Houston Dynamo 2 dropped their first home match of the season, falling to Sporting Kansas City II 1-0 this afternoon at PNC Stadium.
An early penalty kick goal for Sporting proved to be the difference in the contest, although Dynamo Dos outshot Sporting 14-5 and forced six saves from the Sporting goalkeeper.
Sporting Kansas City opened the scoring in the 13th minute after forward Rauf Salifu won a foul just inside the penalty area to give the visitors an early penalty kick. Salifu converted the penalty to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.
Dynamo 2 recorded its first chance of the match in the seventh minute, when defender Reese Miller cleared a long ball down the left flank to forward Papa N’Doye, who found forward Kyle Edwards alone on a breakaway. The Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper broke from his line and covered up Edwards’ shot to keep the score level at zero.
Edwards recorded his second scoring opportunity when he received a cross from Miller, took a moment to gather the ball at his feet, and unleashed a curling shot that went just above the crossbar.
Dynamo 2 nearly leveled the game in the 50th minute when Maples headed a free kick from N’Doye into the crossbar.
N’Doye added to his team-leading shot total in the 55th minute, as he cut across the top of the 18-yard box and got a shot off that was blocked wide of the goal and went out for a Houston corner kick.
Houston thought they had tied the score just a minute later, as midfielder D’Alessandro Herrera opened up space in the 66th minute and found N’Doye for a header that found the back of the net but was called off by the referee.
N’Doye got in behind the Sporting back line in the 77th minute off a long ball from midfielder Jesus Orejuela, who made his Dynamo 2 debut this afternoon. N’Doye raced in on goal, but his left-footed shot was saved by KC goalkeeper John Pulskamp.
Houston Dynamo 2 return to action on Sunday, June 19 when they visit Portland Timbers 2 at Hillsoboro Stadium in Portland. Kickoff for that game is set for 8 p.m. CDT and it will be streamed live at MLSNEXTPro.com.
