Sunday afternoon brings another instalment of the 2026 MLS Next Pro season to Subaru Park, as Ryan Richter’s Union II side hosts FC Cincinnati 2, with the Philly side looking to build on their opening weekend victory.
Last weekend, Ryan Richter’s young side opened their 2026 season with a 1-0 win over Toronto FC II. While Malik Jakupovic scored the only goal of the game, a goal that was the talk of the league with its quality and one that got a nomination for goal of the matchweek, Union II’s defensive quality was on show with Rafael Uzcategui making a vital block to deny the Canadian side and goalkeeper George Marks made a number of top quality saves to preserve the win and the clean sheet to open the 2026 season.
The opening game of the season last weekend also saw Ryan Richter have a large number of Union II debuts, including many academy players and a couple of new signings. It will be interesting to see how many of these players manage to stick around the squad over the course of the season.
This week's visitors to Subaru Park are FC Cincinnati 2, the team from Ohio, who got their 2026 season underway last weekend with a 3-1 home loss to league newcomers CT United FC. The first half of the game saw Cincy go down 1-0, but they got themselves on level terms 20 minutes from time, thanks to a penalty scored by Stafan Chirila; however, 2 goals in the final 20 minutes for CT United FC meant Cincy fell to a 3-1 defeat to start their 2026 campaign.
These two sides met three times last season, and Ryan Richter will be very pleased with how those games turned out, as Union II completed the season series sweep over Cincy, winning all three games. Their first meeting was near the start of the 2025 season, and Union II came away with a convincing 4-1 road win in Ohio.
Their 2nd meeting of the 2025 season came in August of last year at Subaru Park, and Union came away with the three points again, thanks to a 1-0 win. The two sides met for a 3rd and final time in September, again in Ohio, and Union II won the game 2-1. They then met eachother in the postseason of the 2025 season when they played at Subaru Park for the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals, with Ryan Richter’s men taking the win via a 2-1 scoreline.
The game is scheduled for kickoff at 2 pm EST on Sunday, 8th March at Subaru Park. If you’re not making your way down to the ground for the game, you can always stream the game for free worldwide via the MLS Next Pro website or on the OneFootball app and website.
