SKC II Recap: Sporting KC II suffers 2-0 defeat at North Texas SC 

Sporting Kansas City II (7-9-5, 28 points) slipped 2-0 to North Texas SC (11-3-6, 43 points) at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday night. A score in the sixth and 49th minute off a pair of Herbert Endeley assists proved enough to sink Sporting KC II.

The starting XI against North Texas featured Jacob Molinaro in goal who made five saves on the night. A similar back four to SKC II's 1-1 draw against WFC 2 a week ago saw Carson Klein, Leo Christiano, Chris Rindov and Mason Visconti start in defense. Danny Flores began the match in the midfield with Cielo Tschantret and Kamron Habibullah. Beto Avila manned the nine with Shane Donovan and Maouloune Goumballe spread out wide.

North Texas entered the evening atop the Western Conference standings and picked up another three points with their win. They began the match fast, ripping a shot on target in the first minute of play which Molinaro snared on the short hop in the middle of his goal. A headed attempt in the fourth minute was also saved by the 17-year-old keeper, however, a cross snuck through the back line and was headed into the goal by Anthony Ramirez in the sixth.

In that same minute, the SKC II defense made a stop when Molinaro blocked a shot and Visconti made a heads-up, goalline clearance to send the ball away from the mouth of the goal. The match slowed its pace for about seven minutes before another blocked North Texas attempt pinged off the crossbar and out. Just over a quarter of an hour in, Klein showed his defensive prowess, bodying a runner off the ball inside the 18 before playing the ball upfield.

Sporting KC II got in on the attack in the 40th with a trio of threatening half chances that they were just unable to get on target. The first came after a run into the box from Avila who had his cross blocked. A high-arcing ball was challenged by Tschantret and bounced to Habibullah who just missed an attempted header. The midfielder then went on a journey of his own, cutting up the North Texas defense before having a shot blocked.

SKC II's lone shot on target came from Avila in the 42nd after he whipped an effort toward the near post which Michael Collodi was able to box away with two fists. The adventure left Avila a little worse for wear and he was unable to continue in the contest. Ethan Bryant came on and played the remainder of the match.

On the cusp of halftime, Goumballe found some space in the 18 and got a shot off, but it was deflected into Collodi's arms by a sliding defender. On the other side of halftime, another cross from Endeley found the target and doubled the advantage for the hosts in the 49th. Medgy Alexandre came on for Flores in the 67th before Haris Alsiah and Johann Ortiz entered in the 76th for Visconti and Tschantret respectively.

Ortiz almost made an immediate impact, turning over North Texas in the attacking third and heading toward goal. The Academy midfielder was unable to round the keeper and could not get a shot off. Sporting KC II remained on the front foot for the rest of the match. Alexandre rolled a pair of crosses into the area but no runners could get the goal. On the first Bryant was unable to get a good angle for a shot and the second scampered through the box. In second-half stoppage time, Klein pinged a centering pass off a retreating defender and shouts for a handball went out from the SKC II players. No such call was made and the match concluded after the ensuing corner.

Sporting KC II will return home next Sunday to take on Austin FC II in the two teams' third and final meeting of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season. Both of the previous competitions concluded in kicks from the spot. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com and the match will begin at 6 p.m. CT and can be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Carson Klein, Chris Rindov, Leo Christiano, Mason Visconti (Haris Alisah 76'); Cielo Tschantret (Johann Ortiz 76'), Danny Flores (Medgy Alexandre 67'), Kamron Habibullah; Maouloune Goumballe, Beto Avila (Ethan Bryant 45'), Shane Donovan

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Demarre Montoute, Jonathan Robinson

North Texas SC: Michael Collodi; Herbert Endeley, Nico Gordon, Amet Korca (Nick Mendonca 60'), Turner Humphrey (Mads Westergren 46'), Abdoul Zanne (Malachi Molina 76'); Alejandro Urzua, Diego Garcia (Daniel Baran 76'); Anthony Ramirez (Dylan Lacy 80'), Malik Henry-Scott, Pedrinho (Enes Sali 60')

Subs Not Used: Victor Darub, Jaidyn Contreras, Logan Farrington

Scoring Summary:

NTX – Anthony Ramirez 2 (Herbert Endeley 3) 6'
NTX – Pedrinho 6 (Herbert Endeley 4) 49'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC – Danny Flores (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 3'
SKC – Carson Klein (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 46'

Referee: Jeremy Scheer
Assistant Referee: Melissa Beck
Assistant Referee: Joseph Macht
Fourth Official: Emily Gomez