Recap: Sporting Kansas City II cruises to 3-0 victory over OKC Energy FC

Sporting Kansas City II (4-13-7, 19 points) produced an excellent performance to cruise to a 3-0 victory over OKC Energy FC (7-8-8, 29 pts.) at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday afternoon. Ozzie Cisneros opened the scoring in the first half before Rojay Smith and Enoch Mushagalusa made the points safe in the second period.

Sporting II started with five Academy products on the field in defenders Kayden Pierre and Isaiah LeFlore, midfielders Christian Duke and Jake Davis and Cisneros – who was playing in an unfamiliar role as the team’s center forward.

After a frantic opening 15 minutes where neither side was able to settle, it was Sporting II that created the first opportunity of the match in the 17th minute as Mushagalusa skipped past a pair of OKC challenges on the left wing before forcing a low save out of CJ Cochran from a tight angle.

Three minutes later, SKC II took the lead through the cleanest passage of the game to that point. After working the ball around the midfield, Christian Duke sprayed the ball out to the left wing to Isaiah LeFlore and the SKC Academy product cut to his left and drove a low cross into the box that found Cisneros waiting to side-foot home for his second goal of the season.

OKC was hanging on by a thread for the next 15 minutes, as Mushagalusa twice forced impressive stops out of Cochran before also sending a free header inches wide of the post.

Despite being in complete control since the goal, SKC II found themselves seeing out a wave of OKC attacks in first-half stoppage time, as first Graham Smith’s last ditch challenge denied Jaime Chavez a certain equalizer, before Lamar Batista’s control let him down on a set piece with only Kendall McIntosh to beat.

Sporting II started the second half with a purpose and saw a flurry of shots blocked and deflected out for corners in the first five minutes of the half. Mushagalusa won a free kick 35 yards from goal in the 57th minute, and Davis curled an impressive effort on goal, forcing Cochran to tip it over the bar.

Paulo Nagamura’s side got the insurance goal they wanted in the 72nd minute. Less than a minute after entering the game as a substitute, Rojay Smith latched onto LeFlore’s ball over the top, dribbled at his man and fired a low finish into the bottom corner for his fifth goal of the campaign. LeFlore’s pair of assists on the day were his first of the season.

Mushagalusa got the goal his performance thoroughly deserved in the 79th minute. Davis broke from midfield and fed the ball to the right wing where Mushagalusa was waiting, and the winger cut inside onto his left foot before firing a low shot beyond the outstretched hand of Cochran that nestled into the corner. The goal was Mushagalusa’s team-leading seventh of the year, while the assist was Davis’ team-leading fifth of 2021.

2021 USL Championship | Match 24
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Weather: 75 degrees and partly cloudy

Sporting Kansas City II: Kendall McIntosh; Kayden Pierre, Aljaz Dzankic, Graham Smith, Isaiah LeFlore; Petar Cuic, Christian Duke (C) (Danny Gutierrez 85’), Jake Davis; Jamil Roberts (Rojay Smith 71’), Ozzie Cisneros (Ropapa Mensah 71’), Enoch Mushagalusa (Michael Lenis 85’)
Subs Not Used: Remi Prieur, Danny Barbir, Jahon Rad

OKC Energy FC: CJ Cochran; Tucker Stephenson (Kodai Iida 63’), Mitch Osmond, Conor Donovan (C), Lamar Batista (Mueng Sunday 85’); Charlie Ward (Brad Dunwell 85’), Hiroki Kurimoto, Arun Basuljevic (Aidan Daniels 63’), Jonathan Brown; Villyan Bijev, Jaime Chavez
Subs Not Used: Kyle Ihn

Scoring Summary:
SKC – Ozzie Cisneros 2 (Isaiah LeFlore 1) 20’
SKC – Rojay Smith 5 (Isaiah LeFlore 2) 72’
SKC – Enoch Mushagalusa 7 (Jake Davis 5) 79’

Misconduct Summary:
OKC – Lamar Batista (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 56’
SKC – Ozzie Cisneros (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 58’
SKC – Jake Davis (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 87’

Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistant Referee: John Krill
Assistant Referee: Velimir Stefanovic
Fourth Official: Drew Klemp