Sporting KC II defeats St. Louis with 3-1 home win

July 21, 2024 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
Press Release Sporting Kansas City II

Sporting Kansas City (7-7-4, 27 points) recorded a blowout 3-1 home win over rival St. Louis City 2 (11-4-2, 36 points) on Sunday at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.

Fantastic first-half goals from Sebastian Cruz and Cielo Tschantret gave Sporting a 2-1 lead, but Roberto Hategan came on as a substitute in the 80th minute and sealed the score with an own goal.

The hosts were the first to threaten inside three minutes when Jake Swallen provided a crisp pass to Beto Avila, whose curling shot from the top of the penalty area narrowly missed the bar. Shortly afterwards, a well-executed Sporting attack saw Avila fire a 15-yard shot at captain Ethan Bryant, which was deflected but saved by St Louis goalkeeper Nick Bishop.

On the other hand, St. Louis came disturbingly close to its first bloodbath in the 19th minute. Forward Mykhi Joyner received a pass on the left side of the penalty area and fired a shot toward goal. SKC II goalkeeper Jacob Molinaro spread low to connect with the ball, sending it into the frame of the post and back into play, where it was diverted away.

Sporting suffered an injury midway through the first half when Swallen was forced off with a leg injury and midfielder Danny Flores was brought on as his replacement. Less than two minutes after the substitution, head coach Benny Feilhaber’s team nearly opened the scoring when Bryant made a late run into the box and sent a shot just wide after a clever pass from Cruz.

In the 32nd minute, Cruz lifted Sporting into a deserved lead with a brilliant counterattack. Tschantret did well to win a tackle in midfield and play forward to Bryant, who set SKC II free with a long ball down the right for Cruz. The Sporting KC Academy product did brilliantly from there, shaking free of his marker with a superb move into the box and firing a shot high into the roof of the net for his fourth goal of the 2024 season.

St. Louis restored the equalizer two minutes before halftime. After Sporting failed to clear their lines in a dangerous area, Matteo Kidd dived into possession near the penalty spot and fired a low shot that Molinaro could only connect with his glove.

The last laugh of the half, however, came for SKC II in the third minute of added time. Maouloune Goumballe was played into space down the right lane, raced towards goal, cut centrally and pinged the ball towards the top of the box for Tschantret, who sent a sublime right-footed curler into the corner of the net to open his 2024 scoring account in style.

Nine minutes after the break, Sporting nearly doubled their lead when Avila sent a low cross from the right wing to Bryant. Bryant handled the ball well, took out a defender and saw his low shot cleared off the goal line by a St. Louis defender.

Feilhaber’s team effectively neutralized the St. Louis attack as the game wore on, putting the result out of reach with 80 minutes left on the clock. Cruz continued his exceptional performance in the final stages, scoring his team’s third goal, cutting past a defender and trotting forward before throwing the ball to Hategan. The second-half substitute made no mistake from that point on, picking the right corner for his first goal of the season and Cruz’s team-leading ninth assist of 2024.

SKC II now heads to the West Coast to face Portland Timbers 2 on Thursday at Providence Park. Kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Sporting KC II 3-1 St. Louis City 2

Score 1 2 F Sporting Kansas City II (7-7-4, 27 points) 2 1 3 St. Louis City 2 (11-4-2, 36 points) 1 0 1

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Carson Klein, Chris Rindov, Leo Christiano, Mason Visconti; Jake Swallen (Danny Flores 26′), Cielo Tschantret, Sebastian Cruz; Maouloune Goumballe, Beto Avila (Demarre Montoute 84′), Ethan Bryant (center) (Roberto Hategan 61′)

Unused substitutes: Jack Kortkamp, ​​Medgy Alexandre, Haris Alisah, Shane Donovan, Johann Ortiz, Jonathan Robinson

St. Louis City 2: Nick Bishop; Nolan McGuire (center), Gabi Mikina, Eric Kinzer (Oscar Benitez Cobo 60′), Tyson Pearce (Ryan Dugan 88′); Matteo Kidd (Dida Armstrong 77′), Cameron Cilley, Seth Antwi (Carson Locker 60′), Mykhi Joyner; Ryan Becher (Lucas Demitra 60′), Brendan McSorley

Unused substitutes: Larsen Hackworth, Samuel Gomez, Jack DiMaria, Lorenzo Cornelius

Summary of the score:

SKC — Sebastian Cruz 4 (Ethan Bryant 6) 32′

STL — Matteo Kidd 2 (Ryan Becher 4) 43′

SKC — Cielo Tschantret 1 (Maouloune Goumballe 3) 45+3′

SKC — Roberto Hategan 1 (Sebastian Cruz 9) 80′

Summary of misconduct:

STL — Eric Kinzner (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 36′

STL — Gabi Mikina (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 69′

SKC — Beto Avila (yellow card; unsportsmanlike conduct) 70′

Match statistics

Stat SKC STL Shots 11 8 Shots on target 5 4 Saves 3 1 Fouls 15 9 Offside 1 0 Corners 1 2

Referee: Matthew Corrigan

Assistant Referee: Benjamin Davis

Assistant Referee: Jason Guillen

Fourth official: Esad Omanovic

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