Sporting Kansas City II (0-5-2, 3 points) stole a point on the road from North Texas SC (2-2-2, 9 points) on Friday night at Choctaw Stadium. Missael Rodriguez and Tega Ikoba opened their SKC II scoring accounts with Ikoba netting a goal in the 91st minute to send the game to a shootout.
The hosts wasted no time opening the scoring, finding the back of the net in the third minute of the Friday night Frontier Division duel. Nathaniel James, who has now scored a brace in back-to-back matches, snuck one in from the top of the box with a left footed strike off a centering pass from Josh Torquato.
Rodriguez responded in the 40th with a nifty cutback inside the box before beating Eryk Dymora with a fine finish into the far side of his goal. The attack started with a brilliant through ball behind the defender from Zane Wantland who picked up his first professional assist on the goal.
The hosts nearly recaptured the lead on the cusp of halftime but were denied on a diving save from Jacob Molinaro. In a mad dash to the rebound, captain Pierre Lurot put in a crucial, crunching tackle to win the ball in the box.
Molinaro was called into action again in the 75th after Edouard Nys won a penalty for North Texas. Nys stepped up to the spot and was denied by Molinaro. Just two minutes later, an NTX corner was scored by James after being spilled inside the six yard box.
The home fans thought they were leaving with three points before second half substitute Tega Ikoba leveled in the first minute of stoppage time. SKC Academy defender Jack Francka played Ikoba into the attacking third where he diced up the defense before hammering a shot past Dymora to send the contest to a shootout.
In kicks from the spot, Dymora made one save while all the North Texas takes converted their attempts, earning the home side the extra point.
Sporting KC II will host Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday, April 19 at 7 p.m. CT at Victory Field. The game can be streamed in the OneFootball app or on MLSNEXTPro.com and tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com.
Score |
1 |
2 |
F |
Sporting KC II (0-5-2, 3 points) |
1 |
1 |
2(4) |
North Texas SC (2-2-2, 9 points) |
1 |
1 |
2(5) |
Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Jack Francka, Pierre Lurot (C), Nate Young, Zane Wantland (Ty Haas 82'); Gael Quintero (Makhi Francis 65'), Carter Derksen, Johann Ortiz (Blaine Mabie 46'); Shane Donovan, Kashan Hines (Tega Ikoba 65'), Missael Rodriguez (Daniel Russo 71')
Subs Not Used: Kael Taylor
North Texas SC: Eryk Dymora; Enzo Newman, Slade Starnes (C) (Wyatt Easterly 90+4'), Jonah Biggar, Joshua Torquato; Timothy Ospina, Jaidyn Contreras, Marlon Luccin (Christian Wygant 46' (Jonah Gibson 88')); Edouard Nys, Nathaniel James (Christopher Salazar 88'), Diego Garcia (Samuel Sedeh 76')
Subs Not Used: Nicolas Arango Montoya, Benjamin Flowers, Leandro Goncalves, Zachary Molomo
Scoring Summary:
NTX - Nathaniel James 3 (Josh Torquato) 3'
SKC - Missael Rodriguez 1 (Zane Wantland) 40'
NTX - Nathaniel James 4 77'
SKC - Tega Ikoba 1 (Jack Francka) 90+1'
Misconduct Summary:
NTX - Marlon Luccin (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 28'
SKC - Gael Quintero (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 44'
NTX - Timothy Ospina (yellow card; unsporting conduct) 84'
Shootout Summary:
SKC - Tega Ikoba (Make)
NTX - Jaidyn Contreras (Make)\\
SKC -\\ Carter Derksen (Make)
NTX - Christopher Salazar (Make)\\
SKC -\\ Makhi Francis (Make)
NTX - Edouard Nys (Make)
SKC - Blaine Mabie (Saved)
NTX - Enzo Newman (Make)
SKC - Daniel Russo (Make)
NTX - Joshua Torquato (Make)
Stat |
SKC |
NTX |
Shots
|
8 |
15 |
Shots on Goal
|
3 |
7 |
Saves
|
1 |
5 |
Fouls
|
11 |
26 |
Offsides
|
8 |
6 |
Corner Kicks
|
0 |
4 |
Referee: Joe Surgan
Assistant Referee: Jennifer Garner
Assistant Referee: Edwin Moturi
Fourth Official: Reyes Vargas
