Fans waiting for an FC Cincinnati 2 match with major implications for the club's first team received just that on Saturday.
Hosting Orlando City B in MLS NEXT Pro action after FC Cincinnati's first team defeated Orlando in Major League Soccer play at TQL Stadium Friday night, FC Cincinnati 2 fielded a team with notable first-team players including goalkeeper Alec Kann and midfielder Allan Cruz.
Despite the first-team heavy FCC2 lineup including Kann, Cruz and others, Cincinnati dropped a 3-1 decision and fell to 3-9-0 in MLS NEXT Pro's inaugural season.
Kann saw his first competition action since April 16 against Atlanta United FC where he sustained an injury.
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Cruz also joined in for the rematch of a June 29 match between the clubs that saw FCC2 win an eight-goal thriller, 5-3.
The rematch at NKU was attended by FC Cincinnati's top brass, as well as most of its first-team coaching staff including head coach Pat Noonan.
"Disappointed obviously. You want to win the game at home, but you look back at the game and you try to take the bright spots," FCC2 head coach Tyrone Marshall said afterward. "Musa (Ramathan) coming in three days ago and I thought he was pretty solid ... He was head-and-shoulders above some of the other guys on the field. Those are the things I take away from the game, barring the result. Obviously, you want to win and create that winning mentality within the group but ... overall, we were OK. We had some moments we could have put our chances away.
"We had eight guys starting that hadn't played together, so you're gonna see things like that. But you look at the bigger picture, (first-team) guys came down and got minutes. Alec getting his first competitive minutes in a long time. That's beneficial. Musa coming in .... I thought overall we got something out of it today."
Ramathan was acquired in May from MFK Vyskov of the Czech National Football League. The loan agreement features a purchase option for FC Cincinnati.
Less than 18 hours after playing 23-plus minutes as a substitute for FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium against Orlando City's first team, Cruz logged 45 minutes in the first half against OCB.
Cruz came to life when he blasted a goal home in the 35th minute for 2-1. He hammered the ball home from the top of FCC's penalty area.
"You can see the level (with Cruz), you can see the difference," Marshall said. "I thought Allan did fantastic today in the first half and I'm excited for Allan."
Unfortunately, Orlando had already inflicted enough damage by the time Cruz's goal arrived.
Jack Lynn opened the scoring for Orlando with a simple tap-in that came after he was left unmarked following a skillful Kann save on an initial one-versus-one opportunity.
Mauro Bravo danced through FC Cincinnati's back line on the second goal for 2-0, which Kann would have been hard-pressed to stop.
Kann finished the match with five saves.
"I felt good. Any meaningful minutes are important when coming back from an injury and hoping to get back on the radar of the first-team coaches and staff," Kann told The Enquirer afterward. "Overall, I'm happy to get 90 minutes under my belt. Disappointed in the result but the most important thing is guys getting off the field without an injury.
"Playing in front of a live backline, getting a full 90 minutes, (Orlando) had some opportunities. At times we made it kind of easy on them, playing square balls and dribbling into pressure to give them some opportunities to catch us on the break, which they did, which is unfortunate. But the effort from the guys was good, we can't fault that.
"I feel great. I'm happy to put the injury behind me. Whether it's me, Roman, Kenneth, Beckham, whoever's in goal, they have the support of the group. I'm going to keep working to make the decisions hard for the coach and be ready if my name is called on."
Cincinnati struggled to convert its chances but 30-year-old Adam Grinwis of OCB didn't make things easy. Grinwis made five stopped and had a clean day of distribution.
The clincher for OCB arrived late after an FCC gave the ball away on the edge of its attacking third.
In the 85th minute, OCB's Moises Tablante dribbled two-thirds of the field on a one-man breakout that ended with him chipping home over Kann for 3-1.
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