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New Champions on the Horizon
With the conclusion of the the Eastern and Western Conference finals we finally see the matchup that will take place Saturday, November 9th. Meanwhile, we had a rivalry weekend in MLS NEXT as we recap the fixtures that took place that are shaking up the league standings as we kick off the month of November. Going across the Atlanctic, Mathis Albert Continues to thrive on his European journey with Dortmund as well as other American Stars making their impact abroad.
Marvin Velasquez & Lucas Aguirre
November 04, 2024
Conference champions were crowned Saturday night, setting the stage for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Cup.
In the East, Philadelphia Union II earned a convincing 4-0 victory and clinched its first ever conference title in club history. Columbus Crew 2's two-year run as being the dominant force in the Eastern Conference was put to rest with a crushing loss to this incredible Philadelphia Union II side.
Forward Markus Anderson's brace led the way with goals in the 16th and 74th minutes. But 15-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan will steal the headlines with his long-range goal just before halftime, scoring his first MLS NEXT Pro Playoff goal. U.S. U20 national team defender, Francis Westfield, later went on to on to help seal the win.
“I'm going to enjoy myself tonight... There are very few times when you walk off the field as a satisfied coach, and I walked off today satisfied. We've won a lot of games this year and played very well, but this is probably the most satisfying performance we've had this year."
It took a long 106 minutes to find a Western Conference winner, as North Texas SC broke a nervy tie to complete its undefeated season at Choctaw Stadium in thrilling fashion.
Fans at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas, eagerly watched a scoreless tie before witnessing a dominant conclusion as St Louis CITY2 gave North Texas SC all it could handle early on.
Anthony Ramirez came up big as he broke the tie in the 106th minute to kick off the final outburst. While shortly after, NTSC seized the momentum and Herbert Endeley scored the penalty that sealed the match, but Pedrinho did not miss. Malik Henry-Scott scored one more to secure the goal just before the final whistle.
“It was a tough game, St. Louis had a very good plan for us. They tried hard, they tried hard, in a sense, probably in the first half, they were the better team."
As Both teams came out victorious in their conference finals, the battle for the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro championship is set and both teams will meet at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, November 9.
Dominating Inner City Rivals
The Florida derby was purple, Orlando City managed to prevail in the U16 and U18 age groups. For the U16 age group Orlando City defeated Inter Miami CF 3-2. Left back Lucas Quiñones opened the scoring in the 7th minute for Orlando City, Nessim Jena tied the score in the 21st minute while Jakob Garcia and Jacob Ramirez made it 3-1 for Orlando City. In the 71st minute Zidane Cadet made it 3-2.
In the U18 age group, Orlando City managed to prevail 3-2 over Inter Miami CF. Jacob Basinet and Clovis Archange put Orlando City ahead in the first half. At the beginning of the second half, forward Sergio Perello reduced the score for Inter Miami CF, but Justin Ellis quickly made it 3-1 in the 51st minute. Late in the game, Angel Patiño scored the final 3-2.
The U15 age group played the first derby of the year with a 2-2 draw. Inter Miami CF forward Aiden Crooks scored twice while Orlando City forward Deshnick Nkeh also managed to score twice to tie the score and seal the 2-2.
The Red Bulls U16 won 2-0 against Nashville SC. Yacouba Soumahoro opened the scoring in the 13th minute while Dylan Logan-Stewart made it 2-0 in the 26th minute. The Red Bulls U16 have only lost one match so far and are enjoying great form in MLS NEXT.
FC Dallas U16 defeated Sporting Kansas City in Missouri by a score of 2-1. Former Solar SC player Trey Glosson opened the scoring in the 20th minute, but Kyan Detmer quickly tied the game. In the 60th minute, Puerto Rico youth national team international Diego Echeverria made it 2-1 in favor of FC Dallas.
Real Salt Lake beat Sacramento Republic U18 4-1. Jackson Martin opened the scoring for Sacramento Republic, but Real Salt Lake reacted in time and with goals from Omar Marquez, Van Parker, Cayne Madhlangove and Armani Haro, the final score was decided.
Yankees Abroad, Mathis Albert Continues to Shine
Mathis Albert made his fourth consecutive start for Dortmund U19 this past Saturday and scored two goals. That's already five goals in nine games this season. That's a goal every 123 minutes this season and a goal every 80.3 minutes for the U19 division.
Diego Kochen and Pedro Soma started today for Barça Atlètic in the 2-2 draw against Gimnástica Segoviana. This was Pedro Soma's first time starting for Barça Atlètic and the first time he and Diego Kochen started together.
Center back Noahkai Banks started and got 90 minutes for Augsburg II this morning in a 1-1 draw against Greuther Fürth II.
Former NYCFC academy player Adam Basse made his Ekstraklasa debut on Saturday and has now been called up to the Poland U-18 national team for the first time. Basse joins Zach Zalewski and Oliver Scott as dual nationals who have represented Poland in the past month.