CHICAGO, Ill. — After the New York City Football Club announced on Saturday morning that it had signed Stony Brook men's soccer alum Stephen Turnbull to a  Short-Term Contract, joining on loan from MLS NEXT Pro affiliate New York City Football Club II (NYCFC II), the defender didn't have to wait long before he made it onto the pitch. 

The Holtsville native made his debut in Sunday's matchup against the Chicago Fire. In the heated 1-1 match against the Fire, Turnbull made his first appearance on the pitch in front of the crowd of 19,671 at Soldier Field during the 90th minute. Turnbull is one of four players to reach an MLS roster in program history. 

In the 2022 season for the MLS NEXT Pro affiliate New York City Football Club II (NYCFC II), Turnbull started 22 of the 23 games for the Club during the season, which was a team-best in both categories. Also, he provided four assists and five goals that ranked himself top-three on the team. In his team-leading 1,1992 minutes on the pitch, he produced a 82.6% passing success rate. 

In his Seawolves' tenure, the defender made 55 appearances and 50 starts, totaling up 4,427 minutes for coach Ryan Anatol's club. He made 17 appearances and 12 starts his freshman year, helping earn the program the 2016 America East Regular Season title.

Per MLS rules, the Short-Term Contract allows clubs to sign players on loan from their MLS NEXT Pro affiliate and any one player can sign a maximum of four such contracts per season and appear in no more than two league matches.

The New York City Football Club returns to the pitch on March 11th, as the team faces Inter Miami CF at Yankee Stadium. The match is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

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