Sporting Kansas City II (2-7-4, 10 points) fell to a hard-fought 4-2 defeat to Louisville City FC (6-2-2, 20 points) at Children’s Mercy Park on Friday night. Rojay Smith scored his fourth goal of the season for Sporting II, while Sporting KC Academy product Coby Jones scored his first-ever professional goal in his second appearance to spark an exciting finish.
Louisville raced into an early lead when Kyle Greig converted Corben Bone’s cutback from close range, but Sporting rallied quickly and almost equalized just a minute later as Jake Davis sprung Rojay Smith in behind but his shot was blocked by Parker Siegfried in the Louisville goal.
Sporting II did find the equalizer their pressure deserved in the 13th minute when Tyler Freeman showed some silky footwork on the right wing before floating an inch-perfect ball to Smith who planted a header into the top corner, making it 1-1.
The two sides traded chances toward the end of the first half as Brian Ownby first fired over when through on goal before Freeman forced a low save out of Siegfried on the stroke of halftime.
Sporting II’s resistance unraveled in a 10-minute spell in the second half, as first Louisville retook the lead in the 57th minute through Ownby’s curling effort before Alexis Souahy volleyed home at the far post in the 59th minute and Greig tallied his second in the 67th minute. The goal from Souahy was not without controversy, as Ownby was only able to get his cross away after Davis was tripped by a Louisville player, preventing him from blocking the cross.
Undeterred, SKC II continued to fight and pulled a goal back when 17-year-old SKC Academy left back Coby Jones finished smartly after chesting down Jahon Rad’s free kick.
Sporting II had a pair of chances late on to make it very interesting, but Smith’s low effort was palmed away by Siegfried before Danny Barbir’s header off Isaiah LeFlore’s service flashed just wide.
Sporting II hits the road next weekend to take on Atlanta United 2 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia on Saturday, July 10. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
2021 USL Championship
Game 13 of 34
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 86 degrees
Score |
1 |
2 |
F |
|---|---|---|---|
Sporting KC II (2-7-4, 10 points) |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Louisville City FC (6-2-2, 20 points) |
1 |
3 |
4 |
Sporting Kansas City II: John Pulskamp; Kayden Pierre, Graham Smith, Aljaz Dzankic (Coby Jones 58’), Danny Barbir; Petar Cuic (Dominik Resetar 88’), Christian Duke (C), Jake Davis (Jahon Rad 77’); Rojay Smith, Tyler Freeman (Isaiah LeFlore 69’), Enoch Mushagalusa
Subs Not Used: Gavin Krenecki, Matt Constant, Michael Lenis
Louisville City FC: Parker Siegfried; Wesley Charpie, Sean Totsch, Alexis Souahy; Paolo DelPiccolo (C) (George Davis IV 81’), Brian Ownby (Jimmy McLaughlin 81’), Tyler Gibson, Corben Bone (Napo Matsoso 72’), Jonathan Gomez; Antoine Hoppenot (Niall McCabe 63’), Kyle Greig
Subs Not Used: Chris Hubbard, Pat McMahon, Akil Watts
Scoring Summary:
LOU – Kyle Greig 2 (Corben Bone 2) 5’
SKC – Rojay Smith 4 (Tyler Freeman 1) 13’
LOU – Brian Ownby 2 (Corben Bone 3) 57’
LOU – Alexis Souahy 1 (Brian Ownby 3) 59’
LOU – Kyle Greig 3 (Jonathan Gomez 2) 67’
SKC – Coby Jones 1 (Unassisted) 80’
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Christian Duke (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 21’
SKC – Enoch Mushagalusa (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 42’
LOU – George Davis IV (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 82’
Stat |
SKC |
LOU |
|---|---|---|
Shots |
8 |
17 |
Shots on Goal |
5 |
8 |
Saves |
6 |
2 |
Fouls |
13 |
14 |
Offsides |
1 |
0 |
Corner Kicks |
2 |
8 |
Referee: Kevin Fikar
Assistant Referee: Shane Kennard
Assistant Referee: Matthew Seem
Fourth Official: Velimir Stefanovic
