Toronto FC II (2W-2L-1T, 7 points) recorded a dramatic 2-1 road victory against Orlando City B (2W-2L-2T, 9 points), courtesy of goals from Charlie Sharp and Jesús Batiz, at Osceola Heritage Park on Sunday evening.
TFC II Head Coach Gianni Cimini made four changes from last week’s starting lineup against New England Revolution II, with Marko Stojadinovic, Nathaniel Edwards, Julian Altobelli and Dékwon Barrow making way for Antony Curic, Theo Rigopoulos, debutant Cassius Mailula and Charlie Sharp.
The Young Reds opened the scoring early with a goal in the opening ten minutes for the second consecutive match. Drifting in from the right flank, forward Charlie Sharp laid the ball to Markus Cimermancic whose long-range effort on target was saved by Orlando’s Javier Otero, only for the rebound to fall into Sharp’s path who made no mistake to instinctively score the opening half’s only goal in the ninth minute.
The hosts began the second half on the front foot and found an early second-half equalizer through Wilfredo Rivera’s 50th minute volley.
With both sides in search of a winner in regular time, a neat passing sequence between substitutes Nate Edwards, Andrei Dumitru and Julian Altobelli led to Orlando’s Javier Otero making a low save to deny Altobelli’s left-footed curled effort in the 89th minute. The rebound, however, fell into the path of the onrushing Jesús Batiz who fired home past Otero to give the Young Reds a dramatic, late game-winner and all three points in Kissimmee, Florida.
Toronto FC II return home next to host Columbus Crew 2 in MLS NEXT Pro regular season action on Sunday, May 5. Kick-off from York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario is set for 3:00 p.m. ET and will be available to watch on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube channel.
SCORING SUMMARY
TOR – Charlie Sharp 9’
ORL – Wilfredo Rivera 50’
TOR – Jesús Batiz 89’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TOR – Markus Cimermancic 45’ (caution)
TOR – Adam Pearlman 53’ (caution)
ORL – Wilfredo Rivera 64’ (caution)
TOR – Julian Altobelli 70’ (caution)
LINEUPS
ORLANDO CITY B – Javier Otero; Alex Freeman, Nabilai Kibunguchy, Thomas Williams, Manuel Cocca (Tahir Reid-Brown 63’); Colin Guske (Diego Pareja 90’), Imanol Almaguer (C), Wilfredo Rivera (Favian Loyola 78’), Jhon Solís, Yutaro Tsukada (Yeiler Valencia 87’); Shakur Mohammed (Justin Ellis 78’)
Substitutes Not Used: Abdi Salim, Thomas Bowe, Zakaria Taifi, Carlos Mercado
TORONTO FC II – Adisa De Rosario; Adam Pearlman, Antony Curic (C) (Marko Stojadinovic 46’), Ythallo; Theo Rigopoulos (Hassan Ayari 76’), Charlie Staniland (Lucas Olguin 61’), Markus Cimermancic, Jesús Batiz; Mark Fisher (Andrei Dumitru 83’), Cassius Mailula (Julian Altobelli 61’), Charlie Sharp (Nathaniel Edwards 76’)
Substitutes Not Used: Shafique Wilson, Tristan Pusztahegyi, Jourdan Spence
Notables:
- Cassius Mailula made his Toronto FC II debut as a starter, becoming the 12th player to make his club debut during the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season.
- Jesús Batiz scored his 10th goal for Toronto FC II and climbs into joint-fifth on the Young Reds’ all-time goalscoring charts.
