Recap: Sporting KC II falls 4-1 to North Texas SC 

Sporting Kansas City II (0-12-4, 5 points) suffered a 4-1 defeat to North Texas SC (8-7-3, 29 points) at Children's Mercy Victory Field on Friday night. Samuel Sarver netted four goals to help propel the road side to three points. Bryan Arellano tallied his second score of the season on Pierre Lurot's first professional assist.

Sporting KC Academy goalkeeper Beau Barren made his professional debut in goal while Lurot played in a back three with Cielo Tschantret and Nati Clarke. Anthony Samways and Beckham Uderitz returned to their spots on the outside of the midfield with Carter Derksen and Johann Ortiz playing in the middle. Medgy Alexandre started up top and Maouloune Goumballe and Shane Donovan played out wide.

Goumballe took the game's first shot on target in the 10th minute, forcing Nicolas Arango Montoya into his first of three saves. Sarver scored his first goal five minutes later, capping off a counterattack that started off an SKC II free kick. Anthony Ramirez picked up one of his two assists on the opener. Goumballe looked to level minutes later with an outside-the-box effort that ricocheted off a defender and out for a corner.

North Texas defended the corner well and nearly broke on the counter, but was stymied by the defensive efforts of Clarke and Samways. Sarver scored his second in the 23rd, capping off a dash from the middle of the pitch. Barren was able to fall on a loose ball in front of his goal after North Texas got back on the attack in the 24th. The future Michigan Wolverine scooped up a loose ball on his doorstep after several redirects inside the six.

Donovan was shown the first yellow card of the contest for a tactical foul in the SKC II attacking third. Alexandre almost scored in the 32nd, but his effort floated just wide of the far post. Sarver earned his first half hat trick in the 35th with another attempt from up close. Donovan slotted Samways into the SKC II box with some space in first-half stoppage time; however, the runs were not on, and North Texas cleared their lines and brought an end to the half.

Tschantret cleared a diagonal centering pass destined for Sarver over the endline in the 49th minute. The MLS NEXT Pro Golden Boot leader finished off his night on the ensuing corner. After the initial ball was cleared, the forward hung around the area and scored his fourth with a shot from the right side of the box.

Arellano came on for Ortiz in the 55th as the first sub and took just nine minutes to get into the action. His first effort sailed high of the mark, but he was not discouraged, finding the back of the net a minute later. After receiving a pass from Lurot, the second-half substitute scored Sporting's goal in the 64th after some nifty cuts at the top of the 18 and a nice, curled finish past the diving keeper.

Barren made his first save of the night a minute later, diving at full extension to deny Malachi Molina with two hands. Donovan got into the final third in the 67th and poked a shot just past the near post. Tschantret won a header off a corner kick, which popped the ball into the air, leading to an overhead attempt from Lurot that just missed the goal.

Luis Cruz-Ayala entered the match for Uderitz in the 79th as SKC II's second and final sub of the evening. Montoya somehow made a save on the doorstep, dropping to his knees to block a shot away with his chest and keep North Texas in front 4-1, the final score of the contest.

Sporting KC II will be back on the road for a pair of matches, kicking off a stretch of three games in eight days. First, they will face LAFC 2 at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California, on Sunday, July 27. They will then face Whitecaps FC 2 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia, on Thursday, July 31. Finally, the boys will return to Children's Mercy Victory Field on Sunday, August 3, to take on Austin FC II. All three of the matches can be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com, and tickets for all SKC II home matches are on sale at SeatGeek.com.

Sporting Kansas City II: Beau Barren; Pierre Lurot, Cielo Tschantret, Nati Clarke; Anthony Samways, Carter Derksen, Johann Ortiz (Bryan Arellano 55'), Beckham Uderitz (Luis Cruz-Ayala 79'); Maouloune Goumballe, Medgy Alexandre, Shane Donovan

Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Kashan Hines, Gael Quintero

North Texas SC: Nicolas Arango Montoya; Malachi Molina (Christopher Salazar 84'), Aaron Essel, James Bulkeley (Isaiah Kaakoush 84'), Gavin Gall; Caleb Swann, Favour Aroyameh (Jackson Dubois 63'), Alejandro Urzua, Anthony Ramirez; Samuel Sarver (Daniel Baran 63'), Tarik Scott (Jaidyn Contreras 63')

Subs Not Used: JT Harms, Zachary Molomo

Scoring Summary:

NTX -- Samuel Sarver 11 (Anthony Ramirez 5) 15'
NTX -- Samuel Sarver 12 (Favour Aroyameh 1) 23'
NTX -- Samuel Sarver 13 (Aaron Essel 1) 35'
NTX -- Samuel Sarver 14 (Anthony Ramirez 6) 51'
SKC -- Bryan Arellano 2 (Pierre Lurot 1) 64'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC -- Shane Donovan (Yellow Card; Tactical Foul) 28'
SKC -- Nati Clarke (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 42'
SKC -- Beau Barren (Yellow Card; Dissent) 90'

Referee: Corbyn May
Assistant Referee: Sharon Gingrich
Assistant Referee: Donald Williams
Fourth Official: Drew Klemp