St Louis CITY2 (17-7-4, 56 points) will face LAFC2 (12-10-6, 45 points) in MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Quarterfinal at CITYPARK on Sunday, October 20. The match will kick off at 2:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
CITY2 won their final regular season match 5-0 against Tacoma Defiance at CITYPARK. Dida Armstrong scored his first goal of the afternoon in the 33rd minute. Armstrong followed up with another goal just four minutes later and marked his first professional brace. Just before halftime, John Klein scored from the penalty spot to put CITY2 up 3-0. In the second half, Caden Glover scored his fourth goal of the season. CITY2’s leading goal scorer, Mykhi Joyner earned his sixteenth goal of the season in the 86th minute to solidify the win and shutout for CITY2.
Hosei Kijima notched two assists and John Klein picked up his sixth assist which leads CITY2. St Louis improved their home record to nine wins which is the most in a single season for the team.
In the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Pick-Your-Opponent selection show, CITY2 head coach Bobby Murphy and team captain Gabriel Mikina selected the team’s opponent, LAFC2, to open this year’s playoffs. Sunday’s meeting will be the first time the two teams will face each other in the playoffs. St Louis is 2-2-0 all-time in the MLSNP playoffs with the team’s most successful run dating back to its first season in 2022. CITY2 made it to the final, falling 4-1 to Columbus Crew 2. In 2023, the team fell 2-0 to Tacoma Defiance.
CITY2 is 2-1-0 all-time against LAFC2. The teams met once in the 2024 regular season on July 6 at CITYPARK. Mykhi Joyner scored a brace and Matteo Kidd and Brendan McSorley added to the scoresheet to earn the 4-3 win.
Following the Conference Quarterfinals, the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs will continue the weekend of October 25 with the Conference Semifinals, where the Pick-Your-Opponent format will again be used. In the second round, the highest remaining seed in each conference will select and host an opponent from the two lowest seeded teams and the two remaining clubs will face each other.
