Match Preview | St Louis CITY2 Faces Portland Timbers2 in Final Away Match of the Regular Season on Monday Afternoon

St Louis CITY2 faces Portland Timbers2 in the team’s final away match of the regular season on Monday, September 14. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. CT at Providence Park. The match will be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com and OneFootball. 

CITY2 faced Sporting KC II last Saturday, earning a 2-1 comeback win and extending their unbeaten streak to seven matches. Kansas City opened the scoring just five minutes into the match, but St. Louis found the equalizer through Zach Zengue in the 24th minute. The match remained tied at 1-1 through halftime, but Zengue gave CITY2 the one-goal advantage in the 58th minute, earning his third career professional brace. St. Louis maintained the 2-1 lead through the final whistle to earn their tenth win of the season and move into fifth place in the Western Conference standings with 43 points. CITY2 also improved their all-time record against SKC II to 10-1-3 and completed the season sweep of their rivals. 

Zengue scored his third and fourth goals of the season in the win. Patrick McDonald recorded his first assist of the year during the match, while Nighte Pickering registered his second assist of the season. Pickering has recorded five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in his last four matches. Additionally, goalkeeper Nate Martinez earned his first professional win.  

On Wednesday night, St. Louis clinched spot in the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs with a little help from Ventura County FC, who defeated San Jose Earthquakes II 3-1. Since joining MLS NEXT Pro for its inaugural season in 2022, St. Louis has clinched a playoff spot in each of its five seasons. 

CITY2 faced Timbers2 on July 18 at Energizer Park, falling 2-1 in a close match that featured Owen Jorgensen’s first professional goal. St. Louis holds an all-time regular season record of 5-2-1 against Portland, outscoring them 23-14.  

Portland enters Monday’s match in second place in the Western Conference with 54 points and a 14-4-8 record. Timbers2 holds a 5-2-6 record at home this season. The club has just two wins in its last five matches, most recently playing Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 to a 0-0 draw before falling 4-3 in the ensuing penalty shootout. Forward Daniel Cervantes leads the team with 11 goals, while midfielder Lucas Fernandez-Kim has recorded a team-high five assists.