FC Cincinnati 2 and New York City FC II played to a 2-2 draw Wednesday night at Belson Stadium in Queens, New York. The Orange and Blue bested the Pigeons in kicks from the spot to claim an extra point in the Big Apple.
The Orange and Blue scored twice in the opening 20 minutes of the match in a strong first half performance. Tega Ikoba and Kenji Mboma Dem each tallied their first goals of the season in the 13th and 19th minutes of play, respectively.
Ikoba finished a close-range effort from a Cincinnati corner, with the forward getting his foot on the end of a second chance ball after New York was unable to clear the initial danger presented by the corner. Mboma Dem doubled the lead after goalkeeper Alex Rando misplayed a headed clearance from outside the box, with Mboma Dem collecting the loose ball and rolling a shot into an open net.
The Pigeons responded in the second half, scoring two goals to send the match to a shootout. Seymour Reid tallied his fourth goal of the year in the 71st minute and Maximo Carrizo converted on a stoppage time penalty with one of the last actions of the match.
FC Cincinnati converted on four consecutive penalty shots before goalkeeper Paul Walters, who made two saves in regulation, denied Evan Lim on NYCFC II’s fourth attempt. Brian Schaefer stepped to the spot and ended the match with Cincinnati’s fifth of the shootout.
Amir Daley made his first appearance of the season for FCC 2 and donned the captain’s armband after returning from a shoulder injury suffered against FC Motagua in Leg Two of the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup in February. Daley started and played 45 minutes in the contest.
The Orange and Blue have the weekend off from MLS NEXT Pro play before hosting New York Red Bulls II on Sunday, April 20 at Scudamore Field at NKU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET with tickets available through the FC Cincinnati App or on seatgeek.com.
FC CINCINNATI 2 GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati 2 at New York City FC II
Date: April 9, 2025
Competition: MLS NEXT Pro Regular Season
Venue: Belson Stadium | Queens, New York
Kickoff: 7:36 p.m. ET
Weather: 43 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
NYC: 0-2-2
CIN: 2-0-2
NYC – Seymour Reid (Carrizo) 71’, Maximo Carrizo (PK) 90’+2
CIN – Tega Ikoba 13’, Kenji Mboma Dem 19’
SHOOTOUT SUMMARY
CIN – Mboma Dem (Goal) | Mangione (Goal) | S.Chirila (Goal) | Chavez (Goal) | Schaefer (Goal)
NYC – Reid (Goal) | Elias (Goal) | Tiao (Goal) | Lim (Saved)
LINEUPS
NYC: Alex Rando, Drew Baiera (Christopher Tiao 64’), Prince Amponsah, Max Murray, Tayvon Gray, Peter Molinari, Collin McCamy (Evan Lim 67’), Piero Elias, Maximo Carrizo, Julien Lacher, Seymour Reid
Substitutes not used: Pierce Infuso, Luka Sunjic, Eligio Guarino, Jonathan Lopez, Brennan Klein, Sebastiano Musu, Jack Loura
Head Coach: Matthew Pilkington
CIN: Paul Walters, Andrei Chirila (Juan Machado 61’), Brian Schaefer, Noah Adnan, Yorkaeff Caicedo (Will Kuisel 67’), Peter Mangione, Yamir Uculmana (Carson Locker 35’), Amir Daley (C) (Monsuru Opeyemi 46’), Kenji Mboma Dem, Stefan Chirila, Tega Ikoba (Ademar Chavez 67’)
Substitutes not used: Nathan Crockford, Xhosa Manyana
Head Coach: Tyrone Marshall
STATS SUMMARY: NYC/CIN
Shots: 14 / 8
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Corner Kicks: 7 / 3
Fouls: 13 / 17
Offside: 2 / 0
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Kenji Mboma Dem (Yellow Card) 37’
NYC – Max Murray (Yellow Card) 40’
NYC – Piero Elias (Yellow Card) 43’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Stephen Foster
Ast. Referees: Max Smith, Zeno Cho
Fourth Official: Kyle Averill
