SKC II Recap: 10-man Sporting KC II suffers defeat to St. Louis CITY2

Sporting Kansas City II (1-2-0, 3 points) suffered a home defeat to St. Louis CITY2 (1-1-1, 4 points) after Roberto Hategan was given a red card in the 31st minute. Despite playing down a man, SKC II led by one in the second half after Maouloune Goumballe scored his first professional goal in the 51st.

Head coach Benny Feilhaber made a handful of changes to the starting XI with five first time starters in the lineup. Ryan Schewe and Chris Rindov were the lone loaners in the XI both making their third start. Nati Clarke and Jonathan Robinson started on the back four with Rindov and Academy defender Jacob Bartlett. Jake Swallen, Sebastian Cruz and Kamron Habibullah started in the midfield with Goumballe, Hategan and Pau Vidal in the front three.

Before having to exit the match early after picking up a knock, Vidal had the first look at goal in the fifth minute. After some nifty moves from Habibullah the Spaniard was played into the box where he pushed his shot wide of the left hand post with a sliding effort.

A minute later, Vidal and Wentzel got tangled up along the sideline. The SKC II forward came up the worse of the two players and would have to leave the pitch in the 19th minute. Before this, former Sporting KC Academy player Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal took a shot for CITY2 inside the area. On its way to goal, the ball took a redirection and rolled into Schewe's grasp.

Vidal then hit a one-time shot off an interception around midfield, looking to catch Christina Oliveras off his line. The attempt skipped off the turf and was snagged by the keeper. That was his final action as Avila entered moments later. 

The match then slowed for the next 12 minutes before the pivotal moment that shook everything up. In the 31st, Hategan lifted a leg which was run into by the opposition, going for a 50/50 ball near midfield. The referee dealt the winger a straight red card, much to the chagrin of the SKC II players, fans and technical staff. 

With a little under 60 minutes to play in regulation, SKC II would play down a man. Neither keeper was tested for the remainder of the first half as the home side was able to regroup in the dressing room. St. Louis came out of the break on the attack, sending a dangerous-looking ball across the six that was fired on target and blocked by Robinson.

Despite the man advantage, the visitors conceded first, allowing Goumbale to score his first pro goal on Robinson's first pro assist. The left-back found the winger inside the 18, where he settled the ball with his chest before slipping it past Olivares with a left-footed poke.

The celebration was short-lived for SKC II. John Klein III netted the leveler three minutes later after Swallen made a brilliant defensive effort a minute before, to keep the match level. Klein broke free in the 18 and finished a volley off a lofted through ball dropped near the six-yard box. 

In the 64th, Ethan Bryant entered the contest for Swallen, and Montreal native Medgy Alexandre made his debut for Sporting Kansas City II, replacing Habibullah. A minute later, a short corner was worked around the corner of the box, whipped into the area and deflected into SKC II's goal to give CITY2 the lead. The visitors would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the contest despite a valiant effort from SKC II.

Academy players Cielot Tschantret and Ethan Schaefer entered the contest for Robinson and Avila as Schaefer made his professional debut. Cruz skipped one on-target that a well-positioned Olivares smothered in the middle of his goal. No more clear-cut chances came and St. Louis claimed their first win of 2024.

Sporting KC II's next match will see them travel west to take on Ethan Bandre and Colorado Rapids 2 on Sunday, April 7. The match will kick off at 8:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed for free at MLSNEXTPro.com. 

Sporting Kansas City II: Ryan Schewe; Nati Clarke, Chris Rindov, Jacob Bartlett, Jonathan Robinson (Cielo Tschantret 82'); Jake Swallen (Ethan Bryant 64'), Kamron Habibullah (Medgy Alexandre 64'), Sebastian Cruz; Maouloune Goumballe, Pau Vidal (Beto Avila 19'Ethan Schaefer 82')), Roberto Hategan
Subs Not Used: Carlito Saylon, Haris Alisah, Danny Flores, Demarre Montoute

St. Louis CITY2: Christian Olivares; Akil Watts (Nolan McGuire, 77'), Michael Wentzel, Gabriel Mikina (Eric Kinzner 67'), Jayden Reid; John Klein, Seth Antwi (Tyson Pearce 64'), Cam Cilley, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal; Brendan McSorley (Dida Armstong, 77'), Caden Glover (Ryan Becher 64')
Subs Not Used: Nick Bishop, Sam Gomez

Scoring Summary:

SKC – Maouloune Goumballe 1 (Jonathan Robinson 1) 51'
STL – John Klein 2 (Seth Antwi 1) 54'
STL – Own Goal 65'

Misconduct Summary:

STL – Akil Watts (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 9'
STL – Wentzel (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 29'
SKC – Roberto Hategam (red card; serious foul play) 31'
SKC – Nati Clarke (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 45+1'
SKC – Beto Avila (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 71'

Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee: Sarah Gaddes
Assistant Referee: Stephen Milhoan
Fourth Official: Jacob Larson