Highland Heights, Ky. (March 30, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC II (2-1-0-0, 6 points) came back on the road to win 2-1 against FC Cincinnati 2 (0-3-0-0, 0 points) Sunday afternoon at NKU Soccer Stadium in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Claudio Cassano opened his scoring account with a 10th minute goal, then contributed to a Cincinnati own goal to give Chicago the lead.
Pushing from the whistle, the home side got on the board just four minutes in. Cincinnati midfielder Kenji Mboma Dem had a corner kick blocked right back to him. He swung the ball to the far side of the box, where Andrei Chirilă was waiting. The Cincinnati defender leapt and headed it into the upper 90 of the far post, scoring his first MLS NEXT Pro goal – and Cincinnati’s first goal of 2025 – for the lead.
Six minutes later, another player got his first in MLS NEXT Pro, this time for Chicago. After a long ball, Chirilă headed the ball back to goalkeeper Paul Walters too softly, who had to sprint out of the box to get it. But his bobble was pounced upon by Cassano, who quickly rounded Walters and the retreating defenders to score on the open goal.
The Italian midfielder continued to cause problems for the Cincinnati defense through the halftime break. Five minutes after the second half whistle, Cassano smoothly shook off a defender on the left and sent a dangerous ball into the box that another Cincinnati defender accidentally tipped in for the Fire lead.
Cincinnati nearly struck back in the 65th minute, when Stefan Chirilǎ was able to sneak a goalbound ball past Fire ‘keeper Patrick Los. But defender Jean-Alpha Diouf slid in time to knock the ball out at the goalline, maintaining a Fire lead that held through the match for the first three road points of 2025.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will move on to the second leg of a four-game road trip against New York Red Bulls II at MSU Soccer Park in Montclair, N.J. First kick is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT and the match stream will begin five minutes prior on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
FC Cincinnati 2 1:2 Chicago Fire FC II
Goals:
CIN - A. Chirilă (1) (Mboma Dem 1) (WATCH) 4’
CHI - Cassano (1) (WATCH) 10’
CHI - Schaefer (Own Goal) (WATCH) 50’
Discipline:
CHI - Boltz (Yellow Card) 23’
CIN - Adnan (Yellow Card) 57’
CIN - Opeyemi (Yellow Card) 80’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los, D Soudan, D Diouf, D Cupps, D Calle, M Konincks (capt.), M Nagle (Oyegunle, 90’), M Osorio, F Borso (Hlyut, 55’), F Boltz (Shokalook, 55’), F Cassano (Richards, 87’)
Substitutes not used: GK Stechnij, M Montiel
FC Cincinnati 2: GK Walters, D Caicedo, D Schaefer, D A. Chirilă, D Adnan, D Hurtado (Opeyemi, 46’), M Chávez (Ikoba, 72’), M Augee (Uculmana, 46’), M Mangione (Locker, 88’), M Mboma Dem (Kristel, 88’), F S. Chirilă
Substitutes not used: GK Crockford, D Kuisel, D Machado, M Manyana
Stats Summary: CIN / CHI
Shots: 12 / 11
Shots on Goal: 3 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 79.6% / 80.1%
Saves: 3 / 1
Corners: 5 / 2
Fouls: 11 / 17
Offsides: 2 / 0
Referee: Ryan Homik
Assistant Referee 1: Christopher Slane
Assistant Referee 2: William Gaither
4th Official: Alexander Adkins
