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MLS NEXT Pro Sporting Kansas City II

Sporting KC II Trounces Houston Dynamo 2 in 4-0 Win at Children's Mercy Victory Field

April 14, 2024 - MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
Sporting Kansas City II News Release


Sporting Kansas City II (3-2-0, 9 points) took down Houston Dynamo 2 (0-4-0, 0 points) in a 4-0 goal-fest at Children's Mercy Victory Field in Kansas City, Missouri on Sunday evening. Four different goalscorers found the back of the net in Ryan Schewe's first professional clean sheet to lift Sporting KC II past Dynamo Dos for their second straight win.

Coming off last week's 5-3 thriller in Colorado, SKC II cruised in this one, scoring in the 9th minute and maintaining control for the remaining 81. Maouloune Goumballe netted his second SKC II score, Kamron Habibullah put himself on the top of the team's goal chart with his fourth, Sebastian Cruz added his first of 2024 and Medgy Alexandre put in his first professional strike. Ethan Bryant, who entered as a second-half substitute tallied a pair of assists, helping Cruz and Alexandre put the match out of reach.

A back four of Kayden Pierre, Chris Rindov, Jacob Bartlett and Nati Clarke blanked the Dynamo, allowing just two shots on target all night. Jake Swallen joined Habibullah and Cruz in the midfield while Beto Avila and Roberto Hategan started up top with Goumballe in a complete team effort to earn all three points.

From the opening kick, SKC II was on the front foot. Within the first two minutes of the match, Habibullah rattled the post with a strike before testing the keeper with a free kick effort. Netminder Xavier Valdez was ready for the Canadian's strike, shuffling his feet to make the save in the middle of his net.

Right before the 10-minute mark, Pierre got into space on the right side of the pitch before dropping a dime to a dashing Goumballe on the near post. The rookie winger wasted no time, pushing the ball past Valdez with a one-time strike to give the home side the lead. Houston would not get into the attack until the 13th minute when a midrange effort whistled wide of Schewe's post.

In the 20th, a turnover led to another opportunity for the visitors, which again was squandered with a shot pushed wide of their target. In the 23rd Avila was the first member of the match booked with a yellow card for delaying a restart. Not a moment later, a tactical foul from Omar Grey stopped a promising attack for SKC II which earned him what would be his first of two yellow cards in the half. Valdez, who made seven saves on the night, denied Hategan with a scoop of the ball on a bouncing shot from outside the 18.

Diego Gonzalez was then shown yellow for unsporting behavior in the 30th before Hategan, again, just missed his first SKC II goal with a shot put off the mark. Dynamo Dos's best chance of the night came in the 38th when a scramble in the box forced Schewe into an uncomfortable save, which the rookie goalkeeper was able to make. The ball was cleared and SKC II averted the danger. The already action-packed match took another turn when Grey received a second yellow card and was given his marching orders by the referee.

Right on the verge of halftime Cruz barely missed a goal, mishitting a shot played to him off a great ball from Swallen on the corner. The irrepressible Cruz had four shots in the match and refused to be denied, scoring later on in the contest.

Now into the second half, head coach Benny Feilhaber went to his bench bringing on Pau Vidal and Danny Flores for Hategan and Avila. Vidal was everywhere on the pitch, barely missing a third goal in 2024 with a handful of good chances he created. However, the striker did grab his first SKC II assist after leading the team in goals a season ago. Bryant entered the match in the 59th and made the most of his 31 minutes on the pitch.

The midfielder lobbed a shot on target in the 67th which was saved. A corner for SKC II was headed goalward by Rindov but doinked off the post and away from danger two minutes after that. Habibullah finally gave SKC II the cushion they were chasing in the 75th. A superb fun from Goumballe into the attacking third with a defender blanketed on his back sparked a Kansas City counterattack. He switched the point of attack to Cruz who found Vidal at the top of the 18. Vidal then centered Habibullah in on goal where the MLS NEXT Pro Player of Matchweek 4 ripped a shot off a defender and into the side netting.

Now holding a three-goal lead, Feilhaber went to his bench once more to bring on Medgy Alexandre and Sporting KC II debutant Haris Alisah for Habibullah and Goumballe. The hosts remained on the attack for a bit more as Cruz blew the roof of the goal with a shot from a tight angle to give him his first goal of the campaign after a two-assist outing at Colorado.

Alexandre then fired home his first professional goal, tucking in a Bryant assist. Both of the goals came within a minute of each other and both were assisted by the aforementioned Bryant. After the finishes, SKC II began taking the air out of the ball and claimed the victory. The win now gives them two straight wins and two consecutive wins over Dynamo Dos.

Next up, the team will travel to Carson, California for a road test against Ventura County FC at Dignity Health Sports Park. With a new kickoff time, the match will begin at 3 p.m. CT with a live stream on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Sporting KC II 4-0 Houston Dynamo 2

Score 1 2 F

Sporting Kansas City II (3-2-0, 9 points) 1 3 4

Houston Dynamo 2 (0-4-0, 0 points) 0 0 0

Sporting Kansas City II: Ryan Schewe; Kayden Pierre, Chris Rindov, Jacob Bartlett, Nati Clarke; Sebastian Cruz, Jake Swallen (Ethan Bryant 59'), Kamron Habibullah (Haris Alisah 77'); Maouloune Goumballe (Medgy Alexandre 77'), Beto Avila (Pau Vidal 46'), Roberto Hategan (Danny Flores 46')

Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Demarre Montoute, Brandon Munson, Cielo Tschantret

Houston Dynamo 2: Xavier Valdez; Omar Grey, Femi Awodesu, Kieran Sargeant; Sebastian Rodriguez (Parker Jackson 55'), Diego Gonzalez, Brooklyn Raines (Stephen Annor 72'), Ousmane Sylla; Ifu Achara (Maddox Findlay 55'), Gabe Segal, Isaiah Reid (Ify Udanoh 51')

Subs Not Used: Nico Hansen, Jahmani Bell, Mattheo Dimareli, David Nguema, Zeke Soto

Scoring Summary:

SKC - Maouloune Goumballe 2 (Kayden Pierre 1) 9'

SKC - Kamron Habibullah 4 (Pau Vidal 1) 75'

SKC - Sebastian Cruz 1 (Ethan Bryant 2) 84'

SKC - Medy Alexandre 1 (Ethan Bryant 3) 86'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC - Beto Avila (yellow card; delaying a restart) 22'

HOU - Omar Grey (yellow card; tactical foul) 24'

HOU - Diego Gonzalez (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 30'

HOU - Omar Grey (red card; second yellow card) 42'

Match Statistics

Stat SKC HOU

Shots 29 7

Shots on Goal 11 2

Saves 2 7

Fouls 14 13

Offsides 1 1

Corner Kicks 6 0

Referee: Esad Omanovic

Assistant Referee: Jacob Little

Assistant Referee: James Ewer

Fourth Official: Drew Klemp

Sam Kovzan -

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