Chester – Perhaps it was fitting that a thunderstorm hit Chester right before Union II were to have a friendly match with the Ocean City Nor’easters, though the storm did not rage quite to that level. The match, scheduled for noon on Friday at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex, had to be moved to the new indoor facility’s turf field as a result.

A smattering of fans lined the sideline, including the ever-present Bridge Brigade, to see the in-season MLS Next Pro squad take on the USL League 2 side that was just finishing up their preseason. Union II head coach Ryan Richter, as well as team captain Nick Pariano, both spent time during their college off seasons playing for the Nor’easters, and Richter’s history with the squad was a large reason for the friendly. Richter spoke highly of his time there, and OC’s pathway to the pros when I spoke with him post-match:

“I mean, that was a different environment as far as it went for the pathway to pro type of thing, so there were no second teams, it wasn’t like that- no academy. 
But it was it made for three really great summers. Summer 2009, we went made a run in the Open Cup. We beat two USL teams, and then played against DC United in the Open Cup match. 
That was by far the best the best experience I had with them, but a lot of great memories with Ocean City.”

With it being a friendly match, the expectation was to see a lot of players get minutes, and almost every Union II player present got on the field. Richter’s starting lineup consisted of Eddy Davis and Markus Anderson up top, with Leandro Soria, Nick Pariano, Henry Bernstein, and Kellan LeBlanc in the midfield, and a back line of Isaiah LeFlore, Óscar Benítez, Rafael Uzcátegui, and Jordan Griffin. Mike Sheridan made his first appearance in goal as Andrew Rick and Oliver Semmle have been in that role thus far. (Of note, Stas Korzeniowski and Neil Pierre were there, but not in the squad. I am not sure if Korzeniowski was recovering from a knock, and Pierre is of course still coming back from a knee injury and should return very soon according to a source. Zach Mastrodimos was also there, but not in the squad.)

The match began with a lot of pressing from Union II. The Anderson-Davis pairing showcased the chemistry Union II watchers saw last season, with Anderson showing his speed and ability to create chances and take a lot of shots. Davis just missed on several opportunities, including a quality shot that was saved, and then went down to the ground with an injury for moment, but the homegrown showed a lot of agility and physicality. With no scoreboard to show what the official time was, Kellan LeBlanc opened up the scoring, and looked very strong on the day as the rest of the midfield played very cohesive.

OC was not an easy foe, however, and exposed some weaknesses in the defense that could be good learning opportunities moving forward. LeFlore and Griffin were solid on the outside back positions. Rafael Uzcátegui continued to showcase his situational awareness, and while he has paired up tremendously with Neil Pierre, the chemistry is still a work in progress with Óscar Benítez, who has not gotten nearly as much action this season. Benítez had some moments where he was pulled up too high, got beat, and had to race back, but showed great speed and has a lot of upside in this writer’s opinion. Richter was very high on him at the beginning of the season, and it can be seen why at times, but also still work to be done. When I asked Richter about his performance, he noted that he saw areas to give him feedback, and he saw “glimpses of some really good things, and he battled for 90 minutes, but we can definitely have some good coaching moments from this.”

As the first half continued, Ocean City managed to chip Mike Sheridan from fairly close range to bring the match level, 1-1. Eddy Davis answered with a goal of his own, and Isaiah LeFlore followed a short time later to make it 3-1.

At halftime, Richter subbed out his forwards and midfielders with Malik Jakupovic, Sal Olivas, Jamir Johnson, CJ Olney, David Vazquez, and Giovanny Sequera coming on, but kept the back line the same except for Gavin Wetzel replacing Isaiah LeFlore. If the Union’s first team match was a tale of two halves when they played LA Galaxy on Wednesday, with the stronger half being the second, this match was the opposite. The team was more cohesive and aggressive, and played more as a team in the first half, which Richter noted post-game. He went to to say that the second half was more about individuals that were trying to do too much, and were not as connected. “So I really I really didn’t like the second half. And that’s something against them. 
Normally, we should play a better game against them. If these guys are some first team players, guys who think they have a career in MLS, in Europe, they have to perform better than that and understand they have to fit in the team first.”

While it was a friendly, this was the first appearance the highly-touted Jakupovic made with Union II that was able to be viewed (he apparently played and scored a goal in preseason, but that match was closed to the public and media). No official communication has come from the Union about the 15 year old Union Academy forward signing a homegrown contract, but José Nuñez reported earlier in May that sources indicated it had taken place. I asked Richter what he thought of Malik’s performance, and, like with Benítez, showed glimpses of excellence but areas to improve: “It’s his first game with us really, so that’s normal.” For it being his first match with the squad, one could see the lack of chemistry, but the skill was there. There were certainly flashes of skill, and seeing young prospects who have recently had youth national team call ups (Griffin, Johnson, LeBlanc, Jakupovic), there is a lot to look forward to in their continued development.

Ocean City would get a goal later in the second half, which was the only goal during that half, and Union II would claim the victory 3-2. With it being yet another bye week for Union II, which The One Team We Agree On had previously discussed with Richter and the difficulties of keeping momentum with the schedule, Richter shared his overall thoughts on the match, saying, “Yeah, it was a great exercise. Much better to do something like this than to have another training session with no game on the weekend, so it was good and you see they have a lot of kids that have a chance. So that was good for our guys to see, and good to see some guys that haven’t been getting so many minutes to be able to get a good run out there. So overall, really positive experience.”

I asked Richter what he could take from this match as they gear up for their next regular match, with Inter Miami II: “Yeah, I think, take this weekend, refresh everything. 
Look at how we want to prepare next week and get ready for the game. So not in my mind right now, just trying to want to reflect on this and again, use it as a teaching moment for the guys, because I think that’s that’s an important part about what our job is. This is a good opportunity for that.”

This was the second meeting of the squads, with the last being in 2021 where the Nor’easters were the victors. When asked if there would be a third game, Richter said, “Yeah, 2026. I put it on the schedule. This was a great experience.”

Photos from the match:

MLS Next Pro play resumes for Union II as they host Inter Miami CF II at Subaru Park on Sunday, May 25 at 3:00 PM. It will air on Apple TV as part of MLS Season Pass. Union II sit currently in fifth place in the East at 3-0-4 and 15 points, but have at least one game in hand over the teams ahead of them, and remain the only unbeaten team in MLS Next Pro. Inter Miami II is in tenth place at 3-5-1 and 10 points.

Photos/videos by Jillian Almoney unless otherwise noted.