Kristian Fletcher has been on a years-long journey to get to where he is now and has been through plenty of highs and lows along the way. Friday night at TQL Stadium was just a mile marker in that journey, but it was as positive a one as he could have hoped for given where he’d been.
In stoppage time of FC Cincinnati’s eventual 3-1 victory over Historic English club Burnley FC in a summer friendly, forward Ayoub Jabbari was dragged down in the box, and the ref pointed to the penalty spot. With the score at 2-1 at the time, Tom Barlow was the man set to take the penalty kick, but he called an audible that was only his to make. Barlow, in the midst of a career scoring season, turned to his 20-year-old teammate from Bowie, Maryland, and told Kristian Fletcher to take the kick.
“Credit to Tom (Barlow) for giving him that moment because Tom was the penalty taker on the night, and I think he realizes this kid is going through a really long rehab process,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said after the match.
Fletcher stepped to the spot, set the ball down just so, took a few deep breaths while lining up his kick, then took an assured and powerful shot that sent the keeper the wrong way to score his first goal for FC Cincinnati. A cathartic and long-awaited moment that had his teammates celebrating for him harder than he celebrated for himself.
“He's just a great guy. I mean, I tend to value people more as a man than as a footballer, and Tom is someone whom I hold in very high regard,” Fletcher said of Barlow, telling him to take the penalty chance. “He's a great guy, great family man, and what he did for me in the pen, it's something that may seem little, but it's huge. He let me take the pen. He said, ‘Of course, Fletch, go ahead. You’ve been out for a long time, so you deserve it.’ And I repaid him with the goal, so it's good.”
Nearly a year ago to the day, Fletcher underwent reconstructive surgery on his ACL after tearing it while on loan with English Premier League club Nottingham Forest. He returned to his original club, D.C. United, and began his rehabilitation, but at the end of the year, he joined FC Cincinnati on a free transfer. Since joining FC Cincinnati, Fletcher has been on the road to recovery and working every day to get back.
Even with his injury, Fletcher has become known and adored at the club for his positive personality and attitude.
“He's worked really hard. He comes in every day with a smile, and it's infectious. It's really nice to see where he's at and that he was able to contribute tonight,” Noonan said after the Burnley FC friendly. “That was a good starting point for Kristian. Credit to him and the medical and sports performance side of things.”
Fletcher previously played in one FC Cincinnati 2 match about a month earlier to make his competitive return to action, but this friendly was his first time with the first team and at TQL Stadium.
“To be able to come back in my first game and score a goal and celebrate with the fans and with the staff and everyone, it feels amazing. It feels good,” Fletcher said after the match. “It felt like being back home, especially with a crowd like TQL Stadium. They're loud. They back you and they really support the team. So to be playing in front of them, and hearing their cheers and hearing their screams, it gave me joy and confidence to go do what I do best.”
Felix Samson’s surprise debut
Felix Samson has been a mainstay with FC Cincinnati 2, but on Friday night, he had the chance to make his first-team debut and took full advantage.
On loan to the club (with an option to make the move permanent), Samson joined FC Cincinnati from CF Montréal, where he had been a standout in the academy before signing a homegrown deal with the first team in November, 2025. He was an MLS NEXT All-Star in 2024 and has been a regular call-up to Canadian Youth National Teams.
At just 18 years old, he is still a developing prospect, but when FCC needed him, he was ready.
“Felix has a nice feel for the game, and there were a couple moments where he was under pressure where I think he set up defenders in a good way to connect passes,” Head Coach Pat Noonan said of Samson’s first appearance with the club. “He reads the game pretty well, and we've seen all those things in training and with FC Cincinnati 2. It was good minutes from him.”
Samson came on for his first minutes with FC Cincinnati in the friendly with Burnley FC, and got on the field in the 60’ when the club made a full lineup change. In those 30 minutes, FC Cincinnati scored twice and held the lead to secure the 3-1 victory, and Samson made some key stops inside the box to keep Burnley at bay.
“It felt surreal. It's something I've been dreaming of, to play in stadiums like this my whole life. So I'm just really grateful for the opportunity they gave me, the trust that they showed in me to put me in,” Samson said after the match.
A highlight moment came when Samson closed down an attacker and made a key tackle inside the box to thwart a shot and clear the ball from danger, then marked the moment with a loud scream that energized his teammates and the crowd.
“I tend to like to show a lot of passion and show a lot of emotion when I play,” Samson said with a bashful smile about the moment, perhaps not realizing his celebration had been noticed. “I just love defending, I love tackling and just helping my team keep the goal clean…I'm always like that. Whenever I'm playing, I'm very very passionate and I want to win a lot. Very competitive. So yeah, that was very normal.”
Samson was called into duty at the last minute when it became clear that veteran defender Matt Miazga would be unavailable due to a personal matter. The teenage Canadian said after the match that he was only told he would be playing the day before, and was just about to begin one of his final exams to finish High School when coaches called him into their office to inform him of the plan.
“I finished the test! It was an Earth and Space test, and I got it done. But while I was doing it there were a lot of thoughts on the game coming tomorrow,” Samson laughed. “But I was just trying to get the test done first and worry about everything else later.”
“It all came pretty quick, to be honest. Yesterday I was training with the second team, today I'm playing a game with the first team,” Samson added. “I was talking with some of my (FC Cincinnati 2) teammates a (a couple days ago) and we were planning to all go together to watch the game. I really didn't think I would be playing it, but I was just so happy to contribute and be a part of that big win for FCC.”
Samson is no stranger to training with the first team and is regularly part of the group when Noonan and his staff either expand the group or have a defender out injured. But he has never played in front of a TQL Stadium crowd or actually played a competitive game with the first team. He did, though, feel that those training sessions, along with the time and instruction he’s received directly from Head Coach Pat Noonan, helped prepare him for the opportunity.
“It all came pretty quick, but every time I'm in training with the first team, Coach Noonan really helps me with the preparation and teaches me how he wants the center backs to play,” Samson said. “It's always very clear what he wants. So when I come in, I know how he wants me to play. I’m always learning from his instruction.”
Samson says this opportunity is one he hopes to build on and carry into his training with the second team and beyond. He also added that the next big opportunity he’s preparing for is the U20 Concacaf Championships, which begin later this month. The event serves as a qualifier for the FIFA U20 World Cup (co-hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in 2027), the PanAm Games (hosted by Peru in 2027), and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, all of which Samson and his Canadian teammates will be looking to qualify for.
FC Cincinnati plays its next match this Wednesday, hosting its final friendly of the summer against Honduran side CD Olimpia in a closed-door friendly at their training center in Milford, Ohio. They will begin the MLS season again on July 22 when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps at TQL Stadium.
