Jamaica, NY- On Wednesday evening in Queens, Union II faced off against NYCFC II at St. John’s University’s Belson Stadium and continued their momentum as they rolled to a decisive victory. Ryan Richter kept the squad unchanged from the previous match except with Andrew Rick in net. Center back Neil Pierre went down early in the match, but would return in the 5th minute. Early on, Union II created a few decent chances but were unable to convert. Still, they came out with energy and continued to press and be a nuisance to their hosts.
After several free kicks and lots of pressure, Union II opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Cavan Sullivan found Sal Olivas who sent it to the back of the net to make it 1-0.
NYCFC II would strike back on the counter after that on the turnover, but Rafael Uzcátegui would make a tackle to save a possible counter opportunity. NYCFC II got their first chances at the net in the 41st and 45th minutes, with a shot by Máximo Carrizo sailing over and Julien Lacher’s shot being saved by Andrew Rick.
Union II kept the pressure up with a shot by CJ Olney, and as the first half stoppage time was coming to a close, Sal Olivas was taken down by NYCFC II’s Jonny Lopez. The latter was shown a red card for violent conduct, while Sal got a yellow, meaning Union II would be playing up a man for the entire second half.
Union II kept up the pressure in the second half, and Stas Korzeniowski doubled the lead in the 59th minute. Immediately after, Ryan Richter made his first subs of the night as Eddy Davis, Markus Anderson, and Kellan LeBlanc replaced Sal Olivas, Stas Korzeniowski, and Cavan Sullivan.
In the 72nd minute, David Vazquez was taken down in the box, leading to a penalty kick for Union II. Nick Pariano took the kick from the spot and buried it to the left of the keeper, who went the other way, making it 3-0 for the boys in blue. That was the second straight match Pariano converted a penalty kick.
Union II brought in Giovanny Sequera and Jamir Johnson for David Vazquez and CJ Olney in the 84th minute, and Sequera picked up a yellow shortly after. NYCFC II would try to make a last-ditch push late in the game, and denied Union II the clean sheet with a goal by Eligio Guarino in the 87th minute. Union II would answer right back, however, as Giovanny Sequera blasted a shot into the top right of the goal in the 88th minute for his first professional goal, making it 4-1.
Despite a couple late free kicks for NYCFC II in dangerous territory, including one after a Jamir Johnson yellow card, Union II finished the match with a final score of 4-1. This moved Union II into 5th place in the East, but only one point behind 2nd place Orlando City B and a game in hand.
Union II’s next match will be against Chattanooga FC at Finley Stadium on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00 PM on AppleTV, making it a Union double feature night as the first team plays at Montreal at 7:30 that evening.
Kyle Almoney contributed to this article.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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