After their first teams ended up drawing 2-2 on Saturday night, Philadelphia and Columbus’s second teams took to the field on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Subaru Park in a Mother’s Day matinee. Union II, the only remaining unbeaten team in MLS Next Pro, kept their streak going with a 3-0 victory over Crew 2.

When the starting lineup was released, there were two major changes from an otherwise standard formation for the squad. With Andre Blake out with injury for the first team, Andrew Rick played in that match Saturday night and Oliver Semmle got the nod for Union II. Center back Neil Pierre was also out with a knee injury picked up at Chattanooga, so Gavin Wetzel was moved to center back, and Nick Pariano to right back. Henry Bernstein made his first start at midfield. When asked about the decision to go with those players after speaking with him about it earlier in the week, head coach Ryan Richter said post-game:

“We had a couple options, liked all of them, but we thought Henry did a good job in midfield last week, so he wanted to give him the start and it worked out all right. So I Nick did a good job, and Gavin- you know what you were going to get from him in there. So I was like, that’s his position. 
I thought Nick did a good job on the right, so positive overall, happy with how they all played.”

As the game began, Union II began by spending a lot of time in the attacking half, and had some nice build up between Isaiah LeFlore and Cavan Sullivan. At the 10th minute, however, Crew 2 got a chance after a long ball was sent in, but Isaiah LeFlore was able to clean it up. At times, the right side seemed to be getting exposed in Neil Pierre’s absence, but to their credit, Union II adjusted. They continued to press early, and in the 12th minute, LeFlore sent in nice cross to Sullivan who tried to back heel it to a teammate, but went to Crew 2 instead and was cleared. The flurry of chances continued as Union II intercepted the ball in the 15th minute, leading Nick Pariano to go on a nice run, then tried to cross it in front of goal to Eddy Davis, but it was blocked. A few moments later, David Vazquez sent it in toward goal where Davis just missed beating the keeper to it.

Union II finally broke through in the 18th minute when Sal Olivas got his third goal of the season when he received Isaiah LeFlore’s quick throw in and took it to the net, burying it in the right side. This was Olivas’s third goal of the season, which now leads the team.

While he did not see a ton of action, in the 20th minute Oliver Semmle had a big stop on a breakaway by Crew 2’s Tristan Brown to preserve the lead. Union II’s pressing continued as Nick Pariano took a shot from outside the box but skied it over the crossbar in the 22nd minute, and three minutes later David Vazquez had a nice interception that he passed to Davis, whose shot was deflected out for a corner that went for naught. Rafael Uzcátegui would get a shot on a header in the 26th minute that was saved.

In the 30th minute, Semmle again had a big moment as he headed ball out near the top of the box. While he did not have to stop a lot of chances, he was excellent on stopping the ones that came his way, especially when the defenders got beaten. More chances came for Union II in the 33rd minute after CJ Olney dumped the ball off to Sullivan, who then crossed to Pariano, but his shot went wide. Sullivan would also get a shot saved in the 35th minute.

The first booking of the match occurred in the 37th minute when Crew 2’s Nico Rincón took down Olney, leading to a dangerous free kick that, after some passing, went to LeFlore whose shot was easily caught by the keeper.

More shots came for Union II as the first half wound down, with Bernstein almost getting a shot off after a nice build up, but tripped up just inside the box via a clean tackle by Ibrahima Sy. The first half ended with Union II clearly the dominant side, but not as much to show for it as they should given the amount of shots they were getting.

The second half started with a halftime substitution of Kellan LeBlanc for Cavan Sullivan, who had played all 120 minutes of the first team match on Wednesday. LeBlanc got off to a hot start as he got a pass from Olney in the 48th minute for a strong shot that was saved, and then a few minutes later had a good chance but shot wide left of the top corner.

Union II would finally break through again when Eddy Davis got his first goal of the season to put them up 2-0 after he snagged the ball off a deflection of a Crew 2 player, took it to the top of the box, and shot it past the keeper, Stanislav Lapkes. This felt a long time coming for the squad’s leading goal scorer of 2024, and after the match, Ryan Richter discussed it:

“Yeah, I know he needed that. 
You know, just for his own confidence, for the work that he’s putting in, and it’s kind of been like an up and down start, so for him to get the goal, it you know, it was deserved, and I know that for a striker, that goes a long way.”

Richter made his next substitutions in the 63rd minute as Stas Korzeniowski and Markus Anderson replaced Sal Olivas and David Vazquez. Shortly after, Bernstein got a head on the ball of a corner that seemed like it was going in, but just barely hit out by the keeper. Anderson kept the pressure going with shots in the 67th and 70th minutes, first at the top of the box that went over the crossbar and into the River End roof, and then a quality shot that the keeper just got a hand on deflected out for a corner, and got a couple more chances. In the 72nd minute Bernstein was shown a yellow, followed by another shot by Anderson. A nasty collision occured that took out Crew 2’s keeper and a defender, along with Anderson. While Anderson got up and was able to continue, Lapkes went to the locker room and Deven Patel had to come in. Immediatly after, both sides made changes. More fresh legs in the form of substutes Jamir Johnson and Jordan Griffin replaced Davis and Pariano.

Union II’s lead would be extended when Johnson scored off an Anderson assist. At this point, 17 shots had been taken by by Union II to Crew 2’s one. A yellow was shown Crew 2’s Juan Granda in the 88th minute. After lengthy stoppages due to injuries, the seven minutes of stoppage time saw Crew 2 trying in vain to get on the board, including a shot by Rincón that went well wide. Johnson would have another shot saved in stoppage time, but the match would remain 3-0 in favor of the home team in the end. With the win, Union II moved into 4th place with a game in hand.

Speaking with Richter post-game, I asked him about the quality Jamir Johnson brought off the bench, and what the goal meant for his development: “It’s great. 
It’s great. And you think of the games that he’s coming in so far this year… He went in and it was like, a little nervous and safe, and it’s like, “Jamir, you’re an incredibly talented attacking player. 
Get the ball, go at guys, try to make something happen.” And he did with that kind of energy today, and he got rewarded with a nice goal and almost a second.”

Richter also had praise for Bernstein, who had just made his first appearance in the last match, coming off the bench against Chattanooga. “He did well. And I think for him, I think the thing he has to always keep in his mind, when he plays simple, and can kind of dictate the pace of the game, then he looks like a great player. When he starts complicated- he doesn’t need that. For the majority of the game, he did that, and he was really good and then kind of controls the tempo of the team, and then loses focus for a couple minutes and starts to try to dribble out of some things that he doesn’t normally- that just isn’t his game, you know? 
So he has to keep that focus, but again, a positive performance from there.”

Tactically, Richter was overall pleased with how the squad handled Crew 2, but areas to continue working on. “I thought we were organized, and they had a tough time to break us down, I think, but we didn’t turn enough of those in the first half at least, enough of those like good defensive actions into real goal scoring chances. 
But like I said, the guys worked the whole game against them and they kept their focus and kept their organization, and that was really positive.”

Richter certainly has a pool of young talent to work with, between Academy players and signed players, and more and more waiting in the wings. When asked about the luxury he has when it comes to the depth, he remarked, “It makes a tough decision every week, and it means some guys are disappointed, and that’s the tough part, but I don’t think any coach would complain to have the kind of quality that we have when you bring it. 
It’s like it can even get better. You know, the game gets better, it’s not like a drop in quality at all, so that’s that’s something that we deal with every week and whoever trains the best and plays best and the right matchup for the opponent, that’s who gets to start.”

One player who has been getting a lot of starts has been Sal Olivas, whether he has been paired with Eddy Davis or Stas Korzeniowski. While he played with Davis up top on many occasions in the past, the pairing with Korzeniowski has also been fruitful. When asked about if he feels the 4-2-2-2 formation suits him well, he said, “I feel good, obviously, you know, we have a lot of chemistry. We’ve been with each other since our academy days. 
And so, you know, we kind of understand each other.” He praised the coaching of Richter when discussing his strong start to 2025, saying, “Obviously, I think the coaching, you know, has a lot to do with it. 
I just gain my confidence little by little, and you know, obviously there’s still a lot of work to do with it as far as the season comes.”

The match was the second straight clean sheet for Union II after a few matches had late goals conceded. Andrew Rick had the one at Chattanooga last weekend, and Oliver Semmle with Crew 2. While Crew 2 only had three total shots (2 on goal), Semmle was solid in net when he needed to make a play. On the importance of the clean sheets, he said, “I think clean sheets are always important because you only need to score one goal. I think a credit to everyone on the field with a collective effort, and I think it starts up top, they put in so much work, so much running, and think it was a great achievement for everybody, altogether.”

For the German keeper who arrived at the Union in 2024 after being outstanding for USL side Louisville City FC and then had a rough go of it when filling in for an injured Andre Blake with the first team and was ultimately surpassed as the number two keeper by Andrew Rick, Semmle seemed to need to reset and work on his game. “I see it as an opportunity to get minutes, to stay sharp, to stay in rhythm, so when they call my name in the first team, I’m ready, and I’m not rusty because I get minutes here with the second team, so I see it as an opportunity.” He praised the coaching staff of Phil Wheddon and Ross Cain, saying, “Yeah, I mean, a lot credit goes to them because they put in so much work every day. They definitely know what they’re doing. They prepare as well, no matter if it’s first or second team, and I think a lot of credit goes to them and thankful to have them around to get better every day.”

When it comes to working alongside Andrew Rick, Semmle noted the way they support each other and benefit from the competition: “I mean, everyone has different strengths, so everybody also has different things that they don’t dowell. 
So we can learn from each other. If I see something that he doesn’t do well, but he does well, I learn from him, vice versa, the same thing, and I think it’s great competition. 
We push each other every day, and whoever gets called, gets support from the other guy, and I think we do pretty well.”

Lots of team chemistry, positivity, and team depth are benefiting Union II as they continue to show strength and growth in 2025. Despite having one of their best players in Neil Pierre sidelined with a knee injury, the next-man-up mentality worked to keep the team rolling. Pierre, by the way, was in attendance at the match as a spectator, and a source tells me he could be back sooner than expected, which would certainly be a boon to the squad.

Union II will play an exhibition match against the Ocean City Nor’easters on Friday, May 16 at 12:00 PM at the Union Training Complex, and fans are invited to attend. Their next regular match will be Sunday, May 25 at home versus Inter Miami CF II at 3:00 PM.

Main photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II