SKC II Recap: Sporting KC II falls 2-0 to St. Louis CITY2 at CITYPARK

Sporting Kansas City II (6-5-3, 22 points) suffered a 2-0 defeat at St. Louis CITY2 (10-2-2, 33 points) on a Sunday evening match at CITYPARK in St. Louis, Missouri. Sporting KC II has suffered back-to-back defeats for the second time this season and was held off the scoreboard for the second time since May 26, 2023.

Following a goalless first half, MyKhi Joyner scored his sixth goal of the season in the 63rd before John Klein picked up a rebound following a Ryan Schewe penalty save. SKC II was only able to muster one shot on target despite 10 total chances in the contest.

Schewe started the match as the lone Sporting KC loanee and made his 10th start between the pipes. A back five consisting of Nati Clarke, Demarre Montoute, Haris Alisah, Mason Visconti and Jonathan Robinson manned the defensive third. Cielo Tschantret and Sebastian Cruz played in the middle while Roberto Hategan, Maouloune Goumballe and Kamron Habibullah started up top.

The first half was full of half chances with a handful of lethal opportunities for both sides sprinkled in. The first attack came five minutes into the match when Robinson won a corner after attempting an early ball into the box. Visconti got on the end of an outswinger before clipping it back into the 18. Goalkeeper Ben Lundt was wise to the floater, snagging the ball off the hop.

Goumballe then earned a corner kick after a clever flick to himself in the attacking third. Clarke won the ball out of the air, pinging it towards goal where a CITY2 defender blocked the attempt with his back. Under a sixth of the way through the 90 the first shot was taken by Hategan who pushed a turf burner past the near post. A minute later St. Louis' first attempt harmlessly bounced into Schewe's stomach. Their high press granted them another look at goal which Schewe easily smothered in the middle of his net.

A pair of attempts came for Kansas City in the 24th and 25 when Habibullah hit a half-volley from a tough angle over the bar and Goumballe got onto the ball after being played in over the top. The forward opted for the early ball but had his unselfish slip pass cleared away by a backtracking defender.

Just about 10 minutes passed before Cruz saw a long-range effort slip through traffic and scamper a smidge wide. On the other end of the pitch, Clarke leaped with Joyner -who picked up the game's first yellow in the 20th- and stuck the attacker in the dirt with a brilliant bit of man-marking on the back post.

Tschantret took two shots in the 39th and 43rd. Both wound up over the top of the crossbar. The first ended without a goal despite St. Louis's last-ditch effort in the 45th where a venomous cross short-hopped a runner on the goalline and tricked out of play for a Schewe goal kick.

Head coach Benny Feilhaber made one change during halftime, bringing on Sporting KC Academy player Ian James for Montoute. Two minutes into the second, Habibullah had the first and only SKC II shot on target when he forced Lundt into a diving save. The German goalie tipped the shot aside, reaching out to his right to keep the match goalless. Lundt was called back into action in the 53rd when an errant Clarke cross made its way toward him, causing the keeper to punch the ball away.

Joyner broke the deadlock in the 63rd, finishing off a run started by a pass from Brendan McSorley, who tallied his first assist. Pau Vidal and Beto Avila came on for Clarke and Hategan immediately after the goal but SKC II was unable to find the back of the net. Schewe made another save in the 65th to keep the match in reach and Visconti made a tenacious defensive effort to win the ball back right in front of the goal mouth.

Pandemonium occurred in the SKC II six in the 67th when the ball pinballed off numerous defenders and attackers in front of the goal. Schewe persevered and threw himself into the midst of the chaos, scooping the ball up off the grass in the crowd. Leo Christiano came on in the 72nd for Robinson and nearly picked up an assist when he found the head of Avila in the 18. The striker's redirected attempt floated just over the top of the goal.

The Avila header wound up Sporting's final look at goal on the night as the hosts saw the match out, adding an insurance goal in the 89th. Ethan Bryant came on in the 81st before the second score and launched a corner into the mix which was cleared to Habibullah who played a second ball into Lundt's grasp. A penalty won by McSorley was taken by the forward and saved by Schewe before Klein put a rebound into the back of the net.

The match concluded five minutes later and St. Louis remained atop the Supporters' Shield standings with their 10th win of the season. Sporting KC II will finally return home on Sunday, June 30 when they host Austin FC II at Rock Chalk Park. Tickets for SKC II's first home match since June 7 are on sale at SeatGeek.com and the match will begin at 6 p.m. CT.

Sporting Kansas City II: Ryan Schewe; Nati Clarke (Pau Vidal 64'), Haris Alisah, Demarre Montoute (Ian James 46'), Mason Visconti, Jonathan Robinson (Leo Christiano 72'); Cielo Tschantret (Ethan Bryant 81'), Sebastian Cruz; Roberto Hategan (Beto Avila 64'), Maouloune Goumballe, Kamron Habibullah
Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Medgy Alexandre

St. Louis CITY2: Ben Lundt; Nolan McGuire, Gabi Mikina, Eric Kinzner, Tyson Pearce (Oscar Benitez 81'); Cam Cilley, Seth Antwi (Carson Locker 87'), Wan Kuzain, Ryan Becher (John Hackworth 87'); MyKhi Joyner (John Klein 66'), Brendan McSorley
Subs Not Used: Nicholas Bishop, Jackson Delkus, Anthony Faupel, Caden Glover, Michael Lay,

Scoring Summary:

STL – MyKhi Joyner 6 (Brendan McSorley 1) 63'
STL – John Klein 5 (unassisted) 89'

Misconduct Summary:

STL – MyKhi Joyner (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 20'
SKC – Jonathan Robinson (yellow card; unsporting conduct 49')
STL – Gabi Mikina (yellow card; unsporting conduct 61')
SKC – Haris Alisah (yellow card; unsporting conduct 62')

Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee: Fernando Pina
Assistant Referee: Logan Reeves
Fourth Official: Matt Geringer