Recap: Sporting KC II falls 4-1 at Louisville City FC

Sporting Kansas City II (3-10-5, 14 points) took a 4-1 loss to Central Division leaders Louisville City FC (11-3-3, 36 points) on Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium.

Enoch Mushagalusa drew Sporting KC II level with an excellent finish in the 68th minute after Jorge Gonzalez had given Louisville a first-half lead, but the hosts did late damage with a trio of goals from Brian Ownby, Cameron Lancaster and Jimmy McLaughlin to claim their third win in the head-to-head series this season.

Head coach Paulo Nagamura deployed a reshuffled Sporting Kansas City II lineup headlined by a professional debut for forward Zion Long and a first career professional start for fellow Sporting KC Academy product Coby Jones in midfield.

The hosts enjoyed the lion's share of possession throughout the night and could have broken through within four minutes, but Sporting KC II goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh sprawled right to cast aside a 25-yard free kick from Lancaster.

Forays into the attacking third were rare for the visitors in the first half, although Jones and winger Jamil Roberts found pockets of space to test their luck with long-range blasts near the half-hour mark.

Nagamura's men held Louisville at bay until the cusp of intermission. In the third minute of first-half stoppage time, an intricate attack involving multiple Louisville players inside the penalty area culminated with Paolo DelPiccolo and Corben Bone setting up Gonzalez for the go-ahead goal. Gonzalez has now scored in each of the last two meetings between the clubs, having scored in his team's 2-1 win at Children's Mercy Park on July 28.

McIntosh stood on his head once more in the 52nd minute, making another splendid save on a bending Lancaster free kick.

Sporting KC II restored parity in brilliant fashion with 68 minutes on the clock. The visitors won possession deep in their own half and Kayden Pierre received an outlet pass along the right touchline. He then pierced the Louisville backline with an inch-perfect through ball to Mushagalusa, who raced forward and rounded goalkeeper Parker Siegfried before finishing with aplomb from an extremely tight angle. Pierre tallied his first professional assist on the play, while Mushagalusa bagged his team-leading sixth goal of the 2021 campaign.

Louisville were awoken from Sporting KC II's equalizer and struck twice in quick succession to put the game to bed. Ownby nodded home off the hosts' 16th corner of the night in the 71st minute, then Lancaster doubled his side's advantage by slotting home to punctuate an attack involving Ownby and Gonzalez. McLaughlin added a fourth on the final consequential kick of the game in the 94th minute.

2021 USL Championship | Match 18
Lynn Family Stadium | Louisville, Kentucky
Attendance: 10,470
Weather: 85 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City II: Kendall McIntosh, Kayden Pierre, Matt Constant (Jake Davis 78'), Graham Smith, Danny Barbir; Petar Cuic (Jayvin Van Deventer 87'), Christian Duke (C), Coby Jones; Zion Long (Rojay Smith 67'), Enoch Mushagalusa, Jamil Roberts (Isaiah LeFlore 78')
Subs Not Used: Remi Prieur, Aljaz Dzankic, Jahon Rad

Louisville City FC: Parker Siegfried; Pat McMahon, Sean Totsch, Wesley Charpie, Jonathan Gomez; Corben Bone (Niall McCabe 60'), Tyler Gibson, Paolo DelPiccolo (C) (Napo Matsoso 77'); Brian Ownby (Jimmy McLaughlin 80'), Cameron Lancaster (Alexis Souahy 86'), Jorge Gonzalez (Antoine Hoppenot 77')
Subs Not Used: Chris Hubbard, Akil Watts

Scoring Summary:
LOU -- Jorge Gonzalez 2 (Corben Bone 4) 45+3'
SKC -- Enoch Mushagalusa 6 (Kayden Pierre 1) 68'
LOU -- Brian Ownby 3 (Jonathan Gomez 1) 71'
LOU -- Cameron Lancaster 9 (Brian Ownby 7) 75'
LOU -- Jimmy McLaughlin 2 (Antoine Hoppenot 1) 90+4'

Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Coby Jones (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 9'
LOU -- Napo Matsoso (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 84'
LOU -- Antoine Hoppenot (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 87'
SKC -- Jake Davis (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 89'

Referee: Elton Garcia
Assistant Referee: Walt Heatherly
Assistant Referee: Christopher Slane
Fourth Official: Noah Matos