Sporting Kansas City II (9-11-5, 34 points) enters the home stretch of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season when they host MNUFC 2 (6-15-4, 26 points) at Children's Mercy Victory Field on Sunday, September 22. Kickoff for the pivotal Frontier Division matchup is set for 5 p.m. CT with a live stream available on MLSNEXTPro.com. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com for just $10 as Sporting KC II looks to jump back above the playoff line.
Sunday marks the third and final contest between Sporting KC II and MNUFC 2 as Sporting has claimed six points in the previous two meetings. The first came back in April when Kansas City dispatched the Loons 4-1 at Rock Chalk Park behind a hat trick from Kamron Habibullah and a goal from Danny Flores. The second meeting happened on June 2 in the Land of 10,000 Lakes where a brilliant second-half stoppage time finish from Sebastian Cruz lifted the visiting side past Minnesota.
Habibullah still leads all scorers on the team with 10 goals this season. The former Whitecaps FC player has added three along with his 10 goals. Forwards Beto Avila and Maouloune Gomballe both rank second on the team with eight tallies. Cruz has nine goal contributions, bagging four goals and five assists.
Midfielder Ethan Bryant played a massive role in Sporting's last win, a 1-0 thriller at Colorado Rapids 2 last Sunday. Bryant teed up Medgy Alexandre's 90+2 minute finish which lifted SKC II over Rapids 2 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Alexandre, a rookie from Montreal, Canada now has two goals on the season while Bryant has three goals and five assists.
Defender Carson Klein, who joined the team in July sparked the counter-attack that led to the crucial finish. Klein has nine appearances and seven starts on the backline, joining SKC Academy product Mason Visconti, SKC Academy amateur Leo Christiano and first-team loanee Chris Rindov as the most frequent defensive quartet in recent matches.
Goalkeeper Jacob Molinaro, a 17-year-old Academy player, earned his first professional clean sheet in the win against Colorado. Molinaro has made eight starts in net in his first pro season, earning four results.
Minnesota is led by head coach Jeremy Hall. They will be fighting for their playoff lives on Sunday as they sit nine points back of Portland who occupies the eighth spot in the Western Conference. Their leading scorer at eight goals, Patrick Weah has been on loan with Danish side HBKøge since August. Weah scored twice against SKC II in June but they will have to turn to midfielder Rory O'Driscoll and his five goals.
With just three matches remaining in the regular season, SKC II sits just one point back of the playoff line behind Timbers 2. Sunday presents a key opportunity to earn crucial points in the club's final push for the playoffs. Tickets for all three of Sporting KC II's remaining regular season matches are on sale for just $10 at SeatGeek.com.
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Match 26
Date: Sunday, September 22, 2024
Kickoff: 5 p.m. CT
Location: Children's Mercy Victory Field (Kansas City, MO)
Watch: MLSNEXTPro.com
Tickets: SeatGeek.com
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvMIN
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
