Recap: SKC II suffers 3-0 defeat at home to Tacoma Defiance 

Sporting KC II (7-8-2, 23 points) suffered a 3-0 loss to Tacoma Defiance (10-3-4, 37 points) at Children's Mercy Victory Field on Friday night in the club's return to Swope Soccer Village. Tacoma jumped out in front early, scoring in the third minute of the match, and never looked back.

The SKC II starting XI was switched around from the previous match with Jake Davis and Kaveh Rad joining Kendall McIntosh as Sporting KC loanees. Coby Jones entered for Joseph Addo Tetteh and the rest of the starters remained the same.

Despite Tacoma scoring first, SKC II looked to get out on the front foot just seconds into the match. After Josh Coan got the ball rolling the Defiance ended up with the ball. Forward Rauf Salifu forced a turnover, teed up a shot and curled it inches off target.

On the other end of the pitch, Tacoma worked the ball forward. The ball was spread out wide to Randy Mendoza who cut in towards the box and slipped it across to Georgi Minoungou who fired the visitors out in front in the third minute.

Immediately off the kickoff Julian Vazquez took the ball into the attacking third and was hacked down. Fernandez whipped a good ball into the area that was headed at Andrew Thomas' back post. The keeper came off his line, punched the ball and clattered into Salifu. No foul was given and play resumed with Salifu on the sideline for a moment.

SKC II continued to pester the Tacoma backline, not allowing them to play from the back. Davis won the ball back for SKC II before spreading the ball to Fernandez. The midfielder sent another good-looking ball into the area that floated an inch too high of his target and into Thomas' hands on one hop.

In the 14th minute, the roles flipped with Fernandez playing Davis out wide towards the endline. The first-team loanee played a turf burner into the box that split Vazquez and Salifu, bouncing harmlessly out of the danger zone. Vazquez got back on the ball and attempted a cheeky ball that skipped just wide of the target and just out of reach of his man.

The leveler went wanting again five minutes later when Fernandez latched onto a poor clearance, hitting his attempt into a Defiance defender at the top of the 18-yard box. Tacoma doubled their lead with a counter-attack goal on the ensuing corner. Marlon Vargas, the club's leading goalscorer, picked up a through ball in his own half, dribbled the length of the field and converted a one-v-one attempt.

The hosts had their most dangerous attack of the half fizzle out at the final moment. Salifu gained access to the box after dispossessing a defender and slid a pass to Vazquez. The winger wound up for a shot but had the ball taken off his foot at the very last second by the final defender. Halftime came with Tacoma up two goals to none.

The second half came and with it, three Sporting KC II subs. Spencer Glass, Kian Alberto and Bakary Bagayoko entered for Jones, Vazquez and Salifu as SKC II attempted to crack the Defiance defense. Unfortunately for them, it was Tacoma that found the first, and what would prove to be only goal of the second half.

Another counter-attack was polished off by Vargas as they quickly played the ball through their lines, into the SKC II defensive third and into the goal in the 53rd minute of play.

Alberto tried to get the home side on the board in the 58th but his chipped cross was touched away by the last defender. Davis got on the end of a shot but sent it high of the goal. Thomas caught another corner that was won by Glass as the keeper continued to play an aggressive style of goalkeeping. Alberto then tried his own luck from long-range, however, his shot met a similar fate, winding up over the goal.

On the defensive side, SKC II centerback Esai Easley and holding mid Curtez Kellman combined to shut down an attack from the Defiance. Easley slid in to block the initial advance with Kellman tracking back to pick up the pieces. Easley followed that up moments later blocking a centering pass with his head.

In the 73rd SKC II used their final two subs bringing on newly signed Sporting KC Academy player Nati Clarke, and midfielder Cade Thomson for Fernandez and McLagan. Following the final hydration break with a quarter-hour left to play, SKC II went on the attack. Bagayoko did well to find space in the box and redirected a header on target with pace. Thomas positioned himself well enough to make the save.

The match came to a close with the final score SKC II nil, Tacoma three. The road warriors of SKC II will be back next week with a matchup against North Texas SC on Sunday, July 31. SKC II beat North Texas 4-2 at Rock Chalk Park earlier this month thanks to Salifu's four goals. The match can be streamed for free at MLSNEXTPro.com along with the club's remaining MLS NEXT Pro matches,

2022 MLS NEXT Pro | Match 17
Children's Mercy Victory Field | Kansas City, MO
Weather: 96 degrees and sunny

Sporting Kansas City II: Kendall McIntosh; Cole McLagan (Nati Clarke 74'), Kaveh Rad, Esai Easley, Coby Jones (Spencer Glass 45'); Curtez Kellman, Jake Davis, Josh Coan; Collin Fernandez (Cade Thomson 74'), Rauf Salifu (Bakary Bagayoko 45'), Julian Vazquez (Kian Alberto 45')

Subs Not Used: Ethan Bandre, TJ Fatah, Jahon Rad, Joseph Addo Tetteh

Tacoma Defiance: Andrew Thomas, Cody Baker, Stuart Hawkins, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Randy Mendoza, Joshua Atencio (Etienne Veillard 79'), Reed Baker-Whiting, Georgi Minoungou (Juan Alvarez 54'), Marlon Vargas (Joe Hafferty 61'), Travian Sousa (Snyder Brunell 79'), Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez
Subs Not Used: Wallis Lapsley, Achille Robin, Hal Uderitz

Scoring Summary:
TAC - Georgi Minoungou (Randy Mendoza) 3'
TAC - Marlon Vargas (Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez) 21'
TAC - Marlon Vargas (Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez) 53'

Misconduct Summary:
TAC - Georgi Minoungou (unsporting conduct; yellow card) 39'*
TAC -* Travian Sousa (unsporting conduct; yellow card) 39'
SKC - Coby Jones (unsporting conduct; yellow card) 45+1'*
TAC -* Joshua Atencio (delaying a restart; yellow card) 65'*
SKC -* Jake Davis (unsporting conduct; yellow card) 90+2'*
SKC -* Bakary Bagayoko (unsporting conduct; yellow card) 90+3'

Referee: Esad Omanovic
Assistant Referee: Matthew Rodman
Assistant Referee: Justin Mack*
Fourth Official:* Luis Tribaldo