Sporting Kansas City II (6-4-3, 22 points) suffered their first road loss of 2024, slipping 5-1 to Real Monarchs (4-7-1, 14 points) at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah on Wednesday evening. Ethan Bryant tallied his second score of the season to make the match 3-1, however, the home side added two more goals to close the contest.
A young lineup featuring four Sporting KC Academy players started for head coach Benny Feilhaber's group including 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Kortkamp who made his pro debut. On the backline, Leo Christiano made his first pro start alongside Demarre Montoute, Alex Cunningham and Jonathan Robinson.
Jake Swallen played as the six and Bryant patroled the midfield with Johann Ortiz. Up top, Maouloune Goumballe and Medgy Alexandre were split out wide of striker Pau Vidal.
Sporting KC II was unable to get a shot off until the 52nd minute as Real Monarchs took a 1-0 lead 24 minutes into the match. The young Kortkamp was called on to make seven saves on the night, facing 25 shots. The hosts nearly scored in the fifth minute but had a goal called back after Kortkamp had possession of the ball taken away from him illegally.
In the 13th, Montoute made a brilliant slide tackle inside the 18 to cleanly win the ball back and stop a dangerous-looking attack. Kortkamp made his first save in the 15th, diving to his right to block a shot and then collect the bouncing ball inside the box. He then made a save on the near post, corralling a hard shot right at his chest by bouncing the ball off the turf.
The first score of the night came in the 24th when Benji Redzic scored from close range after Christiano got in front of the initial shot. The Monarchs forward was played in on goal and finished with a lofted effort. Feilhaber went to his bench in the 26th, bringing on Cielo Tschantret for Swallen.
Kortkamp made another save right before the half-hour mark before SKC II's first corner of the night came in the 45th. The initial ball was played in and cleared by Real and sent down the field as a counterattack. Ortiz got back behind the ball, stopped the attack and took the match to the half.
Out of the break, Sebastian Cruz, Kamron Habibullah and Roberto Hategan all entered the match for Robinson, Ortiz and Alexandre. Vidal got to the endline in the 50th and chipped one across the goal mouth, however, no SKC II runners were home, and the ball drifted over the top of the goal. Bryant then sent the first Kansas City crack at goal wide of the target in the 52nd. Tschantret tried his luck from long range, ripping one off a defender's outstretched foot for a corner which was redirected over the net.
Just before the hour mark, Kortkamp made his best save, sprinting off his line, cutting down the angle, making his body as big as possible and blocking a shot away from inside the 18. The ensuing break for SKC II ended in a corner sent-off frame. Real Monarchs hit the crossbar in the 64th before Kortkamp collected and then added their second goal off the foot of Sebastian Joffre off a through ball.
Their third goal was scored in a rather similar fashion by Elijah Paul who would also score the fourth. Feilhaber made his fifth and final swap in the 73rd bringing on 16-year-old Ian James for Vidal. Bryant intercepted a pass just outside the Monarchs' box and then fired a shot into the empty net to cut into the deficit. The hosts then added two goals in the match's dying moments to get to the 5-1 scoreline.
Sporting KC II will be back in action later this month when they travel west to take on St. Louis CITY2 at CITYPARK on Sunday, June 23rd. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the match can be found on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Score | 1 | 2 | F |
Sporting Kansas City II (6-4-3, 22 points) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Real Monarchs 2 (4-7-1, 14 points) | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Sporting Kansas City II: Jack Kortkamp; Alex Cunningham, Demarre Montoute, Leo Christiano, Jonathan Robinson (Sebastian Cruz 46'); Jake Swallen (Cielo Tschantret 26'), Ethan Bryant, Johann Ortiz (Kamron Habibullah 46'); Maouloune Goumballe, Pau Vidal (Ian James 73'), Medgy Alexandre (Roberto Hategan 46')
Subs Not Used: Carlito Saylon, Haris Alisah, Nati Clarke, Mason Visconti
Real Monarchs: Fernando Delgado; Omar Alba, Keller Storlie, Zack Farnsworth, Tommy Silva; Damien Barker John (Sebastian Joffre 58'), Griffin Dillon (Luca Moisa 79'), Noel Caliskan, Daron Iskenderian (Omar Marquez 79'); Benji Redzic (Owen Anderson 71'), Matthew Bell (Elijah Paul 58')
Subs Not Used: Bennett Ewing, Sean Petrie, Bobby Pierre, Jude Wellings
Scoring Summary:
SLC – Benji Redzic 2 (Matthew Bell 3) 24'
SLC – Sebastian Joffre 1 (Griffin Dillon 2) 67'
SLC – Elijah Paul 1 (Daron Iskenderian 2) 70'
SKC – Ethan Bryant 2 (unassisted) 80'
SLC – Elijah Paul 2 (Tommy Silva 2) 83'
SLC – Demarre Montoute (own goal) 88'
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Jonathan Robinson (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 40'
SKC – Leo Christiano (yellow card; delaying a restart) 56'
SKC – Demarre Montoute (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 67'
SLC – Daron Iskenderian (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 75'
Stat | SKC | SLC |
|---|---|---|
Shots | 8 | 25 |
Shots on Goal | 2 | 11 |
Saves | 7 | 1 |
Fouls | 9 | 10 |
Offsides | 3 | 1 |
Corner Kicks | 4 | 9 |
Referee: Trevor Wiseman
Assistant Referee: Baboucarr Jallow
Assistant Referee: Clarence Clark
Fourth Official: Nathan Boone
