Recap: Sporting KC II suffers a 3-1 defeat at Tacoma Defiance

Sporting Kansas City II (9-7-5, 38 points) suffered a 3-1 defeat at Tacoma Defiance (10-4-7, 41 points) Wednesday night at Starfire Stadium in a midweek MLS NEXT Pro meeting. This marks just the second time in 2023 that Sporting KC II has lost back-to-back matches as they will look to rebound on Sunday back at home against Portland Timbers 2.

Braudilio Rodrigues netted a hat trick, scoring the opener in the first half before tallying twice in the second. Vitor Dias netted his first goal as a member of the team in the 82nd to cut into the deficit after Travian Sousa was sent off for a second yellow in the 68th.

In a highly congested start to the month of August, head coach Benny Feilhaber rolled out a starting XI featuring just one first-team loanee, Chris Rindov. Ethan Bandre was back in goal with Lucas Rosa, Jahon Rad and Nati Clarke joining Rindov in the defense. The goalscoring Dias started at the six with Josh Coan and Ethan Bryant split out in front of him. Alenis Vargas, Pau Vidal and Andrew Draper comprised the front three, however, an early injury suffered by Vidal brought Ozzie Cisneros on in the seventh.

Despite entering the half down a goal, SKC II outshot the hosts 11 to one. Clarke made a pair of terrific stops in transition, the first coming just three minutes into the match. The Sporting KC Academy defender chased down a dangerous diagonal destined for a Defiance runner, retaining possession in the process. 

While chasing a bouncing ball in the box, Vidal went down with a non-contact injury in the seventh minute and was unable to continue. SKC II's leading goal scorer was subbed off for Cisneros. In the ninth minute, Coan clipped a cross to Vargas who outleapt his defender and flicked the ball towards goal. His effort drifted just past the right-hand post of goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley. 

The first corner of the match went to SKC II in the 13th and wound up in a skipping shot into traffic off the foot of Rosa. A minute later on the other end of the field, Bandre stalled a centering pass from the endline on his near post. Coan cooked up the first shot on target of the night that Lapsley saved in the middle of the goal after the ball deflected off his own defender. 

Cisneros went for goal after cutting inside the box, curling the ball into the arms of the keeper. In the 30th Bryant bashed a free kick into the wall and Tacoma broke on the counter. Rodrigues capped off the counter with a long-range effort into the upper-90. Sousa was shown his first of two yellow cards for a tactical foul that stopped Sporting in transition. 

After a rather long spell of possession around the box, Vargas saw a bending effort float just beyond the far post. Rad ended the half with a shot from way downtown that wound up just high of the bar, still causing some nerves from Lapsley. Tacoma took the one-goal lead into the break. 

Coming out of the half, Amadou Traore came on for Draper as the lone halftime change. Just a minute into the second, Rodrigues scored his second, finishing on a cross. Rosa sent another shot inches past the far post in the 52nd before Rodrigues completed his hat trick in the 54th. 

Feilhaber went to his bench for the third and fourth SKC II subs of the evening bringing on Mikey Lenis and Enzo Mauriz for Rosa and Bryant. Bandre made a brilliant save in the 66th, leaping high into the air to smack a set piece over the crossbar. In the 68th minute, Sousa was brandished a second yellow for a poor challenge on Lenis in the right corner of the attacking third. Danny Flores came on as the final sub for the visitors in the 69th. 

On the free kick, Vargas opted for an acrobatic bicycle kick, getting a foot on the ball but hitting it high into the air. The keeper camped under the ball and was collided with by Rindov, sparking a brief meeting of the minds inside the 18 between both sides. A minute later Rodrigues launched into Rad and earned himself a yellow card. 

Dias scored his goal in the 82nd, after being played in close by Flores, settling the rolling ball and firing it into the back of the net.

With the lead now cut into, SKC II continued their push. In stoppage time, Traore ripped a shot inches wide of the goal from inside the 18 and Vargas saw a pair of attempts just miss the net. The winger's first effort was a near-post turf burner that Lapsley saved and the second was a crossbar-shaking blast that flew away from the goal. The final whistle came moments later and Tacoma took all three points at home.

Sporting KC II will return to Rock Chalk Park on Sunday to finish off a run of three matches in eight days. They will host Portland Timbers 2 at 6 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube page. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com for just $10 and children under 12 receive free admission.

Sporting Kansas City II: Ethan Bandre; Lucas Rosa (Mikey Lenis 61'), Jahon Rad, Chris Rindov, Nati Clarke (Danny Flores 69'); Vitor Dias, Josh Coan, Ethan Bryant (Enzo Mauriz 61'); Andrew Draper (Amadou Traore 46'), Pau Vidal (Ozzie Cisneros 7'), Alenis Vargas
Subs Not Used: Carlito Saylon, Stephen Afrifa, Sebastian Cruz, Nassim Mekideche

Tacoma Defiance: Wallis Lapsley; Stuart Hawkins, Adolfo Ovalle, Elias Katsaros; Hal Uderitz, Snyder Brunell (Pedro Karalkovas 73'), Blake Bowen, Tavian Sousa; Antonio Herrera (Georgi Minoungou 61'), Chris Aquino (Raul Miglietti 61'), Braudilio Rodrigues (Juan Alvarez 88')
Subs Not Used: Trevor Wilson, Eytho Bjorgolfsson, Jack-Ryan Jeremiah

Scoring Summary:

TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues 8 (Hal Uderitez 1) 30'
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues 9 (Travian Sousa 2) 46'
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues 10 (Snyder Brunell 2) 54'
SKC – Vitor Dias 1 (Danny Flores 2) 82'

Misconduct Summary:

TAC – Travian Sousa (yellow card; tactical foul) 38'
SKC – Mikey Lenis (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 65'
SKC – Josh Coan (yellow card; dissent) 65'
TAC – Tavian Sousa (yellow card/red card; unsporting behavior) 68'
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 71'
SKC – Chris Rindov (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 87'

Referee: Calin Radosav
Assistant Referee: Hunter Zachwieja
Assistant Referee: Mark Novosel
Fourth Official: Mike Hohnholz