The Union’s second team has been riding a wave of young talent, tenacity, and togetherness as they hope to keep moving forward in the MLS Next Pro playoffs.
Chester- On Tuesday afternoon Union 2 head coach Marlon LeBlanc and Director of Academy and Professional Development, Jon Scheer announced their club’s opponent for their MLS Next Pro semifinals playoff match. Union 2 had their choice between the number 7th seed, Columbus Crew 2 and 8th seeded Crown Legacy FC. “I think picking a President might be easier than picking an opponent in this league,” quipped Coach LeBlanc.
At the end of the day, the club chose Crown Legacy FC the second team of Charlotte FC. “It was pretty even everywhere, between three through eight in the final standings,” LeBlanc said. “Crown Legacy is really not too much of a difference between many of the teams. We haven’t seen them since June. I thought it was a unique opportunity to bring a different team into town and to give our guys somebody new to play against as well.”
As Marlon mentions the only time these two clubs met this season was on June 13 in Matthews N.C where the Union won 3-0 with goal contributions from Leandro Soria, Frankie Westfield, and CJ Olney.
So only playing a team once this season as compared to three times has to be a disadvantage, right? Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc addressed that in today’s press conference.
“Yeah, we have less information on them, but they have less information on us because they’re not as familiar with us either. So really, it’s almost a non factor, as far as I’m concerned. I could watch all 29 games that they’ve played so far, if I really wanted to, and be really, really familiar with them. But at the same stage, we wanted to give our guys and our fans an opportunity to see somebody new.”
Union 2 left back Frankie Westfield echoed similar thoughts when I spoke with him as well during training today about the club’s previous game in June. “I think going there, we were very dominant and we were short numbers, but I feel like that that made us even better,” Westfield said. “I feel like we had to come together as a team, and then we were short numbers. But I feel numbers, but I feel like we started the game from the first minute to the last minute, we were very dominant in the game, and I feel like we controlled it.”
However, that was in June, and Crown Legacy is more than a capable opponent and will be feeling confident after knocking off the top seed in the East, FC Cincinnati 2 on the road last Sunday 2-1. Despite being down in the 83rd minute and only mustering 3 shots on target, the club rallied behind goals from Sangoquiza and Small to pull off the upset.
In fact, Crown Legacy has pulled off some impressive wins this season, Chicago Fire, Inter Miami, and Orlando City ‘s second teams have fallen at the hands of Crown Legacy during the regular season as have come on late in the season. “It’s a new coach, new team, new players, so it will be difficult,” Frankie mentioned. Kevin Sawchak, the interim head coach, stepped in replacing Jose Tavares who returned to FC Porto earlier in the year.
However, being at training today in Chester, you would not have known that the Union 2 were playing a playoff semifinal. Energy, competition, and confidence were on display during the portion that was open for us to observe.
“Obviously, when you have the successes of the group that it’s easy for everybody to get behind and to feel really good about,” said Marlon. “But what what’s made me proud is the struggles that we’ve gone through this year have put us in the position that we’re at right now, where we’ve become so resilient.”
Heading in to tomorrow’s match, how do the coaches feel?
“So the locker room is buzzing,” mentions LeBlanc. They’re excited to play again. It’s knockout football. They’re excited about the fact that the road to the MLS Next Pro playoffs goes through Philadelphia. So we’re looking forward to going out and performing and hopefully putting ourselves in the Eastern Conference Finals.”
Frankie agreed. “Everyone wanted to win. I think it’s good. Looking forward to the game tomorrow. So it’s definitely been competitive and full focus and ready for tomorrow.”
There is playoff soccer in Chester, just not the first team as many had hoped. The second team is showing they deserve strong support, and when Jillian Almoney asked Marlon what his message to the fans was who may not have decided to go the game yet, he touted their exciting play and blue collar, underdog mentality that is trademark Philly.
The game is slated for a 5:00PM kickoff from Subaru Park on Saturday, 10/26. Tickets are still available using this link. https://fevo enterprise.com/event/U2Playoffs10-26-24
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