FC Cincinnati 2 suffered defeat to New York City FC II, 5-0, Wednesday evening at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan.
The Pigeons scored three first half goals as Luka Sunjic, Jonathan Lopez, and Camilo Ponce found the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes. New York would add two second half goals through Maximo Carrizo, who tallied a brace in the contest.
FC Cincinnati Academy goalkeeper David Paz made his MLS NEXT Pro debut Wednesday night. Paz’s inclusion in the starting eleven makes him the 12th active academy player to make a pro league debut and marks the most academy players to see their first MLS NEXT Pro minutes since the club’s first season in the league (17; 2022).
The Orange and Blue return to action on Saturday, August 22 against Carolina Core FC at Truist Point Stadium in High Point, North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. ET. The match will air live on OneFootball platforms and on MLSNEXTPro.com.
FC CINCINNATI 2 GAME REPORT
FC Cincinnati 2 at New York City FC II
Date: August 19, 2026
Competition: MLS NEXT Pro Regular Season
Venue: Icahn Stadium | Manhattan, New York
Kickoff: 5:05 p.m. ET
Weather: 87 degrees, clear
SCORING SUMMARY: 1-2-FT
NYC: 3-2-5
CIN: 0-0-0
NYC – Luka Sunjic (Camilo Ponce) 4’, Jonathan Lopez (Peter Molinari) 19’, Camilo Ponce 28’, Maximo Carrizo (Drew Kerr 77’), Maximo Carrizo (Molinari) 90’+3
CIN – None
LINEUPS
NYC: Mac Learned, Jonathan Lopez, Joao Loiola, Joseph Suchecki (C), Adonis Campos, Cooper Flax (David Duque 90’), Peter Molinari, Elhadji Samb (Drew Kerr 69’), Luka Sunjic (Jacob Arroyave 81’), Maximo Carrizo, Camilo Ponce (Niccolo Vafiades 81’)
Substitutes not used: Dylan McDermott, James Bilden, Eoin Martin, Caleb Danquah, Won Kang
Head Coach: Matthew Pilkington
CIN: David Paz, Ayoub Lajhar, LJ Born (Sami Lachekar 81’), Félix Samson, Charlie Holmes, Camden Sphire, Yair Ramos (Leo Orejarena 46’), Deiver Mosquera (Nathan Gray 71’), Stefan Chirila (C), Ademar Chávez (Jack Mize 63’), Cheikhou Niang (Mathias Vazquez 63’)
Substitutes not used: Ben Saunders, Gio Marioni
Head Coach: Sammy Castellanos
STATS SUMMARY: NYC/CIN
Shots: 16 / 18
Shots on Goal: 9 / 7
Saves: 7 / 4
Corner Kicks: 4 / 6
Fouls: 11 / 9
Offside: 1 / 2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN: Yair Ramos (Yellow Card) 25’
NYC: Camilo Ponce (Yellow Card) 36’
CIN: Sami Lachekar (Yellow Card) 89’
OFFICIALS
Referee: Nicholas Strednak
Ast. Referees: Andrew Charron, Shane Richards
Fourth Official: Jennifer Dumaine
