Sporting Kansas City II (0-3-2, 2 points) concluded a two-game road swing on Saturday with a 2-0 defeat to Indy Eleven (2-1-0, 6 points) at Michael A. Caroll Stadium. After a scoreless first half, Indy struck twice in 12 minutes through Jordan Hamilton and Manuel Arteaga to avenge a late-season home loss to SKC II last September.
With his team less than 72 hours removed from a 1-1 road draw at LA Galaxy II, head coach Paulo Nagamura made two changes to Sporting Kansas City II's starting XI. Both swaps took place in midfield as Sporting KC Academy products Jayvin Van Deventer and Jahon Rad replaced Jake Davis and Bailey Sparks, respectively.
The first notable chance of the night fell Indy in the 24th minute when Trinidad and Tobago international Neveal Hackshaw snapped a header wide off Gordon Wild's free kick from the left wing. Six minutes later, Sporting KC II goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh did brilliantly to leap at full extension and cast aside a long-range free kick attempt from Wild.
After Wild saw another audacious 20-yard effort flash wide in the 34th minute, SKC II manufactured their first shot on the cusp of halftime as Dominik Resetar settled a diagonal ball from Enoch Mushagalusa and teed up Petar Cuic, whose low drive was deflected behind.
McIntosh was called to action in the 50th minute, parrying aside a near-post blast from Arteaga, but he could do nothing about Indy's opening goal three minutes later when Hamilton nodded home off a Wild corner kick to make the score 1-0.
With momentum swung in Indy's favor, Wild surged forward again in the 56th minute and unleashed a low drive that McIntosh cast aside impressively. Nine minutes later, Arteaga doubled his team's lead with a curling shot that caromed in off the far right post.
A busy McIntosh saved his best moment for the late stages when he lept a few feet in the air to produce a superb reflex save and deny Arteaga his second goal of the evening.
Second-half substitute Bailey Sparks conjured Sporting KC II's best moment of an otherwise frustrating night, creating a turnover and forcing far into a save in the final moments of the contest.
After navigating a tough two-game road swing, Sporting KC II will return to Children's Mercy Park next Sunday, May 30, to host El Paso Locomotive at 4 p.m. CT. The inaugural meeting between the clubs will stream live on ESPN Plus.
2021 USL Championship | Match 5
Michael A. Carroll Stadium | Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 3,999
Weather: 83 degrees and sunny
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>1</strong> |
<strong>2</strong> |
<strong>F</strong> |
Sporting Kansas City II (0-3-2, 2 points) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Indy Eleven (2-1-0, 6 points) |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Sporting Kansas City II: Kendall McIntosh; Kayden Pierre, Aljaz Dzankic, Danny Barbir, Christian Duke (C); Petar Cuic, Jayvin Van Deventer (Jake Davis 67'), Jahon Rad (Bailey Sparks 67'); Dominik Resetar (Rojay Smith 57'), Ropapa Mensah, Enoch Mushagalusa (Tyler Freeman 81')
Subs Not Used: Gavin Krenecki, Matt Constant, Ozzie Cisneros
Indy Eleven: Jordan Farr; Nick Moon (Rece Buckmaster 90'), Jared Timmer, A.J. Cochran, Neveal Hackshaw; Ayoze (C) (Patrick Seagrist 69'), Gershon Koffie (Jeremiah Gutjahr 90'), Gordon Wild (Peter-Lee Vassell 76'), Nicky Law; Manuel Arteaga, Jordan Hamilton (Cameron Smith 77')
Subs Not Used: Robert Edwards, Karl Ouimette
Scoring Summary:
IND -- Jordan Hamilton 1 (Gordon Wild 1) 53'
IND -- Manuel Arteaga 2 (Gordon Wild 2) 65'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Dominik Resetar (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 48'
<strong>Stat</strong> |
<strong>SKC</strong> |
<b>IND</b> |
Shots |
3 |
16 |
Shots on Goal |
2 |
7 |
Saves |
5 |
2 |
Fouls |
19 |
13 |
Offsides |
0 |
6 |
Corner Kicks |
5 |
12 |
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistant Referee: Nicholas Balcer
Assistant Referee: Ethan Buege
Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
