SKC II Recap: 10-man Sporting KC II side falls to MNUFC 2 at Children's Mercy Victory Field

A 10-man Sporting Kansas City II (9-12-5, 34 points) side was unable to outlast MNUFC 2's (7-15-4, 29 points) offensive onslaught in the second half, falling to the Loons second team 4-2 at Children's Mercy Victory Field on Sunday night. Sporting KC II jumped out to a two-goal lead midway through the first half thanks to goals from Kamron Habibullah and Maouloune Goumballe. However, two first-half stoppage-time goals and two second-half goals lifted Minnesota past Kansas City.

Head coach Benny Feilhaber began the match with Jacob Molinaro in goal, Carson Klein, Chris Rindov and Leo Christiano in front of him and defensive mid Shane Donovan alongside Danny Flores. Mason Visconti and Medgy Alexandre played out wide in the midfield while Habibullah manned the 10. Beto Avila and Goumballe operated as forward partners.

Four minutes into the match, Visconti fell hard and remained down behind the action. He received treatment on the field before being carter off and taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition and continues to receive medical care. Sebastian Cruz came on in place of Visconti and the match continued in the 12th minute.

A minute later, Molinaro made his first of eight saves, denying a close-range effort right in front of his goal. In the 15th, Donovan received his first yellow card for unsporting conduct. The first corner of the night came shortly thereafter and fell to Habibullah who wrapped his foot around the ball, bouncing it wide of the target.

In the 19th minute, Padelford yanked Avila's jersey at the top of the box, preventing a breakaway, picking up a yellow card and giving SKC II a golden set piece opportunity. Habibullah did not squander this chance, blasting an attempt off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net to open the scoring.

Not three minutes later, a breakaway for SKC II doubled the advantage thanks to a clever ball from Avila to Goumballe. SKC II's second-highest scorer brilliantly rounded the keeper and tucked the doubler into the goal.

SKC II remained on the attack with a pair of near-makes in the 27th and 28th minutes. First, Cruz attempted to curl one past the keeper, but his shot drifted wide of the mark. Then, Avila sparked an attack with a superb ball to Habibullah who combined well with Goumballe inside the 18. After getting back on the ball, Habinbullah rolled his shot into Alec Smir's hands.

Klein put his body on the line 10 minutes after that, dropping his head into the path of a shot to keep it out of Molinaro's goal. As we entered stoppage time in the first half, the game took a turn when the visitors struck twice. First, Hugo Bacharach headed in a corner kick four minutes into the additional time. Then Bacharach teed up a pair of diving MNUFC 2 players on the goal line six minutes later with Aidan Martinez earning credit for the goal.

Halftime came right after the MNUFC 2 equalizer. The second half then began with no changes except in the weather as the rain began to fall. Nine minutes into the final 45, Molinaro made a massive save with a diving effort. Just under the hour mark, Donovan was shown a second yellow for delaying a restart and the trajectory of the match changed as SKC II would play 30 minutes with 10 men.

Molinaro had a pair of back-to-back saves, first falling to his knees to scoop a turf burner before leaving his feat to tip a missile over the top of the crossbar. In the 68th MNUFC 2 redirected a header off a corner inches past the near post. A minute later Avila marched SKC II down the field for one of their final chances of the match, pinging a ripper into the gut of a defender and out for a corner which was cleared.

Molinaro made a simple save in the 71st before Flores dropped to a knee to defend a shot from inside the 18. The 75th produced the guest's go-ahead goal when Samuel Shashoua capped off an assist from Anthony Markanic. Now needing an answer, the red card-burdened SKC II side moved forward with Christiano overcooking a centering pass into the 18. Just before the 90th, Minnesota picked up an insurance goal from Alisa Randell to end the match.

Sporting KC II will have two more chances to leap over Houston and Portland and earn a spot in the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs. Next Sunday they will host North Texas SC at Children's Mercy Victory Field in a 3 p.m. showdown at Swope Soccer Village. Tickets are on sale for just $10 at SeatGeek.com and the match will stream live on MLSNEXTPro.com.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Carson Klein, Chris Rindov, Leo Christiano; Shane Donovan, Danny Flores, Medgy Alexandre (Nati Clarke 56'), Kamron Habibullah, Mason Visconti (Sebastian Cruz 12' Johann Ortiz 82'); Beto Avila, Maouloune Goumballe

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Ethan Bryant, Ian James, Demarre Montoute, Jonathan Robinson, Cielo Tschantret

MNUFC 2: Alec Smir; Matus Kmet (Britton Fischer 61'), Hugo Bacharach, Devin Padelford (Anderson Farris 82'), Anthony Markanich; Aidan Martinez, Rory O'Driscoll (Moses Nyeman 61'), Samuel Shashoua (Will Schmidt 82'); Darius Randell, Enrique Nieves, Loic Mesanvi

Subs Not Used: Francesco Montali, Finn McRobb, Griffin Price

Scoring Summary:

SKC – Kamron Habibullah 11 (unassisted) 20'
SKC – Maouloune Goumballe 9 (Beto Avila 3) 23'
MIN – Hugo Bacharach 1 (Rory O'Driscoll 1) 45+4'
MIN – Aidan Martinez 2 (Hugo Bacharach 2) 45+10'
MIN – Samuel Shashoua 2 (Anthony Markanich 1) 75'
MIN – Alisa Randell 3 (Enrique Nieves 1) 89'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC – Shane Donovan (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 15'
MIN – Devin Padelford (yellow card; tactical foul) 19'
SKC – Beto Avila (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 35'
SKC – Sebastian Cruz (yellow card; dissent) 45+5'
SKC – Shane Donovan (red card; second yellow) 59'
MIN – John Farris (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 85'
SKC – Kamron Habibullah (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 88'

Referee: Jose Lara
Assistant Referee: Fernando Pina
Assistant Referee: Joseph Macht
Fourth Official: Drew Klemp