary Bagayoko, Joseph Addo Tetteh (Nati Clarke 73')*
Subs Not Used:* Matthew Hudson, Kian Alberto, TJ Fatah, Nico Pendleton

North Texas SC: Antonio Carrera; Collin Smith, Alejandro Arenada, Paul Amedume, Isiah Parker; Tomas Lacerda (Blake Pope 78'), Andre Costa (Santiago Ferreira 84'), Jared Aguilar; Bernard Kamungo, Jose Mulato (Pablo Torre 84'), Hope Avayevu (Luis Cardoso 66')
Subs Not Used: Felipe Carneiro, Will Baker, Chase Niece, Tarik Scott, Derek Waldeck,

Scoring Summary:
NTX – Bernard Kamungo 10 (Hope Avayevu 7) 7'
NTX – Jose Mulato 7 (Andre Costa 1) 57'
NTX – Bernard Kamungo 11 (Isiah Parker 4) 67'

Misconduct Summary:
NTX – Collin Smith (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 35'
SKC – Curtez Kellman (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 50'
NTX – Andre Costa (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 61'
NTX – Tomas Lacerda (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 72'
SKC – Guy Michaeli (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 82'

Referee: Brandon Queri
Assistant Referee: Samuel Zamora
Assistant Referee: Jay Norris
Fourth Official: Emily Gomez