CINCINNATI – Monday night's victory in Game 1 of the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs was absolutely cause for celebration and joy for FC Cincinnati and their home fans. The 1-0 triumph over Columbus Crew at TQL Stadium not only put The Orange and Blue in the driver's seat of the series but set a tone for the matchup in how FCC played.
Kévin Denkey earned the winner, but FC Cincinnati outshot Columbus 2:1 and only conceded a total of three shots on frame that the recently named winner of the 2025 MLS Save of the Year, Roman Celentano, dispatched each time. FC Cincinnati played a controlled game at home and now set themselves up to advance in the return leg of the series away, where FCC have been one of the best teams in MLS history this season.
There were places to improve from on Monday; it wasn’t a ‘perfect’ performance after all. But it was the kind of performance and result you would want to see in the opening game of a playoff tournament. The energy stepped up, the intensity was obvious, and there was cohesion amongst the players on the field that allowed for the defense to be its best self without taking away from the offense.
That’s over now.
The victory gives you a leg up in the series, but as this group learned last season, that’s only 50 percent of the job that needs to be done. In 16 total series played in the MLS Cup Playoffs since the Best-of-3 Round One format was introduced in 2023, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to win the series 14 times. Nine times the Game 1 winner cleaned up the series in Game 2, and five times it took the third game to secure the series.
But twice the Game 1 winner failed to advance, and unless you’ve successfully deleted some memory from the end of last season (and I wouldn’t blame you for trying to do so) you’ll recall that one of those two occurrences was FC Cincinnati in 2024 when they beat NYCFC at home in Game 1, lost on the road, and then returned to TQL Stadium for Game 3 only to fall in a penalty shootout. The other club to suffer this fate was Inter Miami CF last year, when they fell to eighth-seeded Atlanta United.
It’s a new team this season with many changes to both the starting XI and the reserves. When comparing the 20 players on the matchday roster from 2024 to 2025 (11 starters, 9 reserves) there are only 10 common players between the two – which includes two goalkeepers (Celentano and Louro), Yuya Kubo (who started at forward in 2024 and wingback in 2025), Obinna Nwobodo (on the bench for 2025, started 2024), Luca Orellano and Gerardo Valenzuela (neither appeared in 2025 Game 1). Only Miles Robinson, Roman Celentano, Teenage Hadebe, Alvas Powell and Pavel Bucha appeared in the same capacity as they did in both games.
That is all to say that while there is shared DNA between the two groups, there is a lot of fresh blood, as well as some key history in this group that can share these lessons. As they say, you can’t change the past, but the wisest among us know to learn from it – and that seems to be what FC Cincinnati players are looking to do.
“I think you can take confidence, but not too much. In reality, it's going to be a very difficult game in Columbus, so we can't get too high,” FC Cincinnati defender and Captain of the side on Monday, Miles Robinson, said after the match as to the momentum they can take from the win. “Facts are, we have to start over this week and really show what we're about next game.”
When asked the almost cliched question of how long they’ll be able to enjoy the victory, Robinson gave a fairly specific answer.
“Maybe 30 hours? Probably less.”
That time frame basically covers the window from the immediate aftermath of the match through the next day. In FCC’s typical calendar, that day after a game is usually reserved for recovery and regeneration rather than what you’d typically describe as ‘training.’ But given the Playoffs calendar gives only five days between matches rather than six – going Monday to Sunday rather than the regular season standard of Saturday to Saturday – “probably less” feels about right.
"It was a good performance. We won the game. But at the end, you know, the series isn't over, and I think it's about staying in the middle, not getting too high," Nick Hagglund, who was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year this week, said Thursday after training. "As soon as you get too high on your horses, you're susceptible to something happening. The group is about belief in the confidence of what we do and how we do it, keeping that same standard and not straying away from the things that we've done all year because we think we're going to win or we think the right bounce is going to happen. We have to have this pessimistic approach that anything wrong could happen, especially in playoffs. The margins are so thin. Every game matters. Every play matters. So it's a healthy amount of fear and confidence in ourselves of what could happen and what we can be."
“The teams know each other quite a bit…so it's just about small moments, small details, really being focused, really being attentive,” Robinson continued. “It's great winning at home, but the fact is it doesn't really mean anything if you don't advance. So we recognize that this is a big win, but there's more to be done.”
FC Cincinnati began training on Wednesday in their build-up to Game 2, and while the weather aligned with the seasonal holiday (fog settling in around the pitch in the morning gave a distinct Halloween feel), the intensity of playoff preparation was not affected. The intention in training has been about replicating the process and continuing to grind. After all, should FC Cincinnati defeat Columbus on Sunday and advance to the Conferance Semifinals, that is only one round down. They have plenty of work to do to accomplish their goals for 2025 after this Hell is Real series, even if the emotions are at a high around this series.
"There's always added motivation when you play Columbus," Hagglund admitted on Thursday. "(We) try to look at every game as it's the next game. Whatever the next game is the most important game. The added Cincinnati, Columbus rivalry adds to it, but for us, I think it's the next game that's in front of us and making sure that we take care of business.
"This last game allowed us to continue to believe in what we do and how we do it," Hagglund continued. "But I feel like there's an emphasis on just making sure that all little details are right, because not everything went perfectly in the game. So look at those and make sure those get tightened up and continue to get better."
Among those in training who have rose to the moment, for example, was Alvas Powell. Powell’s 20-minute appearance, while on the stat sheet could have been called a cameo, was instrumental to the team scoring its only goal and then seeing out the victory. While not awarded an assist for his efforts, Powell’s touch on a cross from Ender Echenique was the centering pass that allowed Denkey to score and give FCC the lead. Then, while playing on the less-familiar-to-him Left Side, Powell controlled the game and defended with poise to earn the win.
“We're going into the second game confident and to leave everything out there and on the field in Columbus,” Powell said after the match Monday. “We’ve got to regroup and rest, because it's going to be a final against Columbus in the second leg.
“The team did a great job tonight, but we have to move on to the next one...we're looking forward to it.”
FC Cincinnati has, all season long, operated under the mantra of focusing on the next thing. Not getting caught up in the past or looking into the future, past what’s right in front of them. Strategically, there are moments where the coaching staff has had to think long term and map things out, but in terms of training and the team on the field, the focus has been on what’s next.
It is, in the eyes of both team leaders and Head Coach Pat Noonan, imperative FC Cincinnati approach this game with the same resolve as Game 1. Noonan highlighted postgame that even while the performance was good Monday night, replicating it exactly doesn’t ensure anything. “The way we performed tonight doesn't guarantee victory,” he said. “It doesn't always correlate to getting the result that you think you might deserve. But we have a victory. We have some momentum. Now we need to take that momentum in this performance and try to replicate it.”
The spirit of Noonan’s message after the game was to the tune of “understand what got you here,” more so than “this performance was poor” or “this performance was unrepeatable.” Noonan praised the way FCC played at large and focused on how the connectivity his team played with allowed them to perform in a cohesive, ultimately successful way.
His message was that the hard work you put into preparing for Game 1 was what got you the result; the same effort will get you a result in Game 2. In the same way, you have to wipe the memory of past negative results, wipe away arrogance or any overconfidence, and go back to work that hard again.
“I feel like most of the guys are shifting the focus (already),” Roman Celentano said in an analysis of the locker room attitude after the win. “Get ready for the next one, because this doesn't really matter right now, unless we go to Columbus and give it our best. We'll enjoy it tonight, then switch the focus.”
