Austin Bold rout Sporting KC II with four second half goals

Sporting Kansas City II lost their final inter-conference game of the season by a score of 4-0 to the Austin Bold after surrendering four goals in the second half.

Paulo Nagamura made some changes to the lineup with Jahon Rad, Ryan Fessler, and Isaiah LeFlore stepping in to start while Tyler Freeman moved to the wing.

The first half ended scoreless, however, four yellow cards and a couple of shots that narrowly missed left Austin frustrated. The hosts finally broke through in the 57th minute after Xavi Baez capitalized on Danny Barbir’s poor clearance. Just four minutes later, Remi Prieur’s poor punch deflected off Jahon Rad and into the net to make it 2-0.

The Bold extended their lead in the 73rd minute after Ates Diouf struck to make it a comfortable 3-0 scoreline. Aldo Quintanilla added a fourth for the Bold in stoppage time after Sean McFarlane picked him out with a beautiful assist.

Sporting KC II has now lost four straight, which is their longest losing streak of the season. Tuesday’s loss keeps them at the bottom of Group E with a record of 4-9-1. The Austin Bold grabbed their first win in exactly a month to put them into the final playoff position from Group D with a record of 5-3-6 with three matches remaining.

Despite having 61% of the possession, Sporting II wasn’t able to make it count against a revamped defense with the addition of Je-Vaughn Watson. This was the second time SKC II were held scoreless and it was also Austin’s first shutout since their season opener in March. Once again, the defensive errors led to SKC II’s fall from both the run of play and set pieces. One bright spot in the second half was Kayden Pierre made his professional debut, coming on for Mason Leeth in the 65th minute.

Sporting KC II will return to action within their group for the remaining two matches where they will travel to the Indy Eleven on September 30 before finishing the season against Lou City on October 3rd.

Full match highlights: