New York City FC II Win All Five Games at Icahn Stadium This Season

NEW YORK, October, 14, 2026 –NYCFC II, the MLS NEXT Pro team of NYCFC, played five games this season at the legendary Icahn Stadium, winning all five, scoring 15 goals and conceding only three. The five wins here helped NYCFC II place as a sixth seed and automatically qualified them for the MLS NEXT Pro quarterfinals.  

“Icahn Stadium is the best field we have played at, in my opinion, this season,” says midfielder Joe Suchecki. “It gives us a tremendous amount of confidence, especially as a ball-playing team, to know that you can pass out of the back every time and know that the ball is just going to zip along the surface perfectly. It gives us a tremendous amount of confidence, especially with results piling up.” 

The club started their Icahn swing winning 3-0 against Orlando City B and 5-0 against FC Cincinnati 2, highlighted by an incredible goal outside the box by forward Juan “Camilo” Ponce. The five games were headlined with a 2-1 over the fifth-seeded New England Revolution II.  

“My favorite moment was against New England Revolution II, when we were really struggling,” says Suchecki. “We were up 2-1, but we had a red card, and they were coming at us.  There was one play where the cross came in, it seemed like it was an open goal, and they were going to tie it. The guy touched it, and Drew Kerr came out of nowhere and had one of the best blocks I have ever seen. That was massive. It gave us so much confidence that even when games are tough, even when we are suffering, we can rely on each other to make big plays.” 

Forward Máximo Carrizo and defender Luka Sunjic were two of the standouts. Carrizo scored four goals and provided an assist, two each against Orlando City B and FC Cincinnati 2, while Sunjic scored in three of the five games, including the winner against Red Bull New York II, and the only goal in the 1-0 win against Connecticut United FC.  

“We struggled a little bit in the first half of the season, and I think we had a big mindset switch where we went into every single game with a different mentality,” midfielder Cooper Flax commented.  “I think that stemmed from training. Training has been really good.  We are going to have to go away to a good Chattanooga [FC] team, but the boys are ready to fight.” 

NYCFC II will play its quarterfinal match at second-seed Chattanooga FC on Sunday, October 18 at 5:00 PM EST. An NYCYC II win will advance them to their first ever semifinals appearance.