BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (Aug. 2, 2026) – Chicago Fire FC II (8-6-6-3, 33 points) delivered a dominant 7-2 victory against FC Cincinnati 2 (4-14-2-2, 16 points) on Sunday afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium. Forward Jason Shokalook recorded a hat trick to lead Chicago into eighth place of the Eastern Conference.
Cincinnati scored first with an eighth-minute goal when Cheikhou Niang capitalized on an assist from Nathan Gray. The lead was short-lived as Shokalook equalized in the 13th minute. Robert Turdean and Dylan Borso connected on the right side of the box, with Borso lobbing the ball back toward the six-yard box where Shokalook had placed himself for a textbook header that he sent past goalkeeper Fabian Mrozek.
Just six minutes later, Puso Dithejane put CFII ahead, receiving a pass in the box from David Poreba, then taking a controlling touch before sinking the ball into the lower left corner. Shokalook added his second of the day in the 30th minute, also receiving a pass from Poreba that placed him at the top of the box with Mrozek closing down on him. Shokalook held onto the ball, rounding the goalkeeper and sending the ball into the net.
Chicago was not done, as Victor Radojević opened his Chicago Fire II scoring account in the 36th minute when he pounced on a loose ball inside the box and sent it in for the team’s fourth goal of the first half. Cincinnati pulled one back just before halftime when Gray nabbed a goal of his own in the first minute of stoppage time.
The second half saw a flurry of changes for both sides, with neither team able to add to the scoreline until Chicago broke through in the 79th minute. After serving two assists, Poreba scored the team’s fifth goal of the afternoon when he received a pass from Turdean and waited a moment before noticing that nobody was challenging. Poreba looked up and sent a low, sharp ball through the defense and under the goalkeeper into the lower right corner.
Damian Nigg followed Poreba’s goal in the 84th minute after Damyan Villanueva sent a shot flying from the right side to the far post. Mrozek dove as the ball pinged off the left post, landing on the left side of the field where Damian collected the ball and let fly a laser that nestled into the right side of the goal.
Shokalook bookended the performance with a hat trick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time by shrugging off his defender at midfield and taking off toward goal. He slipped the ball beside the goalkeeper and into the net for the final 7-2 scoreline.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will play the second leg of a three-game homestand at SeatGeek Stadium against Toronto FC II. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday, August 10. The match can be streamed across the globe on OneFootball and MLSNEXTPro.com.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 7:2 FC Cincinnati 2
Goals:
CIN - Niang (4) (Gray 1) (WATCH) 8’
CHI - Shokalook (5) (Borso 3) (WATCH) 13’
CHI - Dithejane (1) (Poreba 2) (WATCH) 19’
CHI - Shokalook (6) (Poreba 3) (WATCH) 30’
CHI - Radojević (1) (Dithejane ) (WATCH) 36’
CIN - Gray (1) (Chirila 2) (WATCH) 45+1’
CHI - Poreba (2) (Turdean 4) (WATCH) 79’
CHI - Nigg (4) (WATCH) 84’
CHI - Shokalook (7) (Fleming 3) (WATCH) 90+1’
Discipline:
CHI - Borso (Caution) 89’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Cohen, D Borso, D Rogers (Nagle, 46’), D Sandmeyer, D Radojević (Nigg, 46’), M Fleming (capt.), M Oregel Jr. (Pineda, 46’), M Turdean (Villanueva, 83’), M Poreba, M Dithejane (Hlyut, 46’), F Shokalook
Substitutes not used: GK Nemo Jr., M Bernhardt, F Boltz, F Napoe
Head Coach: Mike Matkovich
FC Cincinnati 2: GK Mrozek, D Holmes, D Gassan (Lachekar, 46’), D Born, D Lajhar, M Gray (Chávez, 63’), M Jimenez (Orejarena, 76’), M Ramos (Sphire, 46’), M Mosquera, F Chirila (capt.), F Niang (Mize, 85’)
Substitutes not used: GK Paz, F Vazquez
Head Coach: Sammy Castellanos
Stats Summary: CHI / CIN
Shots: 18 / 12
Shots on Goal: 12 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 92.2% / 89.8%
Saves: 3 / 5
Corners: 9 / 1
Fouls: 4 / 12
Offsides: 1 / 2
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium (Bridgeview, Ill.)
Referee: Calin Radosav
Assistant Referee 1: James Norris
Assistant Referee 2: Audra Fullen
Fourth Official: Ryan Homik
