Recap: Sporting KC II falls 2-1 at home to Houston Dynamo 2

Sporting Kansas City II (1-6-2, 6 points) suffered a narrow, 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Houston Dynamo 2 (6-0-1, 20 points) on Sunday afternoon. Houston remains undefeated in 2026 and sits atop the Western Conference with 20 points. 

Johann Ortiz came on as a second half substitute and scored a brilliant goal in stoppage time to make things interesting after Austin Brummett scored twice in the first half. The loss is Sporting KC II's first since April 4 after the side earned two come from behind results in their previous two outings.

SKC II goalkeeper Jacob Molinaro was called into action early when he tipped a ball across his body toward the back post at full extension. Daniel Russo, who made his first start for Sporting, slid in to clear the loose ball over the endline and away from danger. On the other end of the pitch, Kashan Hines was unlucky to not find the opener when his one-touch shot off a cross from Ty Haas rattled the crossbar and drifted away from the goal. 

Houston found the opener in the sixth minute off the left foot of Brummett after he was played into the box by Matthew Arana. Pedro Cruz kept the visitors on top with a save to deny a curled effort from Missael Rodriguez and another denial on an acrobatic, overhead kick from Hines. Brummett netted his second of the afternoon with a diving header from close range.

A chippy half that saw four yellow cards, two for each side, came to a close with the visitors taking a 2-0 lead into the break. Head coach Lee Tschantret made no changes before the start of the final 45, rolling with the same starting XI to start the second half.

Tschantret went to his bench in the 58th, bringing on Tega Ikoba and Zamir Loyo Reynaga for Hines and Blaine Mabie. He made another change in the 66th, swapping Zane Wantland for Russo. His final swaps came in the 72nd when Trevor Burns made his first appearance since the season opener alongside Ortiz. The duo replaced Gael Quintero and Haas.

Cruz got involved again in the 85th, denying Ikoba with an outstretched leg after the SKC II forward was played in behind the backline.

A superb solo effort from Ortiz halved Houston's lead in the first of three stoppage time minutes. The midfielder carved up the Dynamo Dos defense before slipping a shot past Cruz into the back of the net. Burns set up the attack with a pass to Ortiz, giving him his first professional assist.

An inswinging corner from Ortiz was headed over the goal by Lurot a minute later and Houston repelled a pair of SKC II advances, seeing out the remainder of added time. With the win, Houston takes over sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

Sporting KC II will host Tacoma Defiance and Ventura County FC in the coming week to close out a four match home stand. The matchup with Tacoma will take place at 7 p.m. CT on Sunday, May 3rd before Ventura comes to town on Wednesday, May 6th at 7 p.m. CT. Both matches can be streamed in the OneFootball app and have tickets on sale at SeatGeek.com for just $10.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Jack Francka, Pierre Lurot, Nate Young, Daniel Russo (Zane Wantland 66'); Blaine Mabie (C)(Zamir Loyo Reynaga 58') , Gael Quintero (Trevor Burns 72'), Shane Donovan; Ty Haas (Johann Ortiz 72'), Kashan Hines (Tega Ikoba 58'), Missael Rodriguez

Subs Not Used: Kael Taylor

Houston Dynamo 2: Pedro Cruz (C); Myles Gardner (Reese Miller 46'), Gavin Wolff (Noah Betancourt 79'), Vinicius Silva, Mattheo Dimareli; Gustavo Dohmann (Diego Gonzalez 61'), Eiji Hata, Matthew Arana, Gilberto Rievera, Samir Mohammad (Jamani Bell 74'); Austin Brummett (Arthur Sousa 74')

Subs Not Used: Logan Erb, D'Alessandro Herrera, Mamaid Jiana, Alan Martins

Scoring Summary:

HOU - Austin Brummett 2 (Matthew Arana) 6'
HOU - Austin Brummett 3 (Myles Gardner) 20'
SKC - Johann Ortiz 2 (Trevor Burns) 90+1'

Misconduct Summary:

SKC - Shane Donovan (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 24'
SKC - Ty Haas (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 30'
HOU - Gilberto Rivera (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 33'
HOU - Myles Gardner (Yellow Card; Delaying a Restart) 42'
HOU - Mattheo Dimareli (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 57'
SKC - Johann Ortiz (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 82'

Referee: Laadi Issaka
Assistant Referee: Carson Thomas
Assistant Referee: Charles Rupert
Fourth Official: Esad Omanovic