Recap: Sporting KC II picks up first win of 2025, defeating LAFC 2 3-1 at Titan Stadium

Sporting Kansas City II (1-12-4, 8 points) earned three points on the road on Sunday night in a 3-1 win over LAFC 2 (6-9-3, 23 points) at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California. Goals from Maouloune Goumballe, Medgy Alexandre and Cielo Tschantret, as well as six saves from Jacob Molinaro, helped propel Kansas City to their first win of 2025.

Head coach Istvan Urbanyi picks up his first victory at the helm of SKC II. His starting eleven featured Molinaro in net and a back four of Anthony Samways, Pierre Lurot, Nati Clarke and Beckham Uderitz. Tschantret started at defensive mid while Luis Cruz-Ayala and Carter Derksen acted as a midfield tandem. Goumballe and Alexandre started in the front three with Shane Donovan, who notched his second assist of the season.

Sporting KC II controlled the pace of play for the majority of the first half; however, it was LAFC 2 who took the first chance of the night when a close-range effort from Sebastian Nava flew into the side netting outside Molinaro's near post. Tschantret got on the end of a corner in the seventh minute and redirected the ball off frame. Samways got hacked down in the box 12 minutes into the contest, giving SKC II a penalty. Alexandre's attempt was denied by Cabral Carter.

Molinaro made his first save of the night just before the 20-minute mark, rejecting Tommy Mihalic's outside-the-box attempt. The SKC Academy keeper followed that up with a terrific catch of a floating ball hit from just outside the six-yard box. Derksen nearly gave the guests the lead at the half-hour mark, but his curled offering drifted barely past the far post.

Goumballe went on to open the scoring just four minutes later. After a set-piece service from Donovan fell in the area, a poor clearance across the 18 landed at Goumballe's foot. The forward, calm, cool and collected as ever, ripped a shot past the helpless keeper and gave SKC II a one-goal advantage.

The hosts tried to even things up on the cusp of halftime, and again Molinaro denied them with a brilliant save, this time reaching up at full extension to tip the ball over the goal. Cruz-Ayala had an ambitious, swerving shot saved by Carter as the final action of the first, and SKC II took a lead into the break for the second time this season.

LAFC 2 head coach Junior Gonzalez made four changes coming out of the break as the Black and Gold tried to get back into the game. Matt Evans had the honor of the first look at goal in the second and had that honor deflected away by a charging Clarke inside the box. Uderitz

Evans got to a free kick delivery with his head and just missed the target in the 56th minute, right before Mihalic netted his sixth goal of the campaign with a one-touch shot on the back post back across Molinaro's line. The match opened up from there, with both teams having golden opportunities within one minute of each other.

First, a rolled shot from Donovan was somehow blocked by the outstretched leg of Carter. Then, a quick counterattack sprang LAFC 2 forward with numbers before Evans cracked another shot off Clarke. The SKC Academy alum helped swing the tide of the game in SKC II's favor again in the 63rd when he looked to break free from SKC II's defensive third in the 63rd minute. A poorly timed tackle from Sebastian Nava earned him a straight red card and forced LAFC to defend with 10 men for the final 27 minutes of the match.

The home side kept their shape compact and even had a few chances despite the man advantage for SKC II. Molinaro made back-to-back saves on headed attempts, first in the 69th minute and then again in the 72nd. These saves sandwiched the professional debut of Blaine Mabie, who came on in the 70th for Cruz-Ayala. Bryan Arellano also entered the contest alongside Mabie, replacing Derksen.

Lurot made a massive tackle in the 73rd, stonewalling Evans after the forward whiffed on a first attempt and was able to gather the ball again. After weathering the storm, SKC II took the game to LAFC 2 in the final 20 minutes. Samways was incredibly unlucky not to get his first pro goal in the 73rd after another save by Carter. Goumballe made something out of nothing after dribbling several defenders, forcing another save from the LAFC 2 keeper in the 76th.

Alexandre made magic a minute later, firing in his third goal of the year off the far post. The attack began after Samways got cleaned out from behind in the defensive half, and the ref allowed play to go on as the outside back's pass found Donovan. After some brilliant combo passing and a through ball from Arellano, Alexandre struck the ball with his left past Carter, off the far post and into the back of the net.

Tschantret put the game on ice in the 84th after a perfect delivery from Donovan on a near side corner. The captain saw the play develop before the ball came in, calling for the ball immediately. Donovan put it right on the captain's head, and he thundered it past Carter to double SKC II's advantage. The 3-1 scoreline held as SKC II saw out the remainder of the contest to pick up their first win of the season.

Fresh off the win, SKC II will remain out west to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Thursday, July 31, at Swangard Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on MLSNEXTPro.com.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jacob Molinaro; Anthony Samways, Pierre Lurot, Nati Clarke, Beckham Uderitz; Cielo Tschantret, Carter Derksen, Luis Cruz-Ayala (Blaine Mabie 70'); Maouloune Goumballe, Medgy Alexandre, Shane Donovan (Johann Ortiz 90+1')

Subs Not Used: Jack Kortkamp, Kashan Hines, Zane Wantland

LAFC 2: Cabral Carter; Emir Ponciano (Christiano Diaz 85'), Josh Santiago (James Lane 46'), Decarlo Guerra, Christian Diaz (Adrian Sanders 46'); Matt Evans, Odin Holm (Bryan Moyado 46'), Kairo Walters; Sebastian Nava, Tommy Mihalic, Adrian Aguilar (Jude Terry 46')

Subs Not Used: Dylan Auffret, James Arteaga, Dempsey Reisch, Gavin Zambrano

Scoring Summary:

SKC -- Maouloune Goumballe 1 (Unassisted) 34'
LAFC -- Tommy Mihalic 6 (Kairo Walters 2) 57'
SKC -- Medgy Alexandre 3 (Unassisted) 77'
SKC -- Cielo Tschantret 2 (Shane Donovan 2) 84'

Misconduct Summary:

LAFC -- Christian Diaz (Yellow Card; Tactical Foul) 32'
SKC -- Luis Cruz-Ayala (Yellow Card; Persistent Infringement) 42'
LAFC -- Josh Santiago (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 42'
LAFC -- Emir Ponciano (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 50'
SKC -- Beckham Uderitz (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 55'
SKC -- Carter Derksen (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 61'
LAFC -- Sebastian Nava (Red Card; Denial of Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity) 63'
LAFC -- Matt Evans (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 78'
LAFC -- Kairo Walters (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 81'
LAFC -- James Lane (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 90'
LAFC -- Jude Terry (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 90+1'

Referee: Habeeb Hooshmand
Assistant Referee: Melissa Gonzalez
Assistant Referee: Emmanuel Padilla
Fourth Official: Jose Landa