Sporting Kansas City II (7-8-4, 27 points) takes on Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (9-5-4, 32 points) in a Friday night matchup at Rock Chalk Park on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Tickets for the 7 p.m. CT kickoff are on sale at SeatGeek.com and fans 12 and under will receive free admission.
With less than 10 matches to play, this meeting between two teams above the Western Conference playoff line could prove consequential for the final standings of the MLS NEXT Pro season. Sporting KC II will face Vancouver later in the month in a regular season clash north of the border.
Head coach Benny Feilhaber's 2023 SKC II side took a road point in a shootout defeat in Vancouver before vanquishing the Whitecaps 7-1 at Rock Chalk Park later in the 2023 campaign. Friday marks the first of two meetings between Sporting and WFC 2 in August.
The last time Rock Chalk Park hosted Sporting KC II, they sank St. Louis CITY2 3-1 in front of a raucous crowd of Sporting faithful. Sebastian Cruz tallied once and picked up an assist while midfielder and rookie Cielo Tschantret found the back of the net for the first time this season.
Cruz currently leads the team with 10 total assists, five primary, and five secondary. He has also added four goals. Tschantret netted his first goal of the season against St. Louis and has one assist. Both players were in the squad for Sporting Kansas City's Leagues Cup match against the Chicago Fire last Sunday and are on the roster for the competition.
Two players lead the way in goals scored in 2024, forward Beto Avila and midfielder Kamron Habibullah. The duo have eight goals each with Habibullah striking in SKC II's last outing at Portland Timbers 2. Winger Maouloune Goumballe is next on the stat sheet in goals with six. The rookie from Indiana has made 18 appearance, tied for the most with Cruz and Ethan Bryant.
Bryant has three goals and four assists in his second season with SKC II and has been the most frequent captain for Kansas City. On the backline, first-team loanee Chris Rindov has played more than any other defender and has the most clearances (41). Academy product Mason Visconti has started seven of the last eight matches for SKC II after missing the first half of the season with an injury. Newcomer and Kansas native Carson Klein has made three consecutive starts since joining the team in early July.
Head coach Ricardo Clarke leads Vancouver in his second season in charge. He has his group in fourth place in the West, six points clear of the playoff line. They have caught fire in the last two months, earning points in eight of their last nine matches since May 19. Their last outing came at Real Monarchs and produced a thrilling 9-8 shootout battle which they lost to the hosts.
Headlining the attack for WFC 2 is forward Nicolas Leeurau Chateau and midfielder Eliot Goldthorp. The duo have found the target six times each and tallied three and five assists respectively. Midfielder Jay Herdman comes in third with five goals and three assists. Goalkeeper and Homegrown signee Max Anchor has made a career-high 15 appearances, blocking 37 shots in the process. Last season he made 60 saves in just 14 matches played.
Following the clash with the Whitecaps, Sporting will head south to Texas for a duel with North Texas SC at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They will then host Austin FC II at Rock Chalk Park before rematching with Vancouver at Swangard Stadium in Vancouver, Canada. With the end of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season on the horizon the month of August could prove highly consequential in the story of Sporting KC II's season. Tickets for the first match of the month, and one of SKC II's final times in Lawerence, Kansas this season are on sale at SeatGeek.com
Match Information:
MLS NEXT Pro: Match 20
Date: Friday, August 2, 2024
Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Lawrence, Kansas
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Tickets: SeatGeek.com
SOCIAL TAGS:
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvVAN
X: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
X: @WFC2
Instagram: @WhitecapsFC.2
