2022 MLS Next Pro season

The 2022 MLS Next Pro season was the inaugural season of MLS Next Pro, the reserve league of Major League Soccer. It is the first season since 2014 where MLS had a standalone reserve league, the previous season being the MLS Reserve League. Including both MLS Next Pro and the MLS Reserve League, it is the ninth season of a reserve league operated by MLS. The league is sanctioned as a third division league by U.S. Soccer.

MLS Next Pro

Season	2022
Dates	March 25 – September 18 (Regular season) September 24 – October 8 (Playoffs)
Champions	Columbus Crew 2 (1st Title)
Regular season title	Columbus Crew 2 (1st Title)
Matches played	259 (252 RS, 7 PO)
Goals scored	882 (3.41 per match) (855 RS, 27 PO)
Best Player	Jacen Russell-Rowe Columbus Crew 2
Top goalscorer	Jacen Russell-Rowe Columbus Crew 2 (21 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Patrick Schulte Columbus Crew 2
Biggest home win	CC2 9–0 CIN (September 18)
Biggest away win	CHI 0–5 STL (June 11)
Highest scoring	CC2 9–0 CIN (September 18)
Longest winning run	7 PU2
Longest losing run	13 RLM
Highest attendance	7,446 CC2 4–1 STL
2023 → All statistics correct as of September 18, 2022.

A total of 21 clubs, 20 MLS reserve teams and one independent team (Rochester New York FC) participated in the 2022 season. The regular season began on March 25 and was concluded on September 18, 2022.

Columbus Crew 2 defeated St. Louis City 2 4–1 in the inaugural MLS Next Pro Cup final on October 8.^[1][2]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Chicago Fire FC II	SeatGeek Stadium	20,000
FC Cincinnati 2	NKU Soccer Stadium	1,000
Colorado Rapids 2	Denver Soccer Stadium	2,000
Columbus Crew 2	Historic Crew Stadium	19,968
Houston Dynamo 2	Aveva Stadium	4,000
Inter Miami CF II	DRV PNK Stadium	18,000
Minnesota United FC 2	Allianz Field	19,400
	National Sports Center	10,000
New England Revolution II	Gillette Stadium	20,000
New York City FC II	Belson Stadium	2,168
North Texas SC	Choctaw Stadium	48,114
Orlando City B	Osceola County Stadium	5,400
Philadelphia Union II	Subaru Park	18,500
Portland Timbers 2	Hillsboro Stadium	7,600
Real Monarchs	Zions Bank Stadium	5,000
Rochester New York FC	John L. DiMarco Field	1,500
San Jose Earthquakes II	PayPal Park	18,000
Sporting Kansas City II	Rock Chalk Park	2,500
	Swope Soccer Village	3,500
St. Louis City 2	Hermann Stadium	6,050
	Ralph Korte Stadium	4,000
Toronto FC II	York Lions Stadium	4,000
Tacoma Defiance	Cheney Stadium	6,500
	Starfire Sports Complex	4,500
Whitecaps FC 2	Swangard Stadium	5,288

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as universal kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach
Chicago Fire FC II	Ludovic Taillandier
FC Cincinnati 2	Tyrone Marshall
Colorado Rapids 2	Erik Bushey
Columbus Crew 2	Laurent Courtois
Houston Dynamo 2	Kenny Bundy
Inter Miami CF II	Darren Powell
Minnesota United FC 2	Cameron Knowles
New England Revolution II	Clint Peay
New York City FC II	Matt Pilkington
North Texas SC	Pa-Modou Kah
Orlando City B	Martín Perelman
Philadelphia Union II	Marlon LeBlanc
Portland Timbers 2	Shannon Murray
Real Monarchs	Jámison Olave
Rochester New York FC	Bruno Baltazar
San Jose Earthquakes II	Dan DeGeer (interim)
Sporting Kansas City II	Benny Feilhaber
St. Louis City 2	John Hackworth (interim)
Toronto FC II	Gianni Cimini
Tacoma Defiance	Wade Webber
Whitecaps FC 2	Nick Dasovic

Regular season

The regular season will feature 24 matches in a mostly regionalized schedule. Teams will play two or three games against teams in their conference. Only four matches total will be played between teams in opposite conferences. Each conference will be divided into divisions of five or six teams for scheduling.^[3]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	CT	Columbus Crew 2	24	16	2	3	3	62	22	+40	55	Qualification for the 2022 MLS Next Pro Playoffs
2	NE	Toronto FC II	24	12	2	1	9	44	38	+6	41
3	NE	Philadelphia Union II	24	11	3	1	9	42	39	+3	40
4	NE	Rochester New York FC	24	10	4	2	8	37	30	+7	40
5	NE	New York City FC II	24	9	4	2	9	49	35	+14	37
6	CT	Inter Miami CF II	24	10	1	4	9	40	49	−9	36
7	NE	New England Revolution II	24	9	1	4	10	27	42	−15	33
8	CT	Chicago Fire FC II	24	8	2	3	11	41	44	−3	31
9	CT	Orlando City B	24	6	2	3	13	40	53	−13	25
10	CT	FC Cincinnati 2	24	4	2	1	17	27	65	−38	17

Source: MLSNP Eastern Conference
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Western Conference

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FR	St. Louis City 2	24	15	1	2	6	51	34	+17	49	Qualification for the 2022 MLS Next Pro Playoffs
2	PC	Tacoma Defiance	24	14	3	1	6	57	25	+32	49
3	FR	Houston Dynamo 2	24	14	2	3	5	38	22	+16	49
4	FR	North Texas SC	24	13	2	3	6	48	31	+17	46
5	PC	San Jose Earthquakes II	24	12	1	3	8	48	37	+11	41
6	FR	Minnesota United FC 2	24	9	4	1	10	43	39	+4	36
7	PC	Whitecaps FC 2	24	7	3	5	9	40	40	0	32
8	FR	Sporting Kansas City II	24	9	1	2	12	31	38	−7	31
9	FR	Colorado Rapids 2	24	7	4	2	11	33	56	−23	31
10	PC	Real Monarchs	24	6	1	3	14	28	50	−22	23
11	PC	Portland Timbers 2	24	2	4	0	18	29	66	−37	14

Source: MLSNP Western Conference
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Overall table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	SOW	SOL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Columbus Crew 2	24	16	2	3	3	62	22	+40	55	Regular season champion
2	St. Louis City 2	24	15	1	2	6	51	34	+17	49
3	Tacoma Defiance	24	14	3	1	6	57	25	+32	49
4	Houston Dynamo 2	24	14	2	3	5	38	22	+16	49
5	North Texas SC	24	13	2	3	6	48	31	+17	46
6	San Jose Earthquakes II	24	12	1	3	8	48	37	+11	41
7	Toronto FC II	24	12	2	1	9	44	38	+6	41
8	Philadelphia Union II	24	11	3	1	9	42	39	+3	40
9	Rochester New York FC	24	10	4	2	8	37	30	+7	40
10	New York City FC II	24	9	4	2	9	49	35	+14	37
11	Inter Miami CF II	24	10	1	4	9	40	49	−9	36
12	Minnesota United FC 2	24	9	4	1	10	43	39	+4	36
13	New England Revolution II	24	9	1	4	10	27	42	−15	33
14	Whitecaps FC 2	24	7	3	5	9	40	40	0	32
15	Sporting Kansas City II	24	9	1	2	12	31	38	−7	31
16	Chicago Fire FC II	24	8	2	3	11	41	44	−3	31
17	Colorado Rapids 2	24	7	4	2	11	33	56	−23	31
18	Orlando City B	24	6	2	3	13	40	53	−13	25
19	Real Monarchs	24	6	1	3	14	28	50	−22	23
20	FC Cincinnati 2	24	4	2	1	17	27	65	−38	17
21	Portland Timbers 2	24	2	4	0	18	29	66	−37	14

Source: MLSNP
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Player statistics

As of September 18, 2022

Goals

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[4]
1	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	21
2	Bernard Kamungo	North Texas SC	16
3	Jack Lynn	Orlando City B	15
4	Shanyder Borgelin	Inter Miami CF II	14
	John Denis	New York City FC II
6	Gibran Rayo	Rochester New York FC	13
7	Rudi Castro	San Jose Earthquakes II	12
	Marlon Vargas	Tacoma Defiance
9	Aziel Jackson	Minnesota United FC 2	10
	Jonathan Jimenez	New York City FC II

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Score	Date
Beto Avila	Houston Dynamo 2	Sporting Kansas City II	3–0 (A)[5]	April 10
Jack Lynn	Orlando City B	Inter Miami CF II	6–0 (H)[6]	May 21
Joshua Penn	Chicago Fire FC II	Toronto FC II	6–2 (A)	May 27
Rauf Salifu	Sporting Kansas City II	North Texas SC	4–2 (H)[7]	July 2
Gibran Rayo	Rochester New York FC	Philadelphia Union II	3–0 (H)[8]	July 7
John Denis	New York City FC II	New England Revolution II	4–0 (A)	July 10
Victor Bezerra	Chicago Fire FC II	Orlando City B	3–4 (H)	July 17
Thomas Williamson	Minnesota United FC 2	Colorado Rapids 2	3–3 (H)	August 6
Shanyder Borgelin	Inter Miami II	New England Revolution II	4–2 (H)	August 7
Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	FC Cincinnati II	9–0 (H)4	September 18

Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team
4 – Scored 4 goals

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists[9]
1	Romeo Beckham	Inter Miami CF II	10
	Mohamed Farsi	Columbus Crew 2
3	Hope Avayevu	North Texas SC	9
4	Aziel Jackson	Minnesota United FC 2	7
	Akil Watts	St. Louis City 2
	El Mahdi Youssoufi	New York City FC II
7	Maximilian Arfsten	San Jose Earthquakes II	6
	Selmir Miscic	Portland Timbers 2
	Sergio Oregel	Chicago Fire FC II
	Marlon Vargas	Tacoma Defiance

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[10]
1	Caíque	Rochester New York FC	8
2	Patrick Schulte	Columbus Crew 2	7
3	Xavier Valdez	Houston Dynamo 2	6
4	Chris Brady	Chicago Fire FC II	5
	Luka Gavran	Toronto FC II
	Jacob Jackson	New England Revolution II
	Alex Rando	New York City FC II
	Brady Scott	Columbus Crew 2
9	Antonio Carrera	North Texas SC	4
	Wallis Lapsley	Tacoma Defiance
	Javier Otero	Orlando City B

Playoffs

There was an eight-team playoff, where the top finisher in each division qualified, along with the next two top finishers in each conference. Seeding within each conference was based on conference standings, regardless of being division champions.^[11]

Qualifying teams

Eastern Conference Columbus Crew 2 - Central Division Winner Toronto FC II - Northeast Division Winner Philadelphia Union II - Conference Wild Card #1 Rochester New York FC - Conference Wild Card #2

Western Conference St. Louis City 2 - Frontier Division Winner Tacoma Defiance - Pacific Division Winner Houston Dynamo 2 - Conference Wild Card #1 North Texas SC - Conference Wild Card #2

Bracket

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

2022 MLS Next Pro Cup

E1

Columbus Crew 2

4

E4

Rochester New York FC

1

E1

Columbus Crew 2 (a.e.t.)

4

Eastern Conference

E2

Toronto FC II

3

E2

Toronto FC II

1

E3

Philadelphia Union II

0

E1

Columbus Crew 2

4

W1

St. Louis City 2

1

W1

St. Louis City 2

2

W4

North Texas SC

0

W1

St. Louis City 2

2

Western Conference

W2

Tacoma Defiance

1

W2

Tacoma Defiance (p)

2 (5)

W3

Houston Dynamo 2

2 (4)

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

September 24

12:00 PM EDT

Columbus Crew 2	4–1	Rochester New York FC
Parente  36' Malou  40' Russell-Rowe 44', 83', 85' Micaletto 50'  53'	Report	Lopez  5' Edwards  40' Akanyirige  49' Dolabella  52' Brigida 90+2'

Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 1,147^[12]

Referee: Samantha Martinez

---

September 24

4:00 PM EDT

Toronto FC II	1–0	Philadelphia Union II
Mbongue 6'	Report	Sorenson  33' Villero  39' Turner  81' Paternina  85'

BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

Referee: Michael Venne

Western Conference

September 25

6:30 PM CDT

St. Louis City 2	2–0	North Texas SC
Yaro  41' Ostrák 73' Schneider  75' Di Rosa  84' Pompeu 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Sainté  39' Scott  71' Bartlett  90+1'

Ralph Korte Stadium, Edwardsville, Illinois

Referee: Ricardo Fierro

---

September 25

7:30 PM PDT

Tacoma Defiance	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Houston Dynamo 2
Ocampo-Chavez  10' Robin  14' Hafferty  76' Vargas 84' (pen.) Lima 90+4' (o.g.)	Report	Raines  6' Murana  32' Avila 40'  52' Evans 50' Micael  83' Juarez  90+2'
Penalties
Vargas Uderitz Sabella Sousa Robin	5–4	Gonzalez Ríos Palomino Lima Edwards

Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, Washington

Referee: Thomas Snyder

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

October 2

5:00 PM EDT

Columbus Crew 2	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Toronto FC II
Fuson 32' Parente 60' (pen.)  79' Zawadzki  67' Mohamed  99' Micaletto  106' Knight 109' Gannon 119'	Report	Rothrock  20' 47' Mbongue  44' Antonoglou 90+3', 94' Altobelli  105+2'

Historic Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

Western Conference

October 2

7:30 PM CDT

St. Louis City 2	2–1	Tacoma Defiance
Ostrák 31' Yaro  58' Dolling 59' Watts  70'	Report	Cissoko 76' (pen.) Uderitz  90+2'

Ralph Korte Stadium, Edwardsville, Illinois

Attendance: 2,413^[13]

Referee: Elton Garcia

2022 MLS Next Pro Cup

October 8

1:30 PM EDT

Columbus Crew 2	4–1	St. Louis City 2
Malou  41' Parente 45' (pen.) Micaletto 45+3' Russell-Rowe 58' (pen.) Telfer 83'	Report	Pompeu 80' Yaro  89'

Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 7,446

Referee: Malik Badawi

Most Valuable Player: Marco Micaletto (Columbus Crew 2)

League awards

Individual awards

Award	Winner	Team	Reason	Ref.
Golden Boot	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	21 goals	[14]
Goalkeeper of the Year	Patrick Schulte	Columbus Crew 2	1.00 goals against average; 10 wins; 7 clean sheets	[15]
Coach of the Year	Laurent Courtois	Columbus Crew 2	Won regular season title	[16]
Goal of the Year	Ryan Lima	New England Revolution II	vs FC Cincinnati 2	[17]
Save of the Year	Antonio Carrera	North Texas SC	vs Houston Dynamo 2	[18]
Most Valuable Player	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	21 goals in 19 starts; 5 assists; 5 multi-goal games	[19][20]

MLS Next Pro Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref
Patrick Schulte (CC2)	Mohamed Farsi (CC2) Kyle Hiebert (STL) Talen Maples (HD2)	Pedro Dolabella (RNY) Aziel Jackson (MU2) Isaiah Parente (CC2) Marlon Vargas (TAC)	Bernard Kamungo (NTX) Jack Lynn (OCB) Jacen Russell-Rowe (CC2)	[21]

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month			Team of the Month	Coach of the Month		Goalkeeper of the Month		Ref.
	Player	Club	Position	Club	Player	Club	Keeper	Club
March/April	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	Tacoma Defiance	Forward	Houston Dynamo 2	Kenny Bundy	Houston Dynamo 2	Javier Otero	Orlando City B	[22]
May	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	Midfielder	Rochester New York FC	Bruno Baltazar	Rochester New York FC	Jacob Jackson	New England Revolution II	[23]
June	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew 2	Midfielder	St. Louis City 2	John Hackworth	St. Louis City 2	Caíque	Rochester New York FC	[24]
July	John Denis	New York City FC II	Midfielder	Tacoma Defiance	Wade Webber	Tacoma Defiance	Luka Gavran	Toronto FC II	[25]
August	Klauss	St. Louis City 2	Forward	St. Louis City 2	John Hackworth	St. Louis City 2	Patrick Schulte	Columbus Crew 2	[26]

See also

• 2022 Major League Soccer season