CLEARWATER, FL - It was cold in Cincinnati, and it was cold in Florida. A different kind of cold, sure. Cincinnati was experiencing temps in the sub-zeros, and Clearwater was in the high 40s, but the point is that it was still cold.
In Cincinnati, the team trained indoors, then had a few days on the turf pitch at Mercy Health Training Center after the snow was cleared off, but the trip to Florida promised more traditional and ideal training scenarios. That promise was not realized. The team trained on grass in a blistering 'Florida cold' first day in Clearwater on Tuesday but was then forced back to a turf pitch onto turf for the following few days due to consistent and punishing rain.
But according to Head Coach Pat Noonan, the attitude never wavered. The group in preseason training camp kept the energy and focus on the work and went into their first preseason match of 2025 with strong preparation and a determined mindset, and the team was rewarded for it, winning 1-0 thanks to a second-half header from academy prospect and FC Cincinnati 2 Center Back Andrei Chirila.
"It's always good to win. That'll never change for us and what our expectations are," Pat Noonan said in a post game interview. "I would say it's nice for those guys to be rewarded with how it feels to win a game based on how the first two weeks have gone. Especially since we've arrived, we've had poor weather, had a couple days on turf. It just hasn't been ideal, and so that part makes you feel like you're a little bit behind, but they had a good approach to it and ended this five day stretch, at least, with a positive."
"It's always nice to get a win. We are all here to win and, I mean, I don't know why you'd come out here not compete," Goalkeeper Roman Celentano said. "So I'm just happy we came out here competing in the right way. Obviously we'd like to put more in as a whole, but I feel like we can hold our heads high with how the team defended and competed as a whole for the game. It gives us a good place to start from."
Noonan provided plenty of critiques and disclaimers about the performance on the field. He described the performance as lacking rhythm and quality in chance creation, and he said that there was plenty to work on. He also said he would have liked to see the team further along than this, but given the situation, he was pleased with the group.
"It's natural, we're obviously missing some pieces and looking to add some more. So when you have that many…unsigned players, I would say… and guys that just haven't been around the group as much, I think it's normal," Noonan explained. "But, you know, you want it to probably be a little bit further ahead than what we saw. But, now the idea is that you look at this and make improvements, so we look a little bit better when we play Houston."
It ended up being a match played in two distinctive halves. The first 45 minutes saw what some would describe as the typical 'starters' taking on CF Montréal's 'starters.' Then, at the half, both teams did a full XI switch. What that made for was a fairly distinct pair of performances.
The first half was a bit of a stalemate. Both sides had chances on goal, CF Montréal may have had the larger share, but neither side turned the table on offense. FCC was more the 'understaffed' team of the two sides. Only six first-team outfield players were in the starting XI, and four unsigned or second-team players filled in the gaps.
Newness in the group showed in the performance. FCC struggled to build up play on offense and had some lapses on the defensive side when Montréal went to play direct. There were a few standout moments; Corey Baird and Kevin Denkey connected a couple of times for interesting attacking opportunities. Still, they ultimately couldn't find the final push for even a shot on target, and DeAndre Yedlin had some interesting moments on the right side. But nothing overly exciting at all.
On the defensive side, though, there were some bendable moments, but the group never broke. Roman Celentano made a spectacular one-on-one save, Brian Schaefer of FCC2 had a strong performance, and Teenage Hadebe (the lone starting Center Back from the first team) earned the praise of his coach as "excellent."
"It's always nice to just actually get into open spaces and play someone else other than your teammates," Celentano said pitchside after the match. "Your training, you do preseason, you play in the squad games, but it's nice to play against different guys that play in the league. It was good for us."
There were some nervy moments. But it ultimately ended nil-nil after 45.
Of that group, three unsigned or non-first-team players made their "debuts" with FC Cincinnati. MLS SuperDraft pick Ben Augee made the start, as did trialists Niko Hämäläinen and Abdi Salim. Those three (along with Schaefer to a certain extent) are competing for opportunities with the club. And with so many first-team players away from action early in preseason, this was an opportunity.
"We definitely got some answers," Noonan explained in the press conference. "The game is always the best way to see how players are coming along. When it matters a little bit more, how do they perform? So, some good answers for sure. But there were, I think, some guys that maybe had trained in a pretty good way, that had a dip in their play today. So all things that we'll talk about and analyze, but it gave us some more answers."
This preseason session, though, is hard to read. With so many key pieces absent, it's hard to get a read on the group, but it appears optimistic that the tide is starting to turn.
Miles Robinson returned to the group on Friday after a successful stint with the USMNT. He is expected to quickly return to full action as he hasn't been with FCC, but he has been training. Luca Orellano was scratched from the match as a precaution, a preseason luxury but not a problem expected to linger. Matt Miazga and Nick Hagllund continue to progress, and Luciano Acosta is expected to arrive in Clearwater on Friday evening to rejoin training. The lone remaining holdout is Yuya Kubo, who Noonan clarified that there was no update to his status and was continuing to defy the club's expectations of reporting.
The second half, which consisted of mostly FC Cincinnati 2 players, was dominated by FCC. First-teamers Bret Halsey, Stefan Chirila and Brian Anunga led them, but beyond that, it was a view of the future.
That peak yielded an interesting highlight.
FCC 2 forward Kenji Mboma Dem won the first corner kick of the day for FCC, doing so by driving up the right wing, playing a give-and-go pass with Bret Halsey to break the lines. Mboma Dem then served an excellent corner that Andrei Chirila headed in for the game's only goal.
"We spoke about them yesterday," Mboma Dem said. "And there's stuff that always stays in the back of your mind. Like when they say 'it's a chance to score.' So you take it like any chance to score, you give it your best. And I think that without good service, you can't score. So I just tried to do my part and put in a good service."
Chirila is the younger of the two brothers who broke out of the FC Cincinnati Academy. His older brother Stefan, 18, broke into the public consciousness last year and signed a first-team deal for 2025 after a spectacular academy season and continuing his performance for FCC2 in MLS NEXT Pro. The younger Chirila similarly started a formative season and ultimately signed a second-team deal out of the academy.
"He took his goal really well. You know, I don't want to say it's a lost art, but how players attack the ball to score with their head. You don't see a lot of players that I think can finish a playoff the way he did," Pat Noonan said of the young defender. "I thought, just the timing, the way he used his body to score, was pretty impressive for a kid his age.
At just 16 years old, Andrei Chirila is the youngest player in camp. While he's certainly one for the future, the younger Chirila brother is certainly impressed despite his age.
"Just good composure with the ball," Noonan said of what he thinks of Andrei. "You know, he doesn't look like he's rattled too much when he's under pressure. Certainly, the decision-making in those moments could have been better. But, for the 16-year-old to come in and look, the way he does within the group has been impressive. You know, it kind of reminds me of Stivin (Jimenez) when he first joined, where he just didn't look out of place despite being somebody who hadn't been around the group or the level.
"So defensively, there's still plenty to improve; decision making, communication, you know, he's probably a little bit, I don't want to say, intimidated, but maybe there's nerves. And when you're just concentrating on trying to perform, sometimes it's difficult as a Center Back to be guiding and communicating what's happening around you. I think that'll continue to improve, but he hasn't looked out of place; he's done a good job."
The match answered questions, rewarded efforts, and showed a glimpse of the future. It wasn't a perfect day, but it was a good day and a good start to preseason. Up next for The Orange and Blue is another week of training and then a friendly with Houston Dynamo FC on Thursday, January 30 at Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater, Florida.