Sporting Kansas City II opens the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season on Sunday when they travel south to take on Houston Dynamo 2 at AVEVA Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT and the match will stream live for free at MLSNEXTPro.com and can also be found on the MLS YouTube channel.
Fans can also follow @SportingKCII on X for live updates throughout the match.
Led by head coach and the newest Sporting Legend, Benny Feilhaber, Sporting KC II will look to build on a successful 2023 campaign which saw them host a playoff match at Rock Chalk Park in September. Feilhaber is joined by fellow 2013 MLS Cup Champion and two-time MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara as the duo are set for their third season in charge.
A season ago, SKC II boasted one of MLS NEXT Pro's most potent offenses, burying 60 goals in 28 matches, tied for second most in the league. Two massive contributors to that offensive attack were forwards Pau Vidal and Sebastian Cruz. Both of them are back for year two. Vidal tallied 11 goals in just 16 starts while Cruz netted five goals and tabbed a pair of assists. A product of the Sporting Kansas City Academy, Cruz spent the majority of January and February with the first team in Miami for the 2024 preseason presented by Children's Mercy after making his first team debut in an Open Cup win a year prior.
Also returning for a second stint with the club is midfielder Ethan Bryant. The Texas native bagged eight goals and three assists in his first season in Kansas City, appearing in first-team preseason earlier this year. Bryant made two Open Cup appearances for Sporting KC in the 2023 version of the nation's oldest soccer competition.
In the offseason, the SKC II roster was bolstered with 12 other MLS NEXT Pro contracted players including Nati Clarke who inked his first professional contract in December. The Academy product started 18 of 19 appearances as an amateur picking up one assist and taking home MLS NEXT Rising Star of Matchday 19.
Clarke joins a cast of newcomers that includes former MLS first-team players Beto Avila and Kamron Habibullah. Avila has recorded 15 goals and 13 assists in 95 professional appearances since 2019. Habibullah made 21 appearances for Whitecaps FC and Whitecaps FC 2 from 2021-2023 and has also represented Canada at the U-17 and U-20 levels, most recently competing at the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship.
Sporting KC II Roster
- Defenders (5): Nati Clarke, Kortne Ford, Demarre Montoute, Jonathan Robinson, Mason Visconti
- Midfielders (4): Haris Alisah, Ethan Bryant, Sebastian Cruz, Jake Swallen
- Forwards (6): Medgy Alexandre, Beto Avila, Maouloune Goumballe, Kamron Habibullah, Roberto Hategan, Pau Vidal
The 15 rostered players will be joined by talented Academy players on amateur contracts and first-team loanees throughout the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season.
Dynamo Dos, led by Kenny Bundy in his third season with Houston, enters 2024 after bowing out in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. They suffered a 4-3 defeat to Tacoma Defiance after squeaking into the playoffs as the seventh and final seed in the West.
They will be without their leading scorer from the past two seasons Papa Nadoye as the Senegalese striker joined Carolina Core FC. Ndoye had 19 goals over the last two seasons.
Sporting KC II and Houston have met on five occasions in MLS NEXT Pro with the opposition taking four wins. SKC II's lone win came in 2022 in the form of a 1-0 road win. The two sides will meet again Sunday at 5 p.m. CT in the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro opener. Fans can catch all the action for free at MLSNEXTPro.com or on the MLS YouTube channel.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Matchweek 1
Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024
Kickoff: 5 p.m. CT
Location: AVEVA Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Watch: MLSNEXTPro.com
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #HOUvSKC
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
X: @houstondynamo2
Instagram: @houstondynamo2
