Sporting Kansas City II (6-3-2, 20 points) hosts Houston Dynamo 2 (2-5-3, 10 points) at Rock Chalk Park on Friday at 6 p.m. CT in the teams' third and final meeting of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. In the two sides' first two matchups, Sporting KC II dispatched of Houston 2-1 and 4-0.
Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com and the match can be streamed for free at MLSNEXTPro.com or on the MLS YouTube page.
The 4-0 win at Children's Mercy Victory Field on April 14, was SKC II's second result in a run of seven results in their last eight matches. It is Benny Feilhaber's group's lone clean sheet in 2024, but the team is one of the highest-scoring offenses in MLS NEXT Pro with 26 goals scored.
In the team's last match Kansas City traveled north to take on MNUFC 2 and played a thrilling 4-3 affair in which there were three ties before Sebastian Cruz's later winner in second-half stoppage time. Cruz also scored late in the first half and his brace propelled him to Player of Matchweek 12 honors.
Cruz has three goals on the season and has added four assists in seven starts this season. The Academy product took home his first Player of the Matchweek honors, joining Beto Avila and Kamron Habibullah as the three players with the title this season. Avila also tallied against Minnesota before being forced out due to an injury in the 31st. Habibullah currently paces SKC II in both goals and assists and is one off the league lead in goals and one off the leader in assists.
The Academy has played an increased role in 2024 with several players playing increased minutes. Jacob Bartlett leads all SKC Academy players in minutes, starting all seven of his appearances for 630 minutes played. Defender Alex Cunningham earned his second straight start last week and scored his first professional goal on a Cileo Tschantret assist. Goalkeeper Jacob Molinaro earned his first pro win at MNUFC 2 and made three saves. USYNT defender Ian James has returned from training camp with the USYNT U-16s in Argentina and has been back in training this week.
Rookies have also stepped up in 2024 for SKC II. Indiana alumnus Maouloune Goumballe has 10 starts this season, contributing three goals and two assists. He teed up Cruz's goal in Minnesota with a very unselfish centering pass for his second assist of the campaign. First-year pro Demarre Montoute has been a centerback stalwart for SKC II. He had started five of seven appearances nd made the save of the season, denying Patrick Weah with a goalline clearance midway through the first half.
Houston is led by head coach Kenny Bundy in his third season as the Dynamo Dos leader. Their leading scorer so far this season is Exon Arzu who scored against SKC II in the season opener. Arzu also won a penalty in the match which was turned aside by goalkeeper Ryan Schewe and has since added two goals.
Dynamo Dos started the season without a win in their first six matches. Since their slow start, they have three results in their last four matches including back-to-back wins against Real Monarchs and St. Louis CITY2 in May.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Match 12
Date: Friday, June 7, 2024
Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Rock Chalk Park (Lawrence, Kansas)
Watch: MLSNEXTPro.com, MLS YouTube
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvHOU
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
X: @houstondynamo2
Instagram: @houstondynamo2
