SKC II Recap: Sporting KC II falls 5-2 at Portland Timbers 2

Sporting Kansas City (7-8-4, 27 points) slipped to a 5-2 defeat against Portland Timbers 2 (5-6-8, 26 points) at Providence Park on Thursday night in MLS NEXT Pro regular season play. After trailing by one at the break, Sporting KC II allowed four goals in the second half before responding with two of their own late in the contest.

Kamron Habibullah scored his eighth goal of the season on a Johann Ortiz assist before Ortiz netted his second professional goal.

Head coach Benny Feilhaber's starting XI featured Jacob Molinaro in goal, Carson Klein, Haris Alisah, Leo Christiano and Mason Visconti on the backline with Cielo Tschantret, Ethan Bryant and Sebastian Cruz in the middle. Beto Avila played the nine while Maouloune Goumballe and Roberto Hategan stared on the wing.

Sporting outshot Portland 20-15 and fired just one fewer shot on target. They were unfortunate not to score on several occasions in the match and took the first chance of the night after less than a minute of play. The crack came off Bryant's right foot from a tough angle and proved to be a simple save from Trey Muse.

Another chance came 120 seconds later following a brilliant dash through the field by Cruz. Last Sunday's three-time goal contributor opted for a difficult cross to a sprinting Avila and somehow poked the ball through the defense. Avila got a sliding touch on the ball; however, he was unable to roll his effort on frame, pushing it barely past the far post.

The first Timbers 2 take of the evening came in the 18th when a shot from long range sailed high. A well-worked attack yielded a close-range effort from Marvin Loria, but he pulled it wide of the target. Tega Ikoba tallied his first of three goals in the 23rd, heading a backdoor cross into an open net off a Blake Pope cross.

Goumballe got back into the fold straight away, nearly finding the leveler fresh off the kickoff. The winger's effort was blocked away by former Sporting Kansas City homegrown Kaveh Rad before the ensuing corner was cleared. SKC II remained in the final third for the bulk of the remaining ticks in the first.

Avila cheekily backheeled a pass into Goumballe's path but Pope slid in to turn the shot away. A minute late Klein flashed wide of the mark from inside the 18 as Kansas City remained all over the goal with nothing to show for it. Portland's only other forward movement of the first could have been worse for Sporting after a counter saw the hosts get numbers inside the 18. Christiano was able to get back behind the ball and blocked the shot away bringing an end to the counter.

Halftime came after Cruz skipped an effort wide of the left post. No changes were made at the break and the match flipped in a five-minute span, five minutes into the second. Loria scored Portland's second goal of the night on a penalty kick, Ikoba volleyed a third and then capped his hat trick on an unfortunate corner kick bounce. The goals came in the 50th, 53rd and 55th minutes respectively.

Feilhaber went to his bench in the 59th bringing on Habibullah, Shane Donovan and Demarre Montoute for Bryant, Hategan and Alisah. Ortiz entered with Medgy Alexandre in the 73rd and the two injected some energy with a high pressing attitude. Portland netted their fifth off a goal from substitute Kyle Linhares in the 78th. Habibullah found the back of the net after Ortiz intercepted a pass from Muse inside the box. The midfielder wasted no time pinging the ball off the inside of the post and into the back of the net right off the turnover.

Ortiz then cut further into the deficit with a brave, diving header right on the goal line. The Sporting KC Academy player took a shot from Muse as the keeper attempted to punch the ball away. He was able to walk off the field and received treatment on the sideline while Academy goalkeeper Jack Kortkamp came on as an emergency sub. The match ended shortly after Kortkamp entered the match following five minutes of stoppage time.

Sporting Kansas City II will return to Rock Chalk Park to open the month of August against Whitecaps FC 2. The match is set for Friday, August 2 at Rock Chalk Park with tickets on sale at SeatGeek.com. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Carson Klein, Leo Christiano, Haris Alisah (Demarre Montoute 59'), Mason Visconti; Cielo Tschantret (Johann Ortiz 73' (Jack Kortkamp 90')), Ethan Bryant (Kamron Habibullah 59'), Sebastian Cruz; Maouloune Goumballe, Beto Avila (Medgy Alexandre 73'), Roberto Hategan (Shane Donovan 59')

Portland Timbers 2: Trey Muse; Kaveh Rad (Maximo Nystrom 69'), Keesean Ferdinand, Tyler Clegg; Jaden Jones-Riley, Adolfo Enriquez (Braxton Najib 59'), Malcolm Johnston, Blake Pope (Harvey Neville 59'); Joshua Penn (Max Eisenberg 80'), Tega Ikoba (Noah Santos 90+2', Marvin Loria (Kyle Linhares 59')

Subs Not Used: Carver Miller, Christian Mendoza, Alex Moreno

Scoring Summary:

POR – Tega Ikoba 1 (Blake Pope 3) 23'
POR – Marvin Loria 1 (penalty kick) 50'
POR – Tega Ikoba 2 (Jaden Jones-Riley 3) 53'
POR – Tega Ikoba 3 (unassisted) 55'
POR – Kyle Linhares 5 (Harvey Neville 1) 78'
SKC – Kamron Habibullah 8 (Johann Ortiz 2) 84'
SKC – Johann Ortiz 2 (unassisted) 87'

Misconduct Summary:

POR – Malcolm Johnston (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 30'
POR – Tyler Clegg (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 33'
SKC – Haris Alisah (yellow card; tactical foul) 45'
SKC – Carson Klein (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 47'
SKC – Shane Donovan (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 71'
POR – Braxton Najib (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 80'

Referee: Benjamin Meyer
Assistant Referee: Cephas Quartson
Assistant Referee: Joshua Mills
Fourth Official: Yannick Rothfuss