After back-to-back-to-back Wooden Spoons (last in the league) from 2019 to 2021, FC Cincinnati finished with the most points in MLS in 2023 to take the Supporters’ Shield. In 2021, FCC notched 20 points from 34 matches yet two years later more than tripled the total with 69 points. Disney has spent millions making sports movies with less real-world appeal than that.
FC Cincinnati 2, the Orange and Blue’s reserve team that plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, just completed a similar turnaround. In 2022, FCC2’s first season in Next Pro, the club tallied 17 points in 24 matches, dead last in the Eastern Conference and just three points better than the worst squad in the West. Results weren’t much better a season later with 27 points in 28 matches.
But FC Cincinnati 2 has blossomed in 2024, its 54 points in 28 matches good enough for the East’s top seed entering the Next Pro playoffs. Back in the spring, when the senior team was busy ripping off seven straight wins, FCC2 prevailed in five straight and nine of 10 as the month of June closed. (Did the cafeteria at the Mercy Health Training Center come across some of Michael Jordan’s Secret Stuff in the spring?)
FC Cincinnati 2 standouts include 2024 second round SuperDraft selection Kenji Mboma Dem and Ben Stitz, who co-led FCC2 in goals; defenders Brian Schafer and Amir Daley, team leaders in starts and minutes played; midfielder Nico Benalcazar, a former NYCFC Homegrown player who tops the team in fouls suffered and passing accuracy; and goalkeeper Paul Walters, a Cincinnati native who paced the team in starts and saves between the posts.
In an interesting quirk to the Next Pro playoffs, FC Cincinnati 2 was able to select its first-round opponent. (Can you imagine if MLS let its four highest seeds do this? Oh, the possibilities.) Crown Legacy, the reserve side of Charlotte FC, will be FCC2’s foe Sunday night at Scudamore Field at NKU Soccer Stadium. Should the local lads prevail, they will be able to select their next antagonist as well.
Regular season finale for the senior side
FC Cincinnati plays its 34th and final regular season match Saturday evening in Philadelphia. The hosts need a victory and favorable results in other matches to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. (Doesn’t 2017 feel like 17 years ago, instead of just seven?)
Specifically, the Union requires losses from D.C. United or Montreal and must hold the goal differential tiebreaker in order to qualify for the postseason. Philly is three goals behind Montreal and six behind D.C.
FCC is locked into the East’s third seed and a first-round, best-of-three playoff matchup against New York City FC, Charlotte, or New York Red Bulls. The Orange and Blue dropped its most recent encounters with all three of those sides.
With a victory in Philadelphia, FC Cincinnati secures a 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup spot as well. Most importantly, FCC must snap its four-match winless streak to provide some positive momentum entering elimination matches.
Grant Freking writes FC Cincinnati coverage for Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @GrantFreking.
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