After four matches on the road to start the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season, Toronto FC II will play their home opener on Sunday afternoon at York Lions Stadium against Crown Legacy FC.
The Young Reds have found some early successes away from home, picking up a single point in a scoreless draw at New England Revolution II and all three from a 5-0 win over NYCFC II in their last outing on March 19. Even in the defeats – 1-0 at Philadelphia Union II and 3-2 at Columbus Crew 2 – there were lessons to be had.
“There were good things to take away,” began Gianni Cimini on Friday. “The Philly game, you look at the stats, we were the more dangerous team, we out competed them – and it's hard to out compete Philly in the messy moments. The New England game was a tale of two halves: first half we were solid defensively, but didn't really create offensively, maybe one or two chances, and then the second half we created quite a bit. New England are much bigger and the guys responded in a really good way.”
“The Columbus game was disappointing,” he continued. “We didn't take the opportunities, but we scored two really nice goals, and the impact that [Fletcher] Bank had coming off that off the bench that game. We knew with the two games really close that we had to do a good job managing both Damar [Dixon] and Bank. I thought we did that and then in the second game [against NYCFC II], it paid dividends. Bank was really fresh and it was a story of really good counter attacks.”
Bank, with two goals and three assists, led the side in New York City, but first goals for Kervon Kerr, Abundance Salaou, and Elias Khodri meant it was far from a one-man show – Toronto has had six different goal-scorers already this season with Dixon and Jahmarie Nolan scoring in Columbus.
It’s always good to chalk up that first W of the season.
“To finally have that result go our way against NYCFC showed the [willingness to fight through] adversity and the effort that this team is willing to put [in] and keep working through the ups and downs of a season,” highlight Jackson Gilman, one of the many newcomers to the group. “The first few games, it was how can we learn and adapt and grow from this because we're a better team than the results were showing.”
With so many new faces, a disjointed preseason – the group split between first team training in Spain and camp in Toronto, several players away on international duty at either the U-17 or U-20 Concacaf competitions – it was always going to take a beat for the group to grow familiar.
Nearly a week together on the road between the Columbus and New York City matches will have helped in that regard.
“People underestimate how important it is to have those relationships off the field,” underlined Gilman. “It’s been a big credit, especially to the group that was here while a few of us were in Spain, to really welcome everybody in and welcome everybody back.”
“[It] comes from breakfast, lunch, team meals at the facility, whether we're doing treatment, before or after training, those are little moments that off the field you can build relationships. Those have been big,” he continued. “A few of us live together, we're roommates, so you build connections in the apartments, but it's the little details off of the field that really make the biggest deal.”
There is turnover every year for every team, but this offseason saw a lot of changes at TFC II. Familiar faces moved onto the next stop in their careers, new recruits were brought in, and already the next wave from the academy has started to announce themselves – five debuts through four matches.
Prominent among those incoming was Gilman, selected 36th overall in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Pittsburgh. The 21-year-old has played every minute through four matches and dawned the armband for most of it.
“Fantastic leader,” said Cimini. “He's a guy that the guys look up to and then he's a versatile player. Can play with both feet, can play in the middle of the field, can play as a fullback. And then he's got more experience than some of the other players, played a good amount at Pitt, he went to the first team preseason.”
“He's the guy that we look to for balance, security, structure, and he's a guy that we can rely on from a mentality standpoint.” he added. “He came from Philly, the Philly staff were like, ‘This kid's a beauty.’ He's an absolute gem to have as a person and then as a footballer even better.”
It takes something special to come into a new situation, a new group, and immediately earn the respect of your teammates and coaches.
“It's been a true honour, honestly,” said Gilman of being given the responsibility of wearing the armband. “I had no expectations coming in and to receive that, especially in the first game, was a really outstanding moment.”
“Just being myself, going out there and being the leader that I can be,” he replied, asked how he goes about taking on that challenge. “I'm new to the group, but I've played a lot of games, my experience at the college level and even at the NEXT Pro level, just trying to help the younger guys – what can I give to those guys? What are the little details that I can help them out on? – that's what I've been trying to focus on.”
Gilman was quick to point out it’s hardly a task for him alone: “This group, why we've been so successful in our mentality, our effort in the training sessions, has been because, yes, maybe one person wears the armband on the day, but there's a lot of leaders. You could give it to any of them.”
With over three weeks off since that win in New York, Toronto face a big test at home with the visit of Crown Legacy. The Charlotte FC affiliate are a perfect five wins from five matches.
Stacked with attacking talent – Rodolfo Aloko six goals, Nimfasha Berchimas four goals, Nathan Richmond and former Red Hugo Mbongue with two goals apiece.
“There's no secret,” said Cimini, listing off the attacking talent. “Their front line is fast and dynamic and technical. They'll bounce off you and look to get into the box. We have to make sure that we're able to slow them down.”
“There are opportunities,” he noted. “They're not the most comfortable with the ball in the backline, but if you step so aggressively you invite the pass to the players that you don't want, so it's a balancing act.”
Toronto know it will be a challenge, but they’re up for it.
“They've had a great start to the season, first in the Eastern Conference, scored a ton of goals and conceded very few,” outlined Gilman. “We have to respect our opponents, as we always do, but we want to focus on what we can do in the game: how we can attack and how we can defend.”
“They're a strong, solid group,” he continued. “But the focus has been how can Toronto FC go into the game strong, confident, and get a win.”
Sunday will be the first of a three-game home stand with Philadelphia coming to town on Friday and then NYCFC a week later. It’s a good chance to start to set some roots on home territory.
“The group is very new. There are some guys that [York Lions Stadium] is familiar to, but it is good to not have to get on a plane, sleep in a hotel, wake up in the morning, wait the day. You have your own routines. There’s not necessarily the home field advantage from a fan standpoint, but sleeping in your own bed, not having to travel, those are things that play a big part,” explained Cimini. “As the season goes and guys get familiar with the space, the setting, the size of the field, the feeling of the field at certain times of the day, that might have some advantages, but at this stage a game is a game.”
One trend that has emerged early this season is a real second half surge from TFC II. In all four matches Toronto came flying out the gates after half-time.
“It’s so new, right? It's this idea that they can do it,” observed Cimini. “As they get comfortable, they realize it's a football match, there's nothing to be timid or not wanting to take risks, dribble past somebody, to play forward, or try to be too safe. As the game goes, they understand that.”
“We want to be a team that starts strong and finishes strong, a full 90 minute performance,” he urged. “We want our players to have that level of confidence going into every match.”
The players want it too.
“The next step is can we build a full 90? Can we start off the bat and really put together a solid 90 that we look back on and say, maybe that second half we pushed a little bit harder, but wow that first half, we started strong, we were there the full 90 minutes,” tasked Gilman. “That's the next step for us.”
“And, of course, it's can we build off of the NYCFC result? It's a long season, but you want to build confidence off of good results like that,” he closed. “Can we continue what we learned and what we did in that game into this upcoming home game.”
