ST. LOUIS (February 7, 2022) – Before the upcoming inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season kicks off in March 2022, St. Louis CITY SC is introducing their roster for STL CITY 2, the club’s development team that will participate in the MLS NEXT Pro League. STL CITY 2 is the next step after St. Louis CITY’s MLS NEXT Academy and will serve as an incubator for the club’s academy and younger players, accelerating their development as they gain valuable experience practicing and playing alongside and against professional players. Players and coaches will have the opportunity to test new ideas, develop leadership skills and fine tune the details of the club’s soccer philosophy.
“MLS NEXT Pro is the perfect platform for us to continue laying the foundation as we build out our team ahead of our inaugural MLS season in 2023,” said Lutz Pfannenstiel, St. Louis CITY’s Sporting Director. “We were able to bring in some exciting players that I think the fans will love but we were also able to promote some of our academy players, which is very important for us as a club. We have always said we wanted to create a pipeline where our players can develop, and so we are extremely pleased to have six St. Louis CITY U-17 Academy players on the first-ever STL CITY 2 roster, with the hope that some of them will go on to play on the first team in 2023 or beyond.”
Serving as a building block for the first team in Major League Soccer (MLS), STL CITY 2 will allow players to get familiar with CITY’s high-pressing, hard-working and positively aggressive style of play as they continue to develop their abilities and professional experience. This year will also serve as a pathway for players who will help build out the St. Louis CITY first team, including Josh Yaro, a former Philadelphia Union center back who will play for STL CITY 2 in 2022 but is destined for the first team in 2023. For other local players like former Saint Louis University (SLU) midfielder AJ Palazzolo and former Missouri State University (MSU) goalkeeper Michael Creek, this will be their first shots at professional play.
STL CITY 2 will be led in the interim by Director of Coaching John Hackworth, with support from current Academy Assistant Coach Elvir Kafedžić, joining as the STL CITY 2 assistant coach. Additional support will come from Alex Langer as director of goalkeeping, Tyler Harris as the athletic trainer, Brendan Gittemeier as equipment manager and Bomi Park as player relations manager.
“From the staff to the players, we have managed to assemble a strong team,” said John Hackworth, St. Louis CITY’s Director of Coaching and Interim STL CITY 2 Pro Head Coach. “We have a really balanced roster with players from other professional leagues, various college teams and our academy program. We wanted this team to be about development and to provide opportunities for players to learn the CITY soccer philosophy and hopefully we can see a few of these guys make the transition to the first team next year.”
St. Louis CITY 2 is one of 21 clubs that will compete in MLS’ new professional league MLS NEXT Pro and will compete in the Western Conference alongside Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Portland, Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle and Vancouver.
2022 ST. LOUIS CITY 2 INITIAL ROSTER
| NAME | POSITION | HOMETOWN |
| Dida Armstrong | Forward | Rutherfordton, NC |
| Ezra Armstrong | Defender | Gastonia, NC |
| Michael Creek | Goalkeeper | Saint Louis, MO |
| Josh Dolling | Forward | London, England |
| Anthony Faupel | Forward | Saint Charles, MO |
| Nathan Ferguson | Forward | Glen Carbon, IL |
| Karson Gibbs | Forward | Saint Louis, MO |
| Ryley Gibbs | Midfielder | Saint Louis, MO |
| Aaron Heard | Midfielder | Fairfax, VA |
| Kyle Hiebert | Defender | Manitoba, Canada |
| Josh Maher | Defender | Caseyville, IL |
| Célio Pompeu Martins | Midfielder | Fortaleza, Brazil |
| Alex Palazzolo | Midfielder | Saint Louis, MO |
| Miguel Perez | Midfielder | Saint Louis, MO |
| Max Schneider | Midfielder | Cologne, Germany |
| Fritz Volmar | Defender | Peoria, IL |
| Jack Wagoner | Midfielder | Chesterfield, MO |
| Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal | Midfielder | Carbondale, IL |
| Akil Watts | Defender | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Joshua YaroSergio Rivas | Defender Midfielder | Kumasi, Ghana Eden Prairie, MN |
