Philadelphia Union II are set to take on Columbus Crew 2 for the second time this season, after besting them 3-0 back on May 11 at home behind goals from Sal Olivas, Eddy Davis, and Jamir Johnson. Most recently, Union II defeated Crown Legacy 3-0 at home last Sunday and sit in fourth place in the East (5-1-4, 21 points) and with three or four games in hand over the teams above them. Crew 2 are at the bottom of the table (2-6-3, 10 points). They travel to Historic Crew Stadium and kick off at 3:00 PM.
I spoke with head coach Ryan Richter ahead of the match, and he was very positive about the squad’s form and their week of training.
They will now be without defender Gavin Wetzel, who has departed to begin his collegiate career at Pitt, but Richter has options and is confident in those players, including the Academy players who are returning following playing in the MLS Next Cup tournament. He noted that Wetzel is a tough one to replace with how reliable he was, but said “We have a couple of good options that might not be the perfect fit immediately, but we think can grow into what we expect in the future.” Midfielders Henry Bernstein and Zach Mastrodimos are also leaving soon for their colleges- University of Maryland and UCLA, respectively.
A number of Academy players were at the MLS Next Cup that took place in Nashville. The Union’s U18 squad had a good run, but got knocked out in the quarterfinals by Real Salt Lake, who defeated them 3-0. The third goal in that match came from none other than former Union Academy player Diego Rocio. Richter discussed the MLS Next Cup performance:
“Yeah, it was a good run. Obviously yesterday [the quarterfinal loss], a little bit disappointing, but if you saw the goals from the first couple of games, it was like Jordan [Griffin] involved, Henry [Bernstein] involved, Kellan [LeBlanc] scoring, Jamir [Johnson] scoring, Malik [Jakupovic] scoring. So it’s it’s all positive, you know?”
While the U18s came up short, the U15 squad is competing in the MLS Next Cup final versus Atlanta United at 9:30 AM on Saturday, June 21, and can be streamed live.
As MLS players had a five day break, and some of the players who regularly play for Union II would be affected by that, or are coming back from the MLS Next Cup, the big question was, who is available for the match against Crew 2? Most of the players were back and practicing on Thursday when I attended training, and Richter said they had Monday through Wednesday off, but they wanted to play this weekend.
Since it has been only a little over a month since Union II faced Crew 2, they know some of what to expect with their foe, but play is always evolving with teams over the season. Richter talked of what they will face with Crew 2:
“They play a little more direct, which provides a little bit of a different challenge, because we were so aggressive and front footed in that game and it was great. I loved it. I was probably my favorite game. But now if they challenge us with something behind, it kind of changes the picture a little bit, and maybe we have to just be aware of the decision of that they might play in the space behind you and be ready to react and anticipate those balls as well.”
The teams will be facing scorching heat on Saturday as they square off, and no matter the standings, playing on the road always presents a little more challenge. Additionally, Crew 2 is coming off a penalty shootout win against NYCFC II. Richter is looking forward to the match and is looking for a performance similar to the first time his squad faced them.
“It’s gonna be difficult because it’s gonna be like 100 degrees on turf at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. So it’s gonna be tough to keep the intensity high, but we’re gonna do our best to do that, and that’s our style that we want to play, and it’s going to be hot for them as well, so we have to be even more organized than we normally are. And we have to be ready for another difficult game.”
Union II hope to keep momentum going as they embark on a busier stretch and have a chance to move up in the table with good performances. Catch them at 3:00 PM streaming on MLS Season Pass on AppleTV.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
The One Team We Agree On 
Leave a comment