Toronto FC II fell to a 2-1 road loss against Columbus Crew 2, after the hosts came from behind to win at Historic Crew Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Toronto FC II made five changes from the side that started against Philadelphia Union II in their 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season opener three weeks ago, with Abraham Rodriguez, Antony Curic, Lazar Stefanovic, Theo Rigopoulos and Mark Fisher making way for Adisa De Rosario, Ythallo, Tristan Pusztahegyi, Nathaniel Edwards and Andrei Dumitru in Columbus, Ohio.
The Young Reds opened the scoring when Jordan Perruzza ran onto a low pass from Jesús Batiz and slotted home past goalkeeper Stanislav Lapkes in the 17th minute. The goal marked the first of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season for Perruzza, the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, with Batiz registering his first assist of the new campaign.
Crew 2, however, overturned the deficit and responded with two goals in quick succession to close out the half, with Mohamed Saad heading home in the 37th minute before Nicolás Rincón’s deflected effort found the net in stoppage time of the first half.
The Young Reds were unable to find an equalizer on the afternoon and following a goalless second half, the hosts secured the 2-1 victory and all three points in front of their home fans.
Toronto FC II (0-2-0; 0 points) return to action Sunday, April 14 when they host FC Cincinnati II in their 2024 Home Opener at York Lions Stadium (2:00 p.m. ET) in Toronto, Ontario, with the match available to watch on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube channel.
Scoring Summary:
TOR – Jordan Perruzza 17’ (Jesús Batiz)
CLB – Mohamed Saad 37’
CLB – Nicolás Rincón 45+1’
Misconduct Summary:
CLB – Chris Rogers 44’ (caution)
TOR – Julian Altobelli 50’ (caution)
CLB – Owen Presthus 68’ (caution)
TOR – Markus Cimermancic 81’ (caution)
CLB – Jayden Da 87’ (caution)
Lineups:
COLUMBUS CREW 2 – Stanislav Lapkes; Christopher Pearson, Diego Almeida Crespo (Jackson Lindimore 77’), Chris Rogers (C) (Ty Nero 77’); Jacob Greene, Adrián González, Joshua Veycheck, Owen Presthus; Nicolás Rincón (Anthony Alaouieh 83’), Brent Adu-Gyamfi (Gibran Rayo 83’), Mohamed Saad (Jayden Da 46’)
Substitutes Not Used: Nathan Salerno, Phoenix Wooten, Jordan Knight
TORONTO FC II – Adisa De Rosario; Ythallo, Adam Pearlman, Tristan Pusztahegyi (Theo Rigopoulos 86’); Nathaniel Edwards (Dékwon Barrow 77’), Kristjan Fortier (Lucas Olguin 76’), Markus Cimermancic, Jesús Batiz; Andrei Dumitru (Mark Fisher 86’), Julian Altobelli (C) (Matthew Catavolo 77’), Jordan Perruzza (Charlie Sharp 60’)
Substitutes Not Used: Shafique Wilson, Lazar Stefanovic, Philip Igbinobaro
Notables:
- Andrei Dumitru and Charlie Sharp made their debuts for Toronto FC II.
- Four players earned their first starts for the Young Reds this afternoon: Ythallo, Tristan Pusztahegyi, Nathaniel Edwards and debutant Andrei Dumitru.
- Adam Pearlman made his 50th appearance for Toronto FC II, becoming the third player on the Young Reds’ current roster (Julian Altobelli and Antony Curic) to reach the milestone.
- Jordan Perruzza scored his 20th goal for Toronto FC II and his first of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season for the Young Reds.
- Jesús Batiz registered his first assist of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro campaign for TFC II.
- Five players also made their first appearance of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season for TFC II: Starters Adisa De Rosario and Andrei Dumitru along with Charlie Sharp, Matthew Catavolo and Lucas Olguin as substitutes.
