Sporting Kansas City II's 2024 Preseason presented by Central Bank rolled on with a midweek match at Swope Soccer Village against the Rockhurst University men's soccer team. Head coach Benny Feilhaber's starting XI went 60 minutes, tallying four goals before a large group of Academy players closed out the match alongside Ethan Bryant who netted the fifth goal of the 5-1 triumph.
Pau Vidal put up three of the five scores, finding the back of the net in the opening minutes of the match. Cielo Tschantret forced a turnover in the midfield and slipped Vidal into the area with an inch-perfect through ball. The forward wasted no time, slotting the ball past the keeper.
After the visitors equalized, Nati Clarke brilliantly cut inside to the Rockhurst box onto his left foot and buried a shot in the far side of the goal. Moments before the halftime whistle came, Roberto Hategan won a penalty kick which Vidal sunk for his brace.
Coming out of the break, Vidal thundered home a header off a Hategan cross from the endline to complete the hat trick. With the game all but in hand, Feilhaber made a mass sub in the 60th, closing out the match with eight Sporting KC Academy players, a trialist and two contracted players. Bryant, one of the two SKC II contracted members capped off a chaotic sequence inside the 18, firing a shot past the goalkeeper from point-blank range. SKC II saw the rest of the match out taking the 5-1 win.
Saturday marks the final 2024 preseason presented by Central Bank match for SKC II as they host Central Methodist University at 1 p.m. CT at Swope Soccer Village. Fans can follow along by checking @SportingKCII on X. Following the match, SKC II will begin preparations for Houston Dynamo 2 and the start of the MLS NEXT Pro regular season on Sunday, March 17.
Sporting KC II Lineups
First 60: Jacob Molinaro (Jack Kortkamp 45'); Nati Clarke, Ian James, Haris Alisah, Jonathan Robinson (Brandon Munson 30'); Cielo Tschantret, Jake Swallen, Johann Ortiz; Roberto Hategan, Pau Vidal, Maouloune Goumballe (Geremi Onentia 15')
Final 30: Jack Kortkamp; Rhys Laws, Ryan Wagner, Demarre Montoute, Brandon Munson; Luis Cruz-Ayala, Edgar Bazan, Ethan Bryant; Ryan Reid, Beto Avila, Geremi Onentia
