Sporting Kansas City II (10-12-6, 38 points) earned a Decision Day triumph over LAFC 2 (12-10-6, 45 points) in come-from-behind fashion, scoring three unanswered in the second half to win 4-3 at Children's Mercy Victory Field in Kansas City, Missouri. Despite the fantastic effort from head coach Benny Feilhaber's group, Sporting KC II came up just a point shy of the playoffs, not getting the results from around the league that they needed in order to punch their postseason ticket.
Rookie Medgy Alexandre scored his third of the season before Javier Hernandez notched a hat trick for the visitors. Ethan Bryant responded with a pair of goals of his own and Sebastian Cruz fired home his fifth of the season as SKC II earned all three points in the season finale.
Feilhaber's starters included 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Kortkamp making his third start in net. Leo Christiano and Chris Rindov were joined by Ian James on the back three with Bryant and Danny Flores playing as co-defensive midfielders. Alexandre, Cruz and Kamron Habibullah played in the attack with Maouloune Goumballe and Beto Avila up top.
Alexandre got the fireworks started 10 minutes into the contest, getting in the right spot at the right time to redirect a poor clearance inside the LAFC 2 box off his thigh and into the back of the net. Alexandre had a resurgence in the second half of the season, starting seven straight matches down the stretch and scoring two goals in his final four matches.
The guests responded immediately with Hernandez scoring his first of three consecutive finishes. SKC II did not lay down as Avila nearly found the back of the net on back-to-back chances. His second effort came closer than his first when he rose above the pack on a corner kick and redirected the ball just over the top of the net. LAFC thought they had the doubler in the 22nd but had the goal called back after the assistant referee raised his flag for offside.
Bryant was denied in the 27th by David Ochao after his curling effort drifted into the keeper's arms. The Black and Gold did find their second four minutes after that the duo of Nathan Ordaz and Hernandez combined once more. Ordaz found tons of space and broke at the SKC II backline before sliding Hernandez in on goal. The eventual hat trick scorer found the back of the net with a collected finish.
Again, Avila rose over the pack on a corner as SKC II looked to get back on level terms, and, once more, his shot drifted just off target. A similar fate befell Rindov in the 37th with his headed effort sailing inches past the crossbar. On the cusp of halftime, Avila rounded Ochoa off a quick Kansas City restart. The ball rolled just out of reach for a shot and the striker's cross was defended clear of the danger bringing a close to the first half.
Coming out of the break, James did brilliantly to stymy a dangerous-looking attack in the 49th, however, the 50th saw LAFC 2 double their advantage from an up-close finish by Hernandez. LAFC almost found another on two separate moments shortly thereafter, but the first drifted wide and the second was saved by a charging Kortkamp in a one-on-one moment. Nati Clarke and Shane Donovan entered the match as Feilhaber's first changes in the 53rd, replacing James and Flores.
Bryant pulled one back for the home side with a terrific show of athleticism in the 57th. The midfielder was played into the attack on a terrific bit of vision from Habibullah off an LAFC corner kick. Bryant got to the through ball near the midline and dashed for the goal, calmly placing the ball into the middle of the goal over Ochoa's arms.
Kortkamp made a steller save, diving to deny a near post rocket. Sporting then packed it in defensively on the corner to deflect two shots way. Jonathan Robinson came on for Goumballe in the 62nd and would make a lasting impact on the match almost instantly. His perfect, skipping cross to Cruz on the near post allowed the SKC Academy product to poke a shot past Ochoa and bring the match even. Cruz now finishes the year with five goals and five assists, giving him 17 goal contributions in two seasons back in Kansas City.
The scoring did not stop there with Sporting KC II needing another goal to have a look at the playoffs. Habibullah, the team's leading scorer and one of the craftier players, diced his way through the Los Angeles defense before getting hammered down at the penalty marker, earning a kick from the spot. Bryant stepped up and buried the kick, despite Ochoa diving the right way, putting Sporting back in the driver's seat.
LAFC tried to regain control, firing a few chances late in the match. One ricocheted hard off the post, but away from danger. Another attack was slammed shut by a sprinting Robinson with a little over 10 minutes to play. Kortkamp was forced to smack a corner kick away in traffic and came up big again late in the match, saving a worm burner by diving to his right. Demarre Montoute and Cielo Tschantret came on for Alexandre and Habibullah in the 85th as SKC II defended their lead. Montoute made a brave play in stoppage time taking a blow to the head while winning a defensive header in the 18. SKC II would hang on to the win and take all three points.
Despite leaving it all on the pitch, Real Monarchs earned two points and Houston Dynamo 2 earned all three to finish ahead of SKC II in the final standings. Dynamo Dos took the eighth and final playoff spot finishing a point ahead of Sporting KC II. In the coming weeks, SKC II will announce their roster moves as planning begins for the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season. Fans can follow all the latest news for Sporting Kansas City II by following the club on X, Instagram and Facebook, or by checking SportingKC.com/SKCII/news.
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
Sporting Kansas City II (10-12-6, 38 points) | 1 | 3 | 4 |
LAFC 2 (12-10-6, 45 points) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Sporting Kansas City II: Jack Kortkamp; Ian James (Nati Clarke 53'), Chris Rindov, Leo Christiano; Danny Flores (Shane Donovan 53'), Ethan Bryant, Sebastian Cruz, Kamron Habibullah (Cielo Tschantret 85'), Medgy Alexandre (Demarre Montoute 85'), Maoulune Goumballe (Jonathan Robinson 62'), Beto Avila
Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Johann Ortiz
LAFC 2: David Ochoa; Christopher Jaime, Adrian Sanders, Kenny Nielsen (Thabo Nare 46'), Diego Rosales; DeCarlo Guerra (Thomas Musto 81'), Erik Duenas, Jude Terry (Bryan Moyado 46'); Nathan Ordaz, Javier Hernandez (Matt Evans 68'), Adrian Wibowo (Leonardo Flores 7')
Subs Not Used: Dylan Auffret, Bajung Darboe
Scoring Summary:
SKC – Medgy Alexandre 3 (unassisted) 10'
LAFC – Javier Hernandez (Nathan Ordaz ) 11'
LAFC – Javier Hernandez (Nathan Ordaz ) 31'
LAFC – Javier Hernandez (Christopher Jaime ) 50'
SKC – Ethan Bryant 4 (Kamron Habibullah 4) 57'
SKC – Sebastian Cruz 5 (Jonathan Robinson 2) 65'
SKC – Ethan Bryant 5 (Penalty Kick) 72'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Beto Avila (unsporting conduct) 43'
SKC – Maouloune Goumballe (unsporting conduct) 53'
LAFC – Nathan Ordaz (unsporting conduct) 76'
LAFC – Erik Duenas (unsporting conduct) 81'
Stat | SKC | LAFC |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 17 | 13 |
Shots on Goal | 8 | 6 |
Saves | 3 | 4 |
Fouls | 11 | 18 |
Offsides | 1 | 3 |
Corner Kicks | 8 | 5 |
Referee: Kyle Johnston
Assistant Referee: Fermin Sanchez
Assistant Referee: Christian Little
Fourth Official: Esad Omanovic
