Sporting Kansas City II (3-7-5, 14 points) will close the month of July just as they started it, hosting USL Championship title contenders Louisville City FC (8-3-3, 27 points) at Children’s Mercy Park. The midweek matchup will kick off at 7 p.m. CT and stream live on ESPN Plus as a pair of Central Division foes lock horns for the sixth time in two seasons.
Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach and former Sporting Kansas City midfielder Paulo Nagamura, Sporting KC II secured a second straight road shutout on Saturday in a hard-fought battle against rivals OKC Energy FC.
Goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh has collected clean sheets in consecutive appearances, while the likes of Danny Barbir, Matt Constant, Isaiah LeFlore and Kayden Pierre have contributed valuably to an ever-improving defense.
Sitting atop the Central Division standings, Louisville came away with a 4-2 victory in their most recent visit to Children’s Mercy Park on July 2. Rojay Smith scored his fourth goal of the season for the hosts, while Sporting KC Academy product Coby Jones scored his first-ever professional goal in his second appearance. Louisville were never truly threatened, however, and rode a Kyle Greig brace and strikes from Brian Ownby and Alexis Souahy to claim the points.
Sporting KC II and Louisville will meet two more times this year, with Nagamura's men scheduled to visit Lynn Family Stadium on Aug. 7 and Oct. 9. Louisville won three of four meetings in 2020, all of which took place at the club's new state-of-the-art venue.
Match Information
USL Championship: Match 16
Date: Wednesday, July 28
Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Children's Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas)
Live Stream: ESPN Plus
Sporting Kansas City II: 3-7-5, 14 points (8th place in Central Division)
Louisville City FC: 8-3-3, 27 points (1st place in Central Division)
ESPN+ Live Stream Link: Click here
USL Championship MatchCenter: Click here
Match Notes: Click here
SOCIAL TAGS
Match-specific hashtag: #SKCvLOU
Sporting KC II
Twitter: @SportingKCII
Instagram: @SportingKCII
Louisville City FC
Twitter: @loucityfc
Instagram: @louisvillecityfc
