ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Saint Louis FC won 3-1 against Sporting KC II at West Community Stadium in Match 8 of the USL Championship regular season.

Saint Louis FC opened the scoring early in the first half as Russell Cicerone curled his shot into the top corner in the 5th minute. Sporting KC II would then equalize just before halftime as Christian Duke finished a cross in the box in the 40th minute. The home side would pull away at the end, however, and Mour Samb scored in the 69th minute and substitute Joaquin Rivas would tack on a third in stoppage time to claim all three points. The result sees Saint Louis FC improve to 4-3-1 with 13 points while SKC II falls to 2-4-1 with 7 points in Group E.

The first half started brightly for Saint Louis FC as they immediately put pressure on the young Sporting KC II side and it paid dividends right away as Cicerone received a ball from Wal Fall and calmly turned to bury his shot in the top corner. He would then nearly double his tally in the 18th minute as he intercepted a loose touch and dribbled on goal but pulled his shot just wide of the far post. While Saint Louis FC retained most of the possession, it would be Sporting KC II to strike on the counter as Camden Riley picked out Duke in the box with a cross and he slid to finish in the 40th minute as both sides entered halftime level at 1-1.

The second half started after an hour-long severe weather delay and Saint Louis FC nearly took the lead in the 48th minute as Richard Bryan found Kyle Greig with a cross in the box but his header was saved by SKC II debutant goalkeeper Gavin Krenecki. The next chance would come for Oscar Umar in the 59th minute as Paris Gee pulled a cross back for him to hit first-time but it trickled wide of the net. The breakthrough would finally come in the 69th minute as Greig played Samb through the defense to finish for his first goal of the season. As the game neared a nervy finish, it would be substitute Rivas to seal the win as he received a beautiful through ball from fellow substitute Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé to turn inside his defender and slot home to claim all three points.

“I thought we had a good start to the game but we kind of took our foot off the pedal a bit and let them back into the game,” said STLFC Head Coach Steve Trittschuh. “All-in-all it’s a good win, I’ll take getting three points because Louisville [City FC] and Indy [Eleven] both won tonight, so it’s really important to stay up with those guys.”

UPCOMING GAMES:

Saint Louis FC at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC – Saturday, August 22nd at 6:00 p.m. CT

Sporting KC II at Louisville City FC – Wednesday, August 19th at 7:00 p.m. CT