Recap: Sporting KC II suffers 2-0 home defeat to Ventura County FC

Sporting Kansas City II (1-7-3, 7 points) suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Ventura County FC (4-3-3, 17 points) on Wednesday night at Victory Field. This marks SKC II's first time being shutout since March 28 and their second defeat in their last five matches.

The first chance of the game came from Ventura in the 8th minute after Eric Preston found the run of Troy Elgersma in the box. Elgersma's shot pinged off the outside of the post and out for an SKC II goal kick. Preston had a chance of his own from the opposite side of the box three minutes later, forcing Jack Kortkamp into his first save of the game. 

Tega Ikoba took Sporting's first shot on goal in the 15th after a nifty flick over the defender at midfield. The striker dashed into the box and fought off a defender on his back before being denied by Sebastian Conlon. The ensuring corner fell in the six and was barely tapped over by Ikoba in front of the goal mouth. Shane Donovan almost threw the home side out in front on a counter in the 24th but Conlon got enough of a leg on the ball to deny the midfielder. A minute later, another SKC II corner was headed goalward by Pierre Lurot and saved by Conlon.

Head coach Lee Tschantret made one change at halftime, bringing on Gael Quintero for Blaine Mabie. Ventura opened the scoring in the 47th with Dylan Vanney scoring his fifth goal of the season on a 20 yard strike. Six minutes later Ikoba rolled a shot into Conlon's arms in the middle of the goal. Ruben Ramos Jr. doubled the lead for the guests in the 62nd with a left footed rocket from the top of the box.

Tschantret made a triple sub a minute later, bringing on Zamir Loyo Reynaga, Tomiwa Adewumi and Kashan Hines for Johann Ortiz, Missael Rodriguez and Ikoba. He swapped Daniel Russo for Zane Wantland in the 69th as his final sub of the contest.

Neither side tested the keeper in the final 20 minutes, and Ventura County took home their fourth win and improved their hold on the top spot in the Pacific Division. Sporting KC II's busy schedule continues with a road test against Colorado Rapids 2 on Sunday, their first road match since April 10. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will air live on MLSNEXTPro.com and in the OneFootball app.

Sporting Kansas City II: Jack Kortkamp; Jack Francka, Pierre Lurot (C), Nate Young, Zane Wantland (Daniel Russo 69'); Blaine Mabie (Gael Quintero 47'), Shane Donovan, Johann Ortiz (Zamir Loyo Reynaga 62'); Ty Haas, Tega Ikoba (Kashan Hines 62'), Missael Rodriguez (Tomiwa Adewumi 62')

Subs Not Used: Jacob Molinaro, Luca Antongirolami, Trevor Burns, Troy Lor

Ventura County FC: Sebastian Conlon; Mason Vanney, Enrique Martinez, Jose Magana, Sebas Hernandez; Arnau Vilamitjana, Gabriel Arnold (Brett Phan 74'), Troy Elgersma, Dylan Vanney (Chase Gozdieski 89'), Eric Preston (Vicente Garcia 74'); Ruben Ramos Jr. 

Subs Not Used: James Rhodes, Riley Dalgado, Aaron Medina

Scoring Summary:

VCFC - Dylan Vanney 5 (Ruben Ramos Jr.) 47' 
VCFC - Ruben Ramos Jr. 2 (Unassisted) 62'

Misconduct Summary:

VCFC - Arnau Vilamitjana (Yellow Card; Unsporting Conduct) 78'

Referee: Jacob Larsson 
Assistant Referee: Laura Chambers Waliski
Assistant Referee: Logan Reeves
Fourth Official: Anthony Sobolevsky