FC Cincinnati 2 hosted New England Revolution II on June 8, at Scudamore Field at NKU Soccer Stadium. After fighting tooth and nail down the stretch of a 0-0 affair, FCC 2 surrendered the lone goal of the match in the 97th minute, falling just short of a potential shoot out.
Goalkeeper Connor Dale, who had two miraculous saves in the second half, made his debut after signing with the club in January. Dale carried what would have been his first career clean sheet into extra time before surrendering the winning goal in the 97th minute.
FCC 2 Head Coach Sami Castellanos commended the young Dale for his maturity on and off the pitch throughout the season that eventually led to him getting elevated to starting keeper.
“Just the composure that he had, like, like he's been doing it all season, Castellanos said about Dale. “It didn't seem like that was his first game with the second team. It seemed like he's been working himself all season, so that was really positive to see.”
Offensively, the young Gary’s struggled to capitalize on chances inside the box, with forward Cheikhou Niang, who made his second appearance after missing three matches due to injury, just missing a pair of back-to-back looks in the first half.
In the second half, the referees were busy, dishing out multiple yellow cards, and two influential red cards on defenders Dilan Hurtado and Ayoub Lajhar that proved to sway the match in New England Revolution II’s favor.
On the other side of the ball, Dale shined in his first minutes on the pitch and carried a clean sheet into extra time. Dale’s debut was a milestone that he will forever remember, but the keepers’ first minutes on the pitch also had implications in FCC 2 lore.
Dale’s debut marked the eighth academy player to debut for FCC 2 in 2026. Outside of FCC 2’s inaugural season, eight is the highest in a single season and speaks as a testament to Castellanos and his staff.
“That was one of the main reasons why I was coming in to get the job, to give these pathways to the younger guys, and you're seeing that little by little they're getting better,” Castellanos said regarding his ability to progress players and their development. “There are so many gains… with eight players debuting already. I'm hoping to double that by the end of the season, and then really lean on some of those academy guys to be full-on players that you're depending on.”
With the staggering amount of FCC 2 debuts, experienced players like forward Kristian Fletcher and Lajhar, who were both in the starting 11 and have spent considerable time on first team rosters, have stepped in as mentors for the younger academy players, providing good examples with their play and demeanor.
“Just to see a player of his caliber, the places that he's been, he's been training with us the past couple weeks, so just having him in and around the group has been a good example of where the players need to get to,” Castellanos said about Fletcher’s influence on the younger academy players. “I'm just happy for Kristian. He came in injured, he's been working his way back, and then this was his first 45 minutes.”
Fletcher, who originally signed with FCC on a first-team contract, after making 28 appearances with D.C. United, where he netted two goals and tallied two assists. In June of 2025, Fletcher tore his ACL during the club’s break and underwent ACL reconstruction surgery.
Fletcher’s journey back to the pitch has been an up-hill battle, but he has maintained a good mentality and claims to have improved by large margins.
“Everyone's journey through a big injury is different. For me, I really enjoyed it, because I feel like I learned a lot mentally, physically. I feel like I improved almost too much, you know,” Fletcher said regarding his recovery after tearing his ACL in June. “So, to come back now and still have things I have to do, I have to continue working, you know, get the game fitness and stuff like that. But it feels good to be back, just doing what I love, you know, enjoying it.”
With the loss, FCC 2 has found themselves on the wrong side of four straight affairs. However, with eight academy players having already debuted, FC Cincinnati Academy is flourishing and has the potential to produce the next batch of first team stars in the coming future.
FCC 2 will look to break their four-game slide next Sunday, June 14 at 6 p.m. in a rubber match for the season series against the rival Columbus Crew.
