Yesterday, NYCFC II played their final game of the 2025 season, losing to Philadelphia Union II 4-3. With that result, NYCFC II finished the year with 35 points after 28 games, which left them in 12th Place in the 15-team Eastern Conference, three spots out of the playoffs.
That's not unusual for NYCFC II, who have advanced to the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs just once in their four-year history. That lone postseason appearance came last year, when a stacked NYCFC II team surprised American soccer by advancing to the Round of 16 in the 2024 US Open Cup, upsetting higher-ranked teams on their way to becoming the farthest-advancing Division III team in the tournament. But the playoffs didn't go as well for NYCFC II. The Baby Blues faced Philadelphia Union II at Subaru Park, only to lose in the dying minutes of the game 1-0.
Missing the playoffs this year, crashing out after one game last year: NYCFC II have a terrible postseason record.
But does it matter?
If you think the purpose of the Baby Blues is to win silverware for the club, the answer is obviously "yes." But if you believe that NYCFC II should be a development project that feeds players to the First Team, the answer is a more cerebral "no."
Let's consider yesterday's loss. NYCFC II were without 17-year-old Máximo Carrizo, who saw playing time for the First Team the night before in New York City FC's 1-0 loss to Philadelphia Union. In his postgame press conference, Head Coach Pascal Jansen talked about the quality of Carrizo in training, and how the midfielder has played himself into First Team contention.
Carrizo came close to stealing a draw with Philadelphia when he scored late in the game, but the goal was disallowed when Nico Fernández was ruled to be offside. That brief, almost seismic appearance ruled him out of playing for the Baby Blues, depriving them of one of their most creative players.
Striker Seymour Reid did make the NYCFC II Starting XI after sitting on the bench for New York City the night before. The 17-year-old had two goals for NYCFC II yesterday, evening the score in the 79th minute, only for Philadelphia to find a stoppage-time winner.
Andrew Leigh
Reid last saw playing time for NYCFC II in the 3-3 draw with Chicago Fire II on August 8, when he also scored two goals. But there's a seven-game gap between those two performances, when he was with the First Team. The striker finishes the year as the team's leading scorer with 11 goals in 14 appearances, and you have to think that he could have easily matched the 19 goals former NYCFC II striker MD Myers scored in 28 appearances in 2023 to become joint-winner of the Golden Boot that year.
But Reid was poached by Jansen for the First Team long ago, depriving the Baby Blues of a dozen or so goals — and who knows how many wins.
Jansen also called up Jonny Shore to the First Team at the start of the season, giving the 17-year-old his MLS Debut in the season opener against Inter Miami. Jansen's gain is NYCFC II's loss: Shore was a regular starter for New York City at the start of the season, stripping the Baby Blues of one of their best midfielders.
Which, in the end, seems to be the larger tradeoff: Jansen's ability to develop young talents such as Carrizo, Reid, and Shore, and to give them useful roles in the First Team, comes at the sacrifice of those players logging minutes for NYCFC II.
Hudson River Blue Staff
At the start of the year, most pundits picked New York City to finish the season in the bottom half of the table, with a few predicting that the club would miss the postseason entirely. Instead, NYCFC clinched a playoff spot on Matchday 30 by beating Charlotte FC 2-0, and could still finish the year with a Top 4 spot depending on how it goes on Decision Day.
Carrizo, Reid, and Shore all played significant roles in turning the First Team into one of the league's biggest overachievers this season. If that comes at the expense of NYCFC II missing the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs, it feels like a fair price to pay.
