Sporting Kansas City II (6-5-3, 22 points) closes out the month of June with a home match against Austin FC II (2-5-6, 14 points) on Sunday evening at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com for just $10 and the match can be viewed on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Sunday's showdown marks the second meeting in 2024 and the first time at Rock Chalk Park since the two squads faced off in the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Quarterfinals. In the teams' first meeting, 90 minutes was not enough to settle the score as they played to a thrilling 2-2 draw. Austin earned the extra point in kicks from the spot, but SKC II picked up a valuable road point.
Forward Maouloune Goumballe scored his third goal of the season against the Black and Verde second team and Ethan Bryant buried a penalty later in the match. Austin answered both of those finishes, eventually knocking off SKC II 5-4 in a shootout.
Goumballe has four goals on the campaign and added two assists as a rookie winger. He has been joined in the attack by midfielder/forward Kamron Habibullah who leads all MLS NEXT Pro players with 12 goal contributions. His seven goals and five assists both pace the club and earned him the title of MLS NEXT Pro Midseason Best Player.
Sporting KC Academy product Sebastian Cruz has also tallied five assists, bagging a trio of goals to go along with it. Forward Beto Avila returned to the pitch last Sunday against St. Louis CITY2 after suffering an injury earlier in the year. The former Houston Dynamo first-team player has six goals and two assists in his first season with Sporting.
Sporting KC Academy player Johann Ortiz played four matches in the midfield. He scored his first professional goal in a 2-2 draw against Houston Dynamo 2 in SKC II's last home match on June 7. Fellow Academy player Ian James has five appearances and two starts. Leo Christiano and Alex Cunningham have joined the 16-year-old centerback on the backline as the two players have appeared for the second team for a second straight season.
Bryant is the lone SKC II player to appear in every match this season. The team captain has two goals and three assists, including the goal against Austin back on May 17.
Austin is led by head coach Brett Uttley who led the group to the MLS NEXT Pro title a season ago. They sit one spot back of SKC II in the Frontier Division standings and have six draws on the season, tied for the league lead. They are on a three-match draw streak, losing two of three shootouts.
The team's leading scorer is Sebastian Pineau who has found the back of the net four times in seven matches. The forward has one assist, helping Bryant Farkarlun score the team's first goal before sinning the first shootout attempt as well.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Match 15
Date: Sunday, June 30, 2024
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Rock Chalk Park (Lawrence, Kansas)
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Tickets: SeatGeek.com
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvATX
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
Twitter: @AustinFCII
Instagram: @AustinFCII
