Chicago Fire FC II earns first road win of 2024 against Toronto FC II

North York, Canada (May 31, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC II (5-2-3-2) defeated Toronto FC II (4-3-2-0) 4-1 at York Lions Stadium on Friday night. Forward Jason Shokalook scored his first goal for the Chicago Fire II to take a first-half lead, while captain David Poreba scored twice in second-half injury time to wrap up a victory over the road for his team.

Toronto opened the scoring early, exploiting the Fire's high line in the 10th minute. Defender Charlie Staniland spotted an open Theo Rigopoulos behind the Fire defense, crossing the ball toward him. The winger then sprinted down the right flank before slotting the ball across goal for an open Markus Cimermancic to intervene.

Chicago responded quickly, forcing a corner a few minutes later. Jaylen Shannon got on the end of the kick, aiming his header towards the far post. The ball instead found the legs of a Toronto defender, deflecting toward the goal for the Fire's equalizer in the 16th minute.

Ten minutes later, the visitors took the lead. With little pressure, Diego Konincks launched a long ball towards Shokalook. The forward let the ball bounce before pouncing, beating his defender before firing a shot past Toronto goalkeeper Adisa de Rosario to go into the locker room with a lead.

The home team looked to get back into the match, coming close on two penalties conceded by the Chicago defense. But the score remained the same after a missed kick in the 28th minute and a diving save by Fire goalkeeper Patrick Los in the 83rd minute.

Ninety minutes into the game, Toronto's search for an equalizer led to tired legs during stoppage time. In his first minutes of action in 2024, midfielder Michael Ramirez found Poreba with hectares of space in front of him. The Fire captain broke away from the defense and rounded the goalkeeper to extend his team's lead, before adding a new goal from a penalty awarded after a foul on Christian Koffi. With a double in stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to give Chicago its fifth victory of the season and its first away.

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The score of the box:
Toronto FC II 1:4 Chicago Fire FC II

Goals:
TOR – Cimermancic (2) (Rigopoulos 1) (WATCH) 10'
CHI – Batiz (own goal) (WATCH) 16'
CHI – Shokalook (1) (Konincks 1) (WATCH) 26'
CHI – Poreba (6) (Ramirez 1) (WATCH) 90+4'
CHI – Poreba (7) (Penalty) (WATCH) 90+6'

Discipline:
TOR – Sharp (Yellow Card) 76'

Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los; D Rochester (Diouf, 59'), D Konincks, D Shannon (Blake, 86'), D Glasgow; M Oregel Jr., M Heuer (Calle, 69'), M Prpa (Koffi, 45'), M Poreba (captain), M Soudan (Ramirez, 87'); F Shokalook

Toronto FC II: GK De Rosario, D Pearlman, D Curic (Barrow, 79'), D Ythallo (Stefanovic, 45'); M Rigopoulos (Stojadinovic, 70'), M Dumitru (Catavolo, 85'), D Staniland (Olguin, 70'), D Cimermancic, M Edwards; F. Batiz, F. Altobelli (Sharp, 45')

Unused subs: GK Wilson, D Pusztahegyi, F Ayari

Summary of statistics: TOR / CHI
Shots: 17/13
Shots on goal: 5/5
Pass accuracy: 86.4% / 83.3%
Backups: 2/4
Corners: 3/6
Fouls: 9/12
Offside: 1/2
Ownership: 55.3% / 44.7%

Arbitrator: Fabrizio Stasolla
Assistant Ref 1: Brad Doubrough
Assistant Ref 2: Vasyl Dzikh
4th Official: Nivin Raizada