Sporting Kansas City II (0-2-0, 0 points) suffered a home defeat against St. Louis CITY2 (2-0-0, 6 points) on Friday night at Children's Mercy Victory Field in Kansas City, Missouri. A blustery night at Swope Soccer Village presented an interesting challenge for both teams. St. Louis' strike in the 16th minute off Mykhi Joyner's boot proved to be the only scoring in a match that saw just five shots on target.
Head coach Istvan Urbanyi's starting eleven featured three first-team homegrowns acting as a defensive battery. Jack Kortkamp started in goal with Jacob Bartlett and Ian James playing as his centerbacks. Nati Clarke and Leo Christiano played on either side of the backline with captain Cielo Tschantret manning the six in front of them. Shane Donovan and Gael Quintero slotted into the midfield while Beckham Udertiz, Maouloune Goumballe and Medgy Alexandre comprised the front three.
The match started slowly with both sides adjusting to the howling winds. SKC II made the first threatening move forward in the ninth after Clarke made a brilliant run down the right sideline. He slotted the ball to Uderitz on the endline where he placed a cross into the six that was touched out by CITY2. The ensuing corner was defended clear and would end up the only SKC II corner of the evening.
On the other end, just two minutes later, Quintero put a hard-nosed tackle in, bounced to his feet and sprung a quick counter with a forward pass to Alexandre. The winger connected with Goumballe who then found Donovan .who skipped the ball into rookie goalkeeper Collin Welsh's arms. Joyner then scored his first goal of the 2025 campaign, finishing off a cross from Brendan McSorley just before the 17th minute of play.
SKC II tried to level the match in the 21st off Alexandre's foot but his midrange effort was bashed over the top of the target. Kortkamp then etched his name on the match with his first save of the contest, tipping a screamer headed for the far post out of play. Christiano went for it all with a one-touch shot inside the 18, but his curled attempt drifted just off target past the back post. Uderitz tried to catch St. Louis napping in the 28th with a cheeky long-range offering against the wind that wafted off target.
St. Louis went back on the attack with a pair of chances in the 30th and 33rd. The first, a cross into the box from the right side of the attack found a head inside the six where it ricocheted over the crossbar and onto the top of the net. The second header found the target but was denied by an incredibly athletic save from the 16-year-old Kortkamp. Christiano was then booked for a tactical foul in the 35th. SKC II's last chance of the first half came from Alexandre who ripped one off the back of a defender. The deflection was blasted away from danger and carried downfield where Bartlett put his body on the line to block a crack from the top of the 18.
The guests had one final look, a free kick that was easily handled by the wall and the halftime whistle sounded with them ahead 1-0. No changes were made in the second half as the match's pace dramatically slowed in the final 45. None of the four shots in the half were hit on target with the two best chances coming from Uderitz in the 56th and Bartlett in stoppage time.
Urbanyi made his first substitution in the 64th, replacing Uderitz with Johann Ortiz and then another in the 69th, bringing on Anthony Samways for Quintero. St. Louis used up all five of their swaps including one on former SKC Academy player Wan Kuzain who entered in the 83rd before earning a yellow card for delaying a restart. SKC II scrambled in the five minutes of stoppage time but was unable to crack a sturdy St. Louis defense that began to drop numbers behind the ball early in the second half. CITY2 was able to hold onto their one goal advantage and claimed all three points.
Sporting KC II will now look to a historic Wednesday night fixture against the Des Moines Menace in the team's Lamar Hunt US Open Cup debut. The First Round of the storied competition kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT at Children's Mercy Victory Field. The contest promises to be a thrilling matchup as former MLS stars Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips come to town. Tickets are on sale for $10 at SeatGeek.com.
Sporting will also have a chance to avenge tonight's loss in short order as their next MLS NEXT Pro match pits them against CITY2 at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, March 23. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. CT with the match airing on MLS Season Pass in the Apple TV App.
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
Sporting Kansas City II (0-2-0, 0 points) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
St. Louis CITY2 (2-0-0, 6 points) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Sporting Kansas City II: Jack Kortkamp; Nati Clarke, Ian James, Jacob Bartlett, Leo Christiano; Cielo Tschantret, Shane Donovan, Gael Quintero (Anthony Samways 69'); Medgy Alexandre, Maouloune Goumballe, Beckham Uderitz (Johann Ortiz 64')
Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Carter Derksen, Makhi Francis, Zane Wantland, Nate Young
St. Louis CITY2: Colin Welsh; Tyson Pearce, Jaziel Orozco, Gabriel Mikina, Cam Cilley; Seth Antwi, Miguel Perez (Matteo Kidd 84'), Mykhi Joyner (Dida Armstrong 77'), Ryan Becher (Jack Di Maria 64'), Brendan McSorley (Wan Kuzain 83'); Caden Glover (Emil Jaaskelainen 64')
Subs Not Used: Lucas McPartlin, Larsen Hackworth,
Scoring Summary:
STL -- Mykhi Joyner 1(Brendan McSorley 1) 16'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC -- Leo Christiano (Tactical Foul; yellow card) 35'
SKC -- Johann Ortiz (Unsporting Conduct; yellow card) 73'
STL -- Wan Kuzain (Delaying a Restart; yellow card) 87'
Stat | SKC | STL |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 12 | 10 |
Shots on Goal | 1 | 4 |
Saves | 3 | 1 |
Fouls | 16 | 12 |
Offsides | 2 | 1 |
Corner Kicks | 1 | 4 |
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
Assistant Referee: Jackson Krauser
Assistant Referee: Albert Franklin
Fourth Official: Kyle Armstrong
