FC Cincinnati 2 earned three points against Orlando City B Sunday afternoon at TQL Stadium in a 3-1 win to close out the MLS NEXT Pro Regular Season. The Orange and Blue (16-8-4, 54 points) finish a top the Eastern Conference with the win and coupled with Philadelphia Unions II’ 2-1 loss to Chicago Fire FC II. With the final conference standings, FC Cincinnati 2 will hold hosting priority through the conference final round.
Gerardo Valenzuela scored a first-half brace in his third appearance of the season for FC Cincinnati 2. Valenzuela’s goals, scored in the second and 11th minutes of play, gave the Orange and Blue a 2-0 halftime lead. Stefan Chirila assisted on one of Valenzuela’s goals for his third of the year.
Orlando City B snatched one back in the 53rd minute, as Alexander Freeman tallied his eighth goal of the season and his sixth in as many matches. Orlando’s leading goal scorer, Shakur Mohammed, assisted on the goal, his second of the campaign.
Valenzuela completed his hat trick in the 63rd minute to erase any hopes of an Orlando comeback. For Valenzuela, it is his second hat trick of the season after the attacker put three past Philadelphia back in April. Valenzuela closes out his MLS NEXT Pro campaign with six goals in just three appearances. Kenji Mboma Dem registered an assist on Valenzuela’s third goal for his fifth of the year.
AS IT HAPPENED
CIN: Gerardo Valenzuela, GOAL – 2’ (1-0) – The Orange and Blue made an early attacking move down the left wing through wingback Jesus Castellano. Castellano played Stefan Chirila into the box before Chirila picked out Gerardo Valenzuela in support. Valenzuela sized up the Orlando defense before curling a right footed effort past Jose Mercado.
CIN: Gerardo Valenzuela, GOAL – 11’ (2-0) – Valenzuela scored his second of the match nine minutes later from a second chance opportunity inside the Orlando box. Amir Daley forced an initial save from Mercado, but the rebound found Valenzuela who chested control before beating one defender and sending a powerful strike into the back of the net.
ORL: Alexander Freeman, GOAL – 53’ (2-1) – As a trio of Orlando players combined on the right wing, Freeman picked up the ball on the corner of the 18-yard box and darted towards goal. He danced through defenders before firing a shot past Walters for the goal.
CIN: Gerardo Valenzuela, GOAL – 63’ (3-1) – London Aghedo won the ball in the center of the park and played a pass to Mboma Dem at the top of the box. The forward played a one touch pass to his left, where Valenzuela was waiting. He curled a one-touch shot of his own towards goal, which found the back of the net.
FC Cincinnati 2’s next match will come in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the club’s first appearance in the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs. The Orange and Blue will select their opponent for the opening round on Tuesday, October 8, in a live, league-wide ‘Pick-Your-Opponent’ call that will stream on MLSNEXTPro.com at 2 p.m. ET. Dates and times for the conference quarterfinals will be released following the call.
FC CINCINNATI 2 GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati 2 vs Orlando City B
Date: October 6, 2024
Competition: MLS NEXT Pro
Venue: TQL Stadium
Kickoff: 1:03 p.m. ET
Weather: 81 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-F
CIN: 2-1-3
ORL: 0-1-1
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela (Chirila) 2’, Gerardo Valenzuela 11’, Gerardo Valenzuela (Mboma Dem) 63’
ORL – Alexander Freeman (Mohammed) 53’
LINEUPS
CIN: Paul Walters, London Aghedo (Juan Machado 84’), Brian Schaefer, Gaël Gibert, Jesus Castellano (Yair Ramos 61’), Nico Benalcazar (C), Malik Pinto (Alejandro Guido 84’), Amir Daley, Kenji Mboma Dem (Ben Stitz 84’), Gerardo Valenzuela (Peter Mangione 76’), Stefan Chirila
Substitutes not used: Hunter Morse, Nicholas Samways, Connor Stout, Yeiner Valoyes
Head Coach: Tyrone Marshall
ORL: Jose Mercado, Luca Petrasso, Thomas Williams, Nabilai Kibunguchy, Alexander Freeman, Jorge Almaguer (C) (Colin Guske 79’), Jeorgio Kocevski, Yutaro Tsukada (Yeiler Valencia 66’), Jhon Solis (Justin Ellis 84’), Shakur Mohammed (Favian Loyola 65’), Jack Lynn (Zakaria Taifi 79’)
Substitutes not used: Juan Chirinos, Jackson Platts, Manuel Cocca
Head Coach: Manuel Goldberg
STATS SUMMARY: CIN/ORL
Shots: 20 / 17
Shots on Goal: 11 / 6
Saves: 5 / 8
Corner Kicks: 4 / 6
Fouls: 17 / 14
Offside: 1 / 2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
ORL – Jack Lynn (Yellow Card) 26’
CIN – Stefan Chirila (Yellow Card) 52’
CIN – Malik Pinto (Yellow Card) 58’
ORL – Nabilai Kibunguchy (Yellow Card) 65’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Servando Berna
Ast. Referees: Eric Burton, Jacob Little
Fourth Official: Salvador Flores
