April 18, 2025...Toronto FC II set to make long-awaited return to York Lions Stadium after gritty road stars (from Toronto FC Communications)
Toronto FC II set to make long-awaited return to York Lions Stadium after gritty road start
James Grossi
Friday, Apr 18, 2025, 11:36 AM
After playing their first four matches of the MLS NEXT Pro season on the road, Toronto FC II will make their home debut
on Friday at York Lions Stadium against Carolina Core FC.
“Four games on the road, two wins, two losses, against some good sides in Miami, New England and Cincinnati, we can
be happy,” said head coach Gianni Cimini on Wednesday. “The football, there still needs to be improvement for sure,
especially on the attacking side, but from a defensive standpoint the guys have shown that they can be difficult
to break down, which is always a plus.”
Toronto won their first game of the season with Nate Edwards scoring in a 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati 2. A late header
for the home side proved the decider in the second against Chicago Fire II. New England Revolution II took a first half
lead and then added three more in the second half, a match where the scoreline was unrepresentative of the play on the field.
And Michael Sullivan, named co-captain alongside Mark Fisher, scored the only goal of the game last week against
Inter Miami CF II.
Three of the four games were decided by a single goal.
1-0 wins on the road are particularly sweet, the delicate balance between keeping the home side off the scoresheet while
finding a moment to be dangerous up the other end.
A red card to Reid Fisher in Miami for a second caution made that one stand out for Cimini. Miami’s Leo Afonso would also
be sent off for a second booking before Sullivan’s game-winner.
“We were suffering a little bit, but always in control,” recalled Cimini. “The fact that they were able to have that resolve
and then get the goal off of a beautiful football action: how we broke down the opposition, found a crossing situation,
and then the goal that Mikey scores is just quality. It was good to see.
Sullivan began the play himself, driving into a pocket of space in the 80th minute before dishing off to Micah Chisholm
on the left. Sullivan continued to follow the play and when Chisholm’s cross was cut out he was on hand to pounce on the loose
ball with a thunderous half-volley into the far side of the goal.
“It's up there. It's up there for sure,” replied the midfielder, asked where that goal stood in his pantheon. “It's hard
to beat that goal, in that stadium, being the first one pro, it's definitely up there.”
It’s been a busy four months since the 2025 MLS SuperDraft, where Sullivan was selected in the second round, 39th overall out
of the University of Pittsburgh. He spent preseason with the first team before signing an MLS NEXT Pro contract in March.
“It's been a whirlwind,” said the 22-year-old. “Since December 20 it's been a lot of go, go, go, and it's been a long time
since I've been able to sit down just process it all. It's been fun.”
He takes the responsibility of leadership seriously.
“It means a lot,” said Sullivan. “The role of the captain on game day is to win the game and the fact that the coaching staff
has the faith in me to go out there and do that means a lot.”
As one of the newer players in the group, it says a lot that he is worthy of the role.
“Mikey is, when you talk about reliability, mental strength, a good example on the field and off the field of what leadership
looks like,” highlighted Cimini. “He has a huge influence on the group.”
First goal as a professional under his belt, Sullivan knows what he wants to achieve this season.
“Just continue to produce,” he underlined. “At Pitt I was the guy that behind the scenes would do a lot of the dirty work.
As I grow and mature as a player, maybe do some of the stuff that either gets you on the stat sheet, gets you an assist, gets you
the ability to win games, rather than just being behind the scenes.”
He’s very much looking forward to making his home debut on Friday.
“Anytime you get to play at home is a little bit of extra motivation,” said Sullivan. “We're really looking forward to having
the first one here.”
Four matches in, one thing has become clear.
“The football is going to get to where it needs to get to, but the character of this group is showing to be at a high level,”
said Cimini. “That's really important when you're talking about players developing. The mentality, the discipline – we call it
‘discipline over default’ – is high. You see that against Cincinnati, you see that against Miami.”
“The other thing I would say is that the response of the group after losing 4-0 in New England to come back and have a really robust,
resilient defensive performance against a Miami side that had [Ryan] Sailor, they had Alfonso, they had [Santiago] Morales [all first
teamers] on top of the really quality players,” he continued. “That's a really quality side that was on the pitch, they create a lot
of chances every game, and the fact that we are able to do that on the road after a 4-0 has to say a lot about the character
of this group.”
Added Sullivan: “Our ability to fight and our willingness not to just default to, ‘We're tired. We're not going to be able to do it.’”
“The guys on the team are really strong willed,” he continued. “They're willing to put in that extra effort for the guys next to them.”
James Grossi -
@grawsee
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