Sporting KC II drop frustrating defeat in St. Louis

Sporting KC II left a match empty-handed for the first time since July with a 3-1 loss in St. Louis.

Paulo Nagamura made five changes from their 1-1 draw 10 days ago, with Academy products Isaiah LeFlore, who had previously made his debut with a brief substitution appearance in July, and Gavin Krenecki, who just signed with SKC II earlier in the week, getting their first starts.

After inclement weather delayed the start, St. Louis came out strong and hit the crossbar before Russell Cicerone curled in a delightful effort in the fifth minute to give the home side a 1-0 advantage early. Sporting KC II found an equalizer with Christian Duke getting his fifth career goal for the organization after a terrific buildup in the 40th minute assisted by Camden Riley.

After another weather delay just before the second half was set to start, St. Louis found another go-ahead goal after a bad giveaway from Camden Riley allowed the chance for Mour Samb to explode past the SKC II defense and put it in off the post in the 69th minute.

SKC II tried to fight back once more, but were wrongly denied a penalty in the 78th minute as the referee gave a free kick just outside the box instead for a challenge on Christian Duke inside the penalty area. STL went on to add a third in stoppage time from Joaquin Rivas before Jahon Rad was sent off for a horrendous challenge on STL FC’s Guy Abend.

An unsavory night for SKC II in St. Louis put them in last place in Group E with seven points from seven matches and a record of 2-4-1 after Lou City’s 2-0 win put them in third with ten points. St. Louis has now stretched their lead over SKC II to six points, but hold a three point lead over Lou City with one more match played.

While giving up three goals, his defense didn’t do enough to help goalkeeper Gavin Krenecki on his professional debut. While the second goal could have been prevented if Riley took better care of the ball, the first and third goals were from SKC II center backs giving the STL attackers too much space inside the box. In the end, it was a difficult yet decent debut from Krenecki. The 17 year old did extremely well handling the ball with the wet surface and didn’t give away any rebounds.

Sporting KC II will finish their seven game road trip on Wednesday, August 15th, when travel to Louisville City FC for the third time this season before SKC II returns home for their only match after the restart against the OKC Energy that is closed to the public on Saturday.