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MLS Analysis

MLS Youth Report: Sullivan, Pierre, Miller, Bombino, and Chirila impress

ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks down the U.S. youth internationals in MLS over the weekend as the trend of positive performances over the past month kept going
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
August 24, 2026
1:45 PM

AS HAS BEEN widely discussed, since MLS resumed following the World Cup, it has been a terrific time for young American players as U.S. youth internationals have been turning in great performances for several clubs.

Granted, one valid criticism of this rise of youth success is that some teams are far better at it than others. Teams such as Portland, Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, D.C United, and St. Louis still do not find ways to get minutes for young American players who are eligible for U.S. youth national teams.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia, Red Bull New York, New England, and San Diego do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Over this weekend, that trend continued.

Here were the highlights.

 

MLS Youth Report

 

Chirila impresses at Cincinnati: After playing well in Leagues Cup for Cincinnati, Andrei Chirila was in a good position to play more regularly with FC Cincinnati. The 18-year-old central defender earned the nod in a 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders.

Chirila played on the left side of a three-man backline and had a very busy day, with 120 touches over a full 90 minutes and completed 108/113 of his passes. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, Chirila is a dual national with Romania through his father and his brother, also at Cincinnati, plays for Romania’s U-19 team. But this is a player who should be able to help the U.S. U-20 team.

Baker-Whiting and Corcoran for Nashville: Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC trailed Colombus 2-1 into the third minute of stoppage time but scored twice to turn the deficit into a dramatic 3-2 victory. The equalizing goal was scored by U.S. Olympic hopeful right back Reed Baker-Whiting who subbed into the game in the 62nd minute. The former Seattle homegrown has been a great pickup for Nashville, delivering in important moments, and it is only a matter of time before he starts more.



Matthew Corcoran started and played 88 minutes. He was not on the field for the dramatic equalizer or winner, but he did a good job helping Nashville to control the midfield with his passing, defense, and ball-winning. He continues to have a good season helping to anchor the midfielder for the Eastern Conference leaders.

Sullivan scores, Pierre & Westfield play well: Philadelphia was likely hoping for more from its game against Austin, but a 1-1 still has the club trending upwards after a terrible first half of the season. Once again, it was the team’s three young players who were arguably the best on the field.

Neil Pierre, 18, was the man of the match in central defense as passed well and handled everything that came his way. He is rising quickly into one of the best Americna prospects in the game.



Cavan Sullivan, 16, meanwhile, scored the Union’s only goal of the game with a header that was assisted by Nathian Harriel with a ball back across the box. He has done very well under interim head coach Ryan Richter.  



Meanwhile, Olympic hopeful Frankie Westfield was strong on both sides of the ball at right back for the Union and he is turning into one of the most consistently good right backs in the league.

Peyton Miller MOTM for New England: Peyton Miller is also another American player on the upswing after assisting Dor Turgerman on the Revolution’s only goal in a 1-1 draw with New York City on Monday.



It wasn’t just the assist. Miller drew a penalty which was not converted by Carles Gil, took four shots, and had 10 touches in the NYCFC box as he was the most dangerous player on the field. Miller is a player who is U-20 eligible but should be on the Olympic team and might even be in consideration for the full national team.

Also of note from the Revolution, Olympic hopeful central defender Ethan Kohler completed 56/57 of his passes in the draw.

Ramos scores first Galaxy MLS goal: after a solid tournament at the CONCACAF U-20 Championships where he scored four goals and helped the U.S. team to qualify for the 2027 U-20 World Cup, Ruben Ramos bagged his first MLS goal for the LA Galaxy on Saturday night In a 2-2 draw with Montreal.



Also having a good performance for the Galaxy in this game was U.S. U-20 right back Harbor Miller who was forced into more defending after the Galaxy were reduced to 10 men again (for the second straight game) in the 68th minute. He won 4/4 of his ground duels along with his only aerial. He was not able to get forward as much has he typical does, however.

Ellis strong off the bench: U.S. U-20 forward Justin Ellis came off the bench for Orlando in a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake. He did not register any goal contributions but the team became far more dangerous with him on the field as Antoine Griezemann scored twice for Orlando. But Ellis through his dribbling skills helped break the game open.

For Real Salt Lake, 18-year-old Luca Moisa gave Real Salt Lake a strong 66 minutes in midfield and helped set up two very good chances in the first half.

Bombino strong in SDFC win: San Diego defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Saturday night behind two full 90 performances from each of its Olympic-eligible fullbacks. Oscar Verhoeven was strong at right back but left back Luca Bombino was one of the best players on the field. Bombino was 11/16 on his ground duels and he drew three fouls. San Diego is only a point out of the playoff picture but is trending upward with three wins over its last five MLS games.

Johnson effective in Vancouver blowout win over Dallas: Vancouver moved back into first place of the Western Conference behind a 5-0 pounding of FC Dallas. Tate Johnson, 21, played 83 minutes at left back for the Whitecaps with 70 touches and 11 completed passes into the attacking third.

It was a terrible performance from FC Dallas. U.S. Olympic hopeful Nolan Norris did not play well in central defense and was pulled at halftime. U.S. U-20 left back Josh Torquato played 90 minutes in his first start of the season.

Red Bull youngsters quiet in draw: Red Bull New York drew the Chicago Fire 1-1. As is the norm, three U.S. U-20 eligible teenagers Adri Mehetmit, Julian Hall, and Matthew Dos Santos started but neither of them made a significant impact on the game.

Christopher Cupps goes to Scotland on loan: Chicago Fire central defender Christopher Cupps has gone on loan to Greenock Morton FC of the Scottish Championship. The loan goes through the end of 2026, the Fire has a right to recall him, and there is no mention of a purchase option.   


It is a low level for Cupps but this is simply go get him minutes ahead of the 2027 preseason.

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