Recap: Sporting Kansas City II falls to controversial 2-1 defeat at Indy Eleven

Sporting Kansas City II (4-7-1, 13 points) fell to a controversial 2-1 defeat against Indy Eleven (7-4-1, 22 points) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Wednesday night. After pulling within a goal late on, Sporting II appeared to equalize in stoppage time, but referee Ismir Pekmic somehow ruled that Danny Barbir had fouled Indy’s Paddy Barrett and called the goal back.

Sporting Kansas City Homegrown forward Tyler Freeman appeared off the bench in the second half and tallied his first goal of the 2020 USL Championship season with a stunning free kick in the 88^th minute. It’s the 17-year-old’s second professional goal after tallying once as a rookie in 2019.

The hosts started fast and took the lead in just the sixth minute as Ayoze sprung Nick Moon, and the striker evaded a challenge from the SKC II defense before rifling low beyond Brooks Thompson to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Sporting II struggled to create chances in the opening period, and Indy looked the likelier to add a second as Ayoze and Jeremy Rafanello each narrowly missed with efforts from range.

Despite coming out strong in the second half, with Dillon Serna forcing a low save out of Evan Newton in the Indy goal, Sporting II fell further behind in the 63^rd minute. Carl Haworth’s pin-point cross from the right wing found Rafanello sneaking in at the back post and he slammed it home for his first goal of the season.

The madness began in the 88^th minute when substitute Freeman, who had only been on the field for 11 minutes, stepped up to curl a sweetly struck free kick into the top corner with Newton rooted to the spot.

With Indy hanging on in injury time, a Sporting II corner was delivered toward the far post where Barbir was waiting, and after escaping a shirt pull from Barrett, nodded home what seemed to be a late equalizer. However, referee Pekmic inexplicably decided that Barbir had fouled Barrett and disallowed the goal.

Sporting KC II now enjoys a 10-day break before their next clash on the road at Saint Louis FC on Saturday, Sept. 19 at West Community Stadium in Fenton, Missouri. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

2020 USL Championship
Match 12 of 16
Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, Indiana
Weather: Sunny and 86 degrees

Sporting Kansas City II: Brooks Thompson; Camden Riley (Sam Raben 67’), Kaveh Rad, Danny Barbir, Dillon Serna (C); Petar Cuic (Tyler Freeman 77’), Duval Wapiwo (Christian Duke 46’), Jake Davis; Dominik Resetar (Jaret Townsend 67’), Wilson Harris, Enoch Mushagalusa (Fredinho Mompremier 77’)
Subs Not Used: Remi Prieur, Isaiah LeFlore

Indy Eleven: Evan Newton; Karl Ouimette, Paddy Barrett, Mitch Osmond; Carl Haworth, Tyler Gibson, Drew Conner, Ayoze (Connor Antley 82’); Nick Moon (Ilija Ilic 89’), Andrew Carleton, Jeremy Rafanello (Matt Watson 82’)
Subs Not Used: Jordan Farr, Felicien Dumas, Cam Lindley, Matt Senanou

Scoring Summary:
IND – Nick Moon 2 (Ayoze 2) 6’
IND – Jeremy Rafanello 1 (Carl Haworth 2) 63’
SKC – Tyler Freeman 1 (Unassisted) 88’

Misconduct Summary:
IND – Paddy Barrett (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 3’
SKC – Dominik Resetar (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 23’
SKC – Dillon Serna (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 53’
SKC – Camden Riley (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 58’
SKC – Jake Davis (Yellow Card; Delaying a Restart) 59’
SKC – Petar Cuic (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 74’
IND – Drew Conner (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 86’
SKC – Paulo Nagamura (Yellow Card; Dissent) 94+

Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Assistant Referee: Nicholas Balcer
Assistant Referee: Art Arustamyan
Fourth Official: Michael Samour