CHICAGO (May 2, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC II (3-4-0-0, 9 points) defeated Orlando City B (3-4-1-1, 11 points) 5-1 Friday night at Flames Field in Chicago. Five different players scored their first goal of 2025 for Chicago in an unanswered fashion to win their first match at Flames Field.
After nearly half an hour of tense play, Orlando broke through first. Midfielder Justin Ellis toed a through ball to forward Shak Mohammed, who got behind the defense to slot home the opening goal in the 29th minute.
Chicago quickly responded as right back Peter Soudan dribbled up the right flank looking for a teammate in the box. Spotting forward Jason Shokalook, Soudan laced a pass that went through the forward’s legs, catching goalkeeper Carlos Mercado off guard. The ball tucked into the far post to give the Fire an equalizer in the 37th minute.
The visitors looked to regain the lead, earning a corner kick in the 41st minute. A follow-up shot was blocked by Fire defender Diego Konincks into the path of Claudio Cassano, who drove the ball forward into a full-fledged counterattack. The Italian midfielder sent it to a sprinting Konincks, who exploited a defensive mistouch to find himself one-on-one with Mercado before laying off to a wide-open Jason Shokalook to finish for the 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute.
As the half wound down, the Lions earned a penalty kick. Looking for his second goal, Mohammed softly struck the penalty to the right of Patrick Los, who dove to make the save and keep the Fire up 2-1 going into the break.
After an hour of play, the dam broke for the Fire. In the 61st minute, Soudan lofted a cross into the box that nearly went off the far post again. This time, the ball spilled into the box, where defender Jean-Alpha Diouf tapped home his first goal of the season for the 3-1 lead.
Just four minutes later, midfielder Vitaliy Hlyut dribbled through traffic before laying off to an open Cassano on the left, who switched the ball to the right to Dylan Borso on the right. Drawing defenders, Borso sent it across goal to an open Justin Reynolds, who headed home the fourth unanswered goal for Chicago.
Soudan once more played a dangerous ball into the box in the 85th minute, which was spilled for Dean Boltz to pounce on. The Fire forward cleanly finished his effort to make it 5-1, wrapping up the match for the Fire on a cool spring night in the Near West Side of Chicago.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will remain home to face FC Cincinnati 2 on Friday, May 9. Kickoff at SeatGeek Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the match will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 5:1 Orlando City B
Goals:
ORL - Mohammed (5) (Ellis 1) (WATCH) 29’
CHI - Soudan (1) (WATCH) 37’
CHI - Shokalook (1) (Konincks 1) (WATCH) 42’
CHI - Diouf (1) (WATCH) 61’
CHI - Reynolds (1) (Borso 1) (WATCH) 65’
CHI - Boltz (1) (WATCH) 85’
Discipline:
CHI - Reynolds (Yellow Card) 3’
ORL - Caraballo (Yellow Card) 46’
ORL - Platts (Yellow Card) 49’
ORL - Taifi (Yellow Card) 68’
CHI - Nagle (Yellow Card) 80’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los, D Soudan, D Diouf, D Konincks (capt.), D Reynolds (Richards 89’), M Nagle (Calle, 86’), M Fleming, M Hlyut, F Borso (Montiel, 86’), F Shokalook (Boltz 76’), F Cassano
Substitutes not used: GK Kapciak
Orlando City B: GK Mercado (capt.), D Taifi, D Williams (Sargis, 83’), D Platts, D Reid-Brown, M Tori, M Guske (Judelson, 46’), M Caraballo (Pareja, 83’), M Ellis, M Quevedo (Abdellaoui, 77’, F Mohammed
Substitutes not used: GK Himes, M Levís, M Clapier
Stats Summary: CHI / ORL
Shots: 24 / 18
Shots on Goal: 12 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 89.3% / 88.7%
Saves: 3 / 7
Corners: 10 / 4
Fouls: 14 / 11
Offsides: 2 / 2
Referee: Luis Arroyo
Assistant Referee 1: Fernando Pina
Assistant Referee 2: Jared Kuehl
4th Official: Salvador Flores
