Philadelphia is denied the extra point as they fall in PKs despite a strong effort by goalkeeper Andrew Rick.

Foxborough — A new season, a new coach, a new secondary kit, and several new faces, but the same mission: win every time they step onto the field. Unfortunately, that win did not come Sunday as Philadelphia Union II were unable to score in regulation at Gillette Stadium. Despite having several chances and outshooting New England 17-5, Union II could not get the ball in the back of the net in regulation.

The day after the first team saw victory in the same stadium, the second team hoped to do the same. The lineup had almost all familiar faces from 2024 with a few exceptions. With Frankie Westfield and Olwethu Makhanya getting their third consecutive starts with the first team, some defensive replacements were needed. Isaiah LeFlore, who made his first regular season appearance after being out with injury all of 2024, got the start at left back. Nathan Harriel, who was more in a rehab role as he has normally been a starter with the first team but is working his way back from injury, was at right back. Additionally, Stas Korzeniowski made his Union II debut at forward.

Union II came out pressing and seemed to have all the momentum early on. CJ Olney had a shot in the 12′ that went just wide. Eddy Davis and Korzeniowski had chances later in the first half, but could not finish. Cavan Sullivan also had a strong shot that would ultimately be saved. It took until the second half for New England to register their first shot, which Andrew Rick took care of. Sullivan would get another shot in that went just wide as Union II still could not break through. The first subs of the day came in at the 69′ as Leandro Soria and Sal Olivas replaced Korzeniowski and Davis, and in the 78′ Zach Mastrodimos came on for Sullivan. Olivas had perhaps the best chance of the match to score, but could not finish after a great pass by Olney.

The match continued to look as if it would be a stalemate until the 87′ when Harriel was call for a hand ball in the box, leading to a penalty kick for New England. Andrew Rick came through with a huge save to preserve the 0-0 draw in regulation. Giovanny Sequera was subbed in for David Vazquez in the 90′ and it remained scoreless for the remainder of stoppage time, which would lead to a penalty shootout to award the extra point. Revolution II and Union II each made their first two shots, including Nick Pariano and Sal Olivas. Rick made the save on the third Revs shot taker (Monis) and then Neil Pierre made his shot. Revs converted on their fourth shot, but Olney’s shot was saved to bring it level. Revs made their fifth shot, putting the pressure on Soria to make his shot to keep Union II in it. Unfortunately, he skied the ball over the crossbar and New England were awarded with the extra point. Union II ultimately took home a road point to open the season and Rick got a clean sheet, however all three points were there for the taking.

In this writer’s opinion, Union II played well, but just had trouble finishing. The turf seemed to be a minor issue at times, but otherwise the team handled it decently. Nate Harriel looked very rusty still as he is coming back from injury that really interrupted his preseason, and had a rough day. I would not be too worried yet though as he clearly needs more recovery time. Pariano and Olney were buzzing around in the midfield and Korzeniowski and Sullivan were solid on the day. Rick continues to show why he is the number two behind Andre Blake at his young age. It would have been nice to take all three points, but certainly plenty of positives to take away along with the areas to grow.

The next match for Union II will be their home opener versus New York Red Bulls II on Monday, March 17 at 7:00 PM at Subaru Park. The match will be televised on MLS Season Pass on AppleTV, or even better, go out and support the team in person along with the Bridge Brigade, who made their presence known in New England.

Main article photo courtesy of New England Revolution II.