Sporting Kansas City II (9-7-5, 35 points) will put a bow on a busy week of soccer on Sunday when they host Portland Timbers2 (9-11-1, 28 points) at Rock Chalk Park. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube channel. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com for just $10 and children under 12 receive free admission.
The two sides met at Providence Park in mid July with Timbers2 taking the match 3-1. That marked Sporting KC II’s only loss of July as they went on to claim MLS NEXT Pro Team of the Month.
SKC II has kicked off the month of August with back to back defeats on the road, at Houston Dynamo 2 and Tacoma Defiance. Vitor Dias rallied his first goal of the club in the team’s 3-1 defeat at Tacoma on Wednesday.
Head coach Benny Feilhaber and his squad will look to get back to their winning ways on Sunday and avoid their first three match losing streak of 2023. Sporting KC II’s 41 goals rank second in MLS NEXT Pro and is a large reason for the team’s success in 2023.
They will be without their leading scorer on Sunday as Pau Vidal went down with an injury in the seventh minute of the midweek match. His 10 goals lead the team in both goals and total goal contributions.
Second on the team in goal contributions is Alenis Vargas who has two goals and a team-best five assists. Falling in behind him on the offensive front are a quartet of players, Ethan Bryant, Josh Coan, Sebastian Cruz and Andrew Draper. All four have contributed on six goals this season.
In the defensive third, Nati Clarke has been a mainstay at left back with right back Lucas Rosa playing more minutes than any SKC II player this season. Nassim Mekideche has been a staple at centerback with Academy product Jahon Rad filling in well this season.
Ethan Bandre has been the team’s leading goalkeeper this season, playing in 13 matches, tallying 35 saves and earning nine results. John Pulskamp and Kendall McIntosh have each earned valuable minutes this season as well.
Timbers2 is led by manager Shannon Murray and come into Sunday fresh off a 6-1 win over Galaxy II. They have earned four results in their last five matches as they look to climb into playoff contention with seven matches to play.
On the pitch they are led by Florian Monzon and his eight goals and two assists. Close behind is Timbers first teamer Diego Gutierrez who has five goals on the campaign.
Sunday’s matchup between SKC II and Timbers2 will be the penultimate regular season match at Rock Chalk Park in 2023. The finale in Lawrence will be Saturday, Aug. 19 against MNUFC2 before the team will play their final two matches at Children’s Mercy Victory Field.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Match 22
Date: Sunday, August 13, 2023
Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Rock Chalk Park (Lawrence, Kansas)
Watch: MLSNEXTPro.com | MLS YouTube
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvPOR
Twitter: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
Twitter: TimbersFC2
Instagram: TimbersFC2
