Recap: Sporting KC II falls 4-0 against the Tacoma Defiance

Sporting Kansas City II (5-15-4, 20 points) took a 4-0 defeat on the road against the Tacoma Defiance (10-10-4, 36 points) on Monday night at Starfire Sports Complex. Tacoma jumped out to the early lead with back-to-back goals in the 11th and 12th minutes before adding the third in the 19th and the fourth right on the other side of the halftime break.

Ty Haas, Shane Donovan and Kashan Hines nearly combined for the opener early on in the contest after Haas connected with Donovan inside the box. The midfielder teed up a shot for Hines who just sent the ball over the bar. 

Mark Bronnik scored his team-leading 12th goal of 2026 to open the scoring, tapping in a cross from Rafael Jauregui. An errant pass out of the back seconds later led to Daniel Robles first goal of the campaign after Matthew Bell played him in on goal.

Xavi Gnaulati added the third in the 19th minute, cutting the ball back onto his left before firing back across the face of goal and into the back of the net from inside the box. Jauregui sparked the attack giving him two assists in the first half. 

Again, Hines came agonizingly close with a shot hit just high of the target. This one game after a terrific through ball from Missael Rodriguez. Just five minutes later, Tacoma net minder Max Anchor denied a shot from Rodriguez. 

Out of the break, head coach Lee Tschantret made one change, bringing on Luca Antongirolami for Mitch Ferguson. Three minutes into the second half and Bell bagged his second goal contribution of the night, scoring off a Bronnik assist. A minute later, Rodriguez pulled a shot inches wide on a free kick just outside the box.

Molinaro made a pair of nice saves to deny Bell and Bronnik just past the hour mark. Anchor repelled six SKC shots to keep the clean sheet as Tacoma secured three points at home. The defeat officially knocks Sporting KC II out of playoff contention for the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season.

After a short return home, Sporting KC II will head back to the Pacific Northwest for a contest with Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on MLSNEXTPro.com and in the OneFootball app.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Alex Cunningham (Jack Francka 73'), Mitch Ferguson (Luca Antongirolami 46'), Pierre Lurot, Sam Worcester; Blaine Mabie (C) (Johann Ortiz 78'), Gael Quintero (Trevor Burns 90+2'), Shane Donovan; Ty Haas (Zamir Loyo Reynaga 59'), Kashan Hines (Tega Ikoba 59'), Missael Rodriguez

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Daniel Russo, Zane Wantland

Tacoma Defiance: Max Anchor (C); Charlie Gaffney (Omar Hassan 84'), Mark Cian O'Neill, Gallatin Sandnes, Jasper Winslow, Codey Phoenix (Andrew Brown 84'); Xavi Gnaulati, Daniel Robles (Bryan Cisneros-Tafolla 73'), Matthew Christopher Bell (Saku Kitafuji 63'), Rafael Jauregui; Mark Bronnik (Landon Lucero 63')

Subs Not Used: Mohammed Shour, Jared Rios, Taiki Sugitani, Edson Carli

Scoring Summary:

TAC - Mark Bronnik 12 (Rafael Jauregui) 11'
TAC - Daniel Robles 1 (Matthew Bell) 12'
TAC - Xavi Gnaulati 3 (Rafael Jauregui) 19'
TAC - Matthew Bell 2 (Mark Bronnik) 48'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC - Gael Quintero (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 36'
TAC - Daniel Robles (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 65'

Referee: Christopher Calderon
Assistant Referee: Christian Clerc
Assistant Referee: CJ Koll
Fourth Official: Justin St. Pierre