Major League Soccer may be on break for the World Cup, but never fear: It’s Twos time, ladies and gents. Your beloved young Loons return from a week off to host Sporting Kansas City II at National Sports Center Stadium. Before their bye week, the Twos held league-leading Houston to a scoreless draw then shut out Rapids 2 at home thanks to goals from Jakob Friedman and Darius Randell, along with a number of crucial saves from Rising Star of the Matchweek Keane Perkins.
SKC II has struggled this season, securing only three wins across 15 games. With a game in hand, the Twos have won five to land 18 points, with only one loss at home. After breaking their losing streak with a win over Real Monarchs last weekend, SKC looks to climb from their 12th-place spot in the Western Conference and establish their first winning streak of the year, while the Twos will aim to play spoiler and continue their promising homestand.
Kansas City will be missing their leading goalscorer in Kashan Hines, who helped the squad to their latest win with his goal against Real Monarchs, as he has been called up to the U17 Men’s National Team training camp in Brazil and will be unavailable on Monday. For the Twos, a league-wide break for first-team players during the World Cup might mean Minnesota’s leading scorers (Marcus Caldeira with five and Randell with four) make way for other attackers to step up. Defender Philip Tarnue will also unavailable, as he was called up to play for the Liberia National Team in their upcoming friendlies.
The biggest question this Monday night is who emerges on both sides to fill those gaps. Keep an eye on SKC’s Tega Ikoba, whose brace against Real Monarchs earned him the title of Pro Player of Matchweek 13. For the Twos, a number of attackers look to get themselves on the board for the first time this season, including striker Troy Putt and new signing Jack Clarkson.
There’s only one foolproof way to break through the slog that is Monday, and it’s getting to Blaine to watch the Twos in action at 7:00 p.m. Get your tickets here, or stream the action live via MLSNEXTPro.com or OneFootball.
