Recap: Sporting KC II falls 5-1 at home to LAFC 2

Sporting Kansas City II (5-18-4, 20 points) suffered a 5-1 defeat against LAFC 2 (11-7-9, 45 points) in the team's 2026 MLS NEXT Pro home finale. Tega Ikoba netted his team-best eighth goal of the season thanks to Ty Haas's third assist. 

LAFC 2 got two goals and an assist from Charlie Kosakoff as well as goals from Marius Aiyenero, Tommy Mihalic and Sebastian Nava. With the win LAFC secure their spot in the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs.

SKC Academy goalkeeper Brady Krysiewicz made his professional debut in net tonight. The 16-year-old goalkeeper made his first save of the night just before the 10-minute mark, reaching up to tap a shot over the crossbar from the right side of the box.

Shane Donovan nearly opened the scoring three minutes later after a sublime through ball from Missael Rodriguez. Donovan touched the ball out to his left before striking it into the side netting, barely missing his mark on the near post. 

A minute later, the visitors opened the scoring after Aiyenero found himself open inside SKC II's box and placed a shot past the keeper. Six minutes later, Kosakoff scored the first of his two goals. The winger got past SKC II's backline before tucking a shot into the upper corner of the goal. The guest's got their third in the 40th minute, with Mihalic finding the mark from eight yards out.

After the halftime break, Sporting's head coach Lee Tschantret swapped Gael Quintero and Jack Francka for Trevor Burns and Alex Cunningham, who made the first team roster as a short-term loanee last night in Sporting's 3-1 win over LAFC. Barely a minute into the second half and Krysiewicz made another save, dropping to his right to secure a shot from inside the area. 

Ikoba then trimmed the deficit in the 53rd with a posterizing header inside the box. A brilliant ball from Haas connected with the towering forward as he leapt over the top of a defender, thundering the header into the back of the net.

A minute later and SKC Academy defender Sam Worcester subbed on. The 15-year-old almost opened his scoring account shortly thereafter, intercepting a pass and hammering a shot inches high of the goal. Rodriguez, who holds the SKC II record for shots in a season, came close to his eighth goal of the campaign, ripping a shot into the arms of LAFC 2 goalkeeper Ethan Scally. SKC II stayed on the attack with Ikoba threatening once more just past the 70th minute. The forward rounded the keeper, however his skipped away from him and he was unable to get a shot off.

Tschantret went back to his bench in the 76th and 82nd bringing on Johann Ortiz for Donovan and Edson Brooks for Ikoba. Between those two subs, Kosakoff netted LAFC's fourth. He also assisted their fifth in the 84th, teeing up Nava to lock up a crucial three points for LAFC 2.

Sporting will wrap up the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season with a Decision Day trip to take on Houston Dynamo 2 at SaberCats stadium. The Sunday afternoon match will kick at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 20 with free livestreams available on MLSNEXTPro.comand the OneFootball app.

Sporting Kansas City II: Brady Krysiewicz; Alex Cunningham (Jack Francka 46'), Pierre Lurot (C), Diego Borges, Daniel Russo (Sam Worcester 54'); Blaine Mabie, Trevor Burns (Gael Quintero 46'), Shane Donovan (Johann Ortiz 76'); Ty Haas, Tega Ikoba (Edson Brooks 82'), Missael Rodriguez

Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Luca Antongirolami, Mitch Ferguson, Zane Wantland

LAFC 2: Ethan Scally; Miles Ozar (Travis Babineau 46'), Christian Diaz, Giuliano Whitchurch, Skylar Kaplan; Decarlo Guerra (C)(Eduardo Villeda 85'), Liam Lambert, Sebastian Nava; Charlie Kosakof, Marius Aiyenero (Nathan Mardaresco 63'), Tommy Mihalic (Ernesto Rodriguez 82')

Subs Not Used: Mark Gamez, Adrian Sanders, Josh Santiago

Scoring Summary:

LAFC - Marius Aiyenero 6 (Liam Lambert) 15'
LAFC - Charlie Kosakoff 5 (Liam Lambert) 21' 
LAFC - Tommy Mihalic 9 (Sebastian Nava) 40'
SKC - Tega Ikoba 8 (Ty Haas) 53'
LAFC - Charlie Kosakoff 6 (Tommy Mihalic) 81'
LAFC - Sebastian Nava 5 (Charlie Kosakoff) 84'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC - Missael Rodriguez (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 36'
LAFC - Miles Ozar (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 41'

Referee: Atahan Yaya
Assistant Referee: Jarred Mosher
Assistant Referee: Brendan Sweetman
Fourth Official: Esad Omanovic