Sporting Kansas City II (2-2-0, 6 points) will host Houston Dynamo 2 (0-3-0, 0 points) at Children's Mercy Victory Field at Swope Soccer Village on Sunday evening in their second of three meetings in the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT with a free live stream provided on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube page and tickets on sale at SeatGeek.com.
Sporting KC II and Dynamo Dos have seen each other once this year, playing a thrilling contest in the opening match of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. After conceding early in the second, goalkeeper and first-team loanee Ryan Schewe denied a kick from the spot to keep the match a one-goal affair. With just 10 minutes to go former Houston Dynamo forward Beto Avila netted the equalizer before Pau Vidal fired home the winner a few ticks later.
Since Matchweek 1 of MLS NEXT Pro, SKC II has taken two home defeats and claimed an enthralling victory on the road at Colorado Rapids 2. Houston has yet to earn a point this season, having been vanquished by LAFC2 and Austin FC II.
Kansas City's win at Rapids 2 was also in come-from-behind fashion and earned the group MLS NEXT Pro Team of Matchweek 4 honors. SKC II entered the halftime break down 3-1 despite scoring the opener in the 21st minute. Head coach Benny Feilhaber made four swaps to the starting XI and injected some new life into a squad that rattled off four unanswered goals in less than 30 minutes to secure a 5-3 win.
The comeback effort was spearheaded by Avila as well as midfielder Kamron Habibullah. The SKC II newcomers scored all five of the team's goals with Habibullah netting his first, second and third goals for the club in a hat trick performance worthy of MLS NEXT Pro Player of Matchweek 4. Avila picked up his first SKC II assist and fired home both the leveler and go-ahead goal in an impressive showing for the former Dynamo first-teamer.
With the win in Colorado, SKC II vaulted themselves into first place in the Frontier Division and they will look to defend that spot against a divisional rival on Sunday.
While the newcomers Avila and Habibullah showed out against Colorado, returnees Vidal, Ethan Bryant and Sebastian Cruz have been key contributors all season long. Vidal's two goals scored rank third on the team behind the aforementioned Avila and Habibullah. Bryant has appeared in all four matches, donning the captain's armband in two of the four and tallying an assist at Colorado.
Cruz is one of four players to start all four matches. He picked up his first assist of 2024 as well as a knock late in the excitement against Colorado. He has played in all but five minutes this season. First-team loanee Chris Rindov is the only player on the team to play all 360 minutes thus far.
Six Sporting KC Academy players have provided valuable minutes this season. Defender Ian James and midfielder Johann Ortiz appeared in the first two matches but were unavailable for selection in the last two matches due to the duo helping Spprting's U-17s advance to the GA Cup Quarterfinals. Midfielder Cielo Tschantret has played in three of SKC II's four matches this season, controlling the midfield from his spot as SKC II's six. Defender Jacob Bartlett has started two consecutive matches, going the distance in both. Forward Ethan Schaefer made his pro debut against St. Louis CITY2 and came on late against Colorado while Ryan Reid made his first SKC II appearance since 2022, starting against Rapids 2.
Houston is led by head coach Kenny Bundy in his third season as the Dynamo Dos boss. Their leading scorer through three matches is Exon Arzu who struck against SKC II in the opener. Arzu also won a penalty in the match which was turned aside by Schewe. The speedy forward found the back of the net in a 3-2 loss at LAFC2 a week after he scored against SKC II and failed to score against Austin.
SKC II's return to Children's Mercy Victory Field at Swope Soccer Village comes a little over 200 days after the team secured a home playoff match with a shootout win over St. Louis CITY2 on MLS NEXT Pro Decision Day. The team will play eight more home matches at Rock Chalk Park after they meet with Houston on Sunday, before returning to Swope in September for the final three home matches of 2024.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Matchweek 5
Date: Sunday, April 14, 2024
Kickoff: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Children's Mercy Victory Field (Kansas City, Missouri)
Watch: MLSNEXTPro.com
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvHOU
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
X: @houstondynamo2
Instagram: @houstondynamo2
