The inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season will kick off tonight with St Louis CITY2 hosting Rochester New York FC at Hermann Stadium (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT) in St. Louis. That match is slated to be one of the two game-of-the-week that MLS NEXT Pro will stream this weekend. Nine games will be played from Friday through Sunday, and all will stream live on mlsnextpro.com.
MLS NEXT Pro Teams 101
There are 21 teams broken into two conferences, 10 in the Eastern and 11 in the Western. The Eastern Conference features the Central and Northeast Divisions with 5 each. We’ve gathered several details on each NEXT Pro side and today we are featuring the Northeast Division as we get ready to kick-off what’s expected to be an exciting inaugural weekend.
New England Revolution II
Overview: Revs II will have a notable advantage in having an established Head Coach in Clint Peay. This season is the third for the skipper with the team and it’s important to note that Revs II has become a major pillar in New England’s pro player pathway from Academy to the first team.
Home Field: Gillette Stadium; Foxborough, MA.
Manager: Clint Peay
Players to watch:
Esmir Bajraktarevic is a 17-year-old midfielder who joined the Revolution Academy in August 2021 and immediately broke into the Revolution II squad, making his professional debut at age 16 on Aug. 21. Bajraktarevic, the sixth Revolution Academy player to make the jump to the pro level with New England’s second team, went on to appear in 11 games, making five starts for Revolution II in 2021. Ahead of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season, he earned his first international call-up to the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team for its January Camp as they prepare for a crucial year of competition including the Concacaf U-20 Championship.
Noel Buck is a native of Arlington, Mass., Buck joined the Revolution Academy at age 12 and recently became the eighth Revolution Academy product, and the second youngest to date, to sign a Homegrown Player contract with New England. The 16-year-old midfielder played in all 28 games with Revolution II last season, ranking second on the team with five goals along with one assist over 1,900 minutes played. Buck impressed during the 2022 preseason in camp with Bruce Arena’s squad and will carry that experience into a leadership role in MLS NEXT Pro as he continues his development.
Damian Rivera is another Revolution homegrown player; Rivera is a midfielder entering his third season with Revolution II. The 18-year-old from Cranston, R.I. ascended from the Academy to the MLS squad ahead of the 2020 season after more than three seasons in the Revolution Academy. Across two seasons with Revolution II, Rivera has made 39 appearances, notching eight goals and two assists with over 2,700 minutes played. Rivera, who has prior U.S. Youth National Team call-ups under his belt, made his MLS debut on Aug. 21, 2021, in a 4-1 win over FC Cincinnati.
Ben Reveno is a 23-year-old defender who was drafted 52nd overall by New England in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. The defender played five seasons of collegiate soccer, including two at UC Irvine and three at UCLA. Reveno made 49 appearances for the Bruins, including 47 starts, with one goal and six assists. As a redshirt senior in 2021, he logged a career-high 1,570 minutes between central defense and outside back. Reveno spent part of preseason training with the first team and officially signed with Revs II on Feb. 17.
Fun Fact: 30 players, including 18 current or former members of the Revolution Academy, made their professional debuts with Revolution II through the team’s first two season.
Official Twitter handle: NERevolution2
New York City FC II
Overview: NYCFC has proven that we can develop local talent that can play at the top level of global soccer. This direct pipeline to the First Team will play a key factor in the Club’s continued success in developing talent and we cannot wait for the start of the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season.
Home Field: Belson Stadium, St. John’s University, Jamaica, Queens, NY
Manager: Matt Pilkington
Players to watch:
NYCFC II will feature several up-and-coming players and is expected to field a competitive roster. Among those to watch are Maximo Carrizo, Christian McFarlane, Samuel ‘Kwaku’ Owusu, Jonathan ‘JJ’ Jimenez, and the youngest player ever to sign an MLS players contract, Nicholas ‘Nico’ Benalcazar.
Fun Fact: St. John’s University and Belson Stadium have served as the home for NYCFC’s Academy since the 2016 season. The NYCFC First Team has played at Belson Stadium previously during the 2019 U.S. Open Cup where the Boys in Blue won 4-0 against North Carolina FC. All players signed to NYCFC II contracts are all from the Tri-State area.
Philadelphia Union II
Overview: Founded in 2015 as "Bethlehem Steel FC”. Renamed and rebranded to Union II in 2019. Philadelphia Union II provides an important, new step on the Union's Pathway to the Pros, a club pillar focused on bringing the top young talent from the youth and academy levels to the top of the American game and beyond. The Philadelphia Union Academy ranks the best in the U.S. and now Philadelphia Union II provides a key link between the academy and the first team as it kicks off play in MLS NEXT Pro in 2022.
Home Field: Subaru Park; Chester PA
Manager: Marlon LeBlanc
Players to watch:
Forward Stefan Stojanovic is a dynamic goal-scoring center forward who is great between the lines and with linkup play. He has an incredible nose for the goal and a bright future ahead of him with the Philadelphia Union II team. Stefan is the type of player who can get to the next level.
Forward Chris Donovan fits in what we do so well in terms of pressing and counter pressing. He leads the defense from up front and is a big target center forward who can score with his head and his feet. Chris can put opponents under pressure from the defensive side of things that really starts our attack.
Curious Fact: Our inaugural signing, Nelson Pierre, joined the Union Academy when he was eight years old.
Official Twitter handle: PhilaUnionII
Rochester New York FC
Overview: Rochester New York Football Club is returning to the field in 2022 after a four-year hiatus. The club played as the Rochester Rhinos from 1996 to 2017 across several different leagues in the American Second and Third Division. English Premier League superstar and Leicester City FC icon Jamie Vardy joined the club ownership group in June 2021. The club rebranded as RNY FC in September 2021 and joined MLS Next Pro in December 2021.
Home Field: DiMarco Field, Monroe Community College, Rochester New York 14623
Manager: Bruno Baltazar
Players to watch:
Caique Santos is a former Brazilian youth international who brings great experience and presence to the team.
Lamar Batista is a commanding figure in defense who also brings great composure to the team.
Ed Williams, our own Englishman in New York, is a player with experience and quality.
Buba Djalo is a former Portuguese youth international who has rubbed shoulders with top players in modern day soccer such as Ruben Dias of Manchester City.
Fun Fact: Our assistant coach, Gui Ramos, played in the Sporting Lisbon youth system at the same time as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Official Twitter handle: rnyfcofficial
Toronto FC II
Overview: Founded in November 2014, TFC II is a professional Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. TFC II joins MLS NEXT Pro after playing six seasons within the USL system (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021). TFC II finished the 2021 USL League One regular season on 38 points (10-10-8), marking the highest point total in club history.
Home Fields: BMO Field; Toronto, ON and TBA
Head Coach: Gianni Cimini
Players to Watch:
Coach Cimini also praised several young players, including Kobe Franklin; “He is coming off a fantastic 2021 season where he earned Young Defender of the Year Award in USL League One. He has technical qualities that allows the group to be fluid in possession. He continues to develop his defensive awareness and we are looking forward to him providing stability to our back line in 2022.”
He also spoke highly of Julian Altobelli and Steffen Yeates, “they will look to continue their run of form from last year. Julian is a player who looks to receive passes in dangerous positions and looks to generate assists from midfield. Steffen has the capacity to cover ground and really connect the dots in midfield areas.”
Another player to watch is Luca Petrasso who has featured heavily for TFC II, making 63 all-time appearances for the Young Reds (including a team-high 28 appearances in 2021) and was signed by Toronto FC on January 11, 2022 as a Homegrown Player. The defender recently made his MLS debut and registered his first assist for TFC against New York Red Bulls on March 5, 2021. TFC II announced its initial roster for the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season last Friday. The current roster features 10 Canadians, including 8 who were born within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) [namely Toronto, Brampton and East York].
Fun Fact: A total of 10 current Toronto FC players have featured for Toronto FC II as part of their career development including Alex Bono, Ralph Priso, Noble Okello, Jacob Shaffelburg, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Jayden Nelson, Kosi Thompson, Ayo Akinola, Jordan Perruzza.
