Chester – It was déjà vu for Union II Monday afternoon at Subaru Park. For the third time in a span of five days, a Union match had to be delayed due to thunderstorms,with storms rolling into Chester around 2:00 PM, and once again they won a shootout (4-2) after drawing 1-1 in regulation. The match kicked off almost an hour late at 3:55 PM, and by then the sun was beaming down. Coming into the match, Union II sat in 3rd in the East, while Orlando City B were in 7th and a -6 goal differential.
Ryan Richter’s lineup for Union II featured several players who had been with the first team in Columbus the night prior and Chicago on Wednesday, including David Vazquez as one of the starters. He made his MLS debut for the Union that evening, coming in at the 71st minute. Sal Olivas, who began on the bench, also made his MLS debut in the 63rd minute. Eddy Davis made his debut in Chicago in the 88th minute.
“Proud of them,” Richter commented regarding the three debutants after the match. “You know, and the hardest part about this is to continue to perform at the second team level while being patient for the opportunity play at the first team.
“And I think they all did a good job. Eddy’s experience was shorter, obviously, but, you know, they all went in and it didn’t look like they didn’t stand out as like, they didn’t belong. So we’re proud of them.”
Straddling the two squads can be more challenging, and Richter shared, “You know, now they have to do the mental part of it performing next week, if it’s in Union II, or it’s in first team, it’s… they have to now get better again, you know, so this is nice for them, nice for them and their family, but it’s a first step and hopefully many.”
First half frustrations
Union II began with some early pressure, including a nice pass from Kellan LeBlanc toward Eddy Davis near the penalty spot, who unfortunately was in an awkward position and could not finish it. The first shot would come in the 11th minute when Rafael Uzcátegui blasted a shot from just outside the box, but Orlando’s keeper, Carlos Mercado, was right on it, and would make quite a few more saves on the day. Shortly after, Orlando took the ball down and earned a corner, and capitalized on it via a header by Shawn Platts that went up high into the net and just above Oliver Semmle’s reach to put the visitors up 1-0 in the 12th minute.
Union II battled back, and Davis would get off a quality shot in the 23rd minute that Mercado made a nice save on. Union II kept the pressure up and were in the attacking half the majority of the time, but were having difficulty breaking through. Orlando’s Noham Abdellaoui was shown a yellow in the 26th minute for a foul, but the resulting free kick went for naught. A few minutes later, Abdellaoui took out Isaiah LeFlore on a hard tackle, and Union II’s staff and players, including captain Nick Pariano, pleaded for the referee to award a second yellow for the foul. Post-game, Richter shared succinctly that he thought it should have been a second yellow. The referee talked to Abdellaoui, but no card was shown, to the frustration of the home team. Abdellaoui would depart the match anyway due to injury in the 37th minute, which was probably a good thing for Orlando.
Almost immediately after, Orlando got a breakaway, and Gustavo Caraballo almost got a shot on Oliver Semmle, but David Vazquez raced in and cleared the ball out to the sideline, and Semmle made a save on a subsequent shot. Orlando City B became more dangerous as the first half was coming to a close, but Union II were getting their chances as well, including a shot on goal by Pariano that was saved. The match continued to be very physical, and Tahir Reid-Brown was shown a yellow card for fouling Giovanny Sequera in the 43rd minute.
As six minutes of stoppage time was commencing, LeFlore had a nice cross to the right side of the box that Sequera received and ripped on goal, but once again the Orlando keeper came up with a big save. The first half came to a close with Union II leading in shots 10-2 (4 on goal to Orlando’s 2) but nothing to show for it. The chances were coming, but Union II could not finish them.
Second half resurgence
Union II came out aggressive in the second half, and Kellan LeBlanc promptly took the ball down for a shot on goal that was thwarted by Mercado. Another chance came on a corner that Neil Pierre headed in but right into the hands of the keeper. Union II finally found their equalizer in the 55th minute off the left foot of left back Isaiah LeFlore from outside the box in a powerful, perhaps Glesnes-esque blast that came via a volley off the chest.
Orlando would almost take the lead again in the 62nd minute if not for a huge goal line clearance by Uzcátegui after Semmle was caught out of position.
Richter would make his first substitutions in the 63rd minute, bringing Sal Olivas on for Stas Korzeniowski, and Willyam Ferreira would make his Union II debut coming on for CJ Olney. The 16 year old was signed to an MLS Next Pro contract back in February, but missed some time due to injury and only recently returned. Richter shared his thoughts on Ferreira post-game, saying “Yeah, he did well. I thought the one where he cut in with the right foot, I thought he’s gonna curl down in the top corner.
But he did really well. Now he’s someone we’re really excited about. So he’s got to just keep going and keep improving.”
Olivas promptly got a yellow card for a foul soon after taking the field, to make it two days in a row of yellow cards (getting one with the first team at Columbus the night prior).
More substitutions came in the 72nd minute with Kellan LeBlanc and David Vazquez exiting for Jamir Johnson and Henry Bernstein. After some jersey grabbing and shoving between Reid-Brown and Johnson, with Johnson being called for the foul, Richter was shown a yellow as he got heated with the referee from the sideline.
Union II’s final substitution came in the 86th minute as Leandro Soria came on for Davis. Orlando’s Zinedine Rodriguez was shown a yellow card in the 88th minute for a foul, but the resulting dangerous free kick was negated and quickly taken down toward Union II’s goal. Moments later, Union II almost found the go-ahead goal in the 90th minute, but the shot went just wide.
More chances for Union II came in the five minutes of stoppage time, and despite outshooting Orlando 34-6 (14 on goal), regulation would end still tied 1-1 with each team getting a point and it going to a shootout to determine which team would get the extra point.
Nick Pariano, the Union II captain, stepped up to the spot first, but his attempt was saved. However, Oliver Semmle showed he was up to the task and saved Orlando City B’s first attempt.
The second and third rounds saw Sal Olivas and Neil Pierre successful on their attempts, but Orlando matched them.
Union II got the upper hand in the fourth round as Henry Bernstein made his shot, and Semmle denied Orlando’s Dylan Judelson with a save. Jamir Johnson, the 16 year old Academy player who recently returned from the MLS Next Cup, took his time, staring down Mercado. He finally ran up and booted it to the top right corner, sealing the shootout victory for the home team.
As the Union II players ran over to celebrate, Mercado took exception to them imitating a waving gesture he had done earlier toward the Bridge Brigade supporter group, and some words and gestures were exchanged. Mike Sheridan ended up being shown a yellow card for “poor sportsmanship” as the exchange got broken up.
Speaking with Richter post-match, he appeared frustrated that the match was a draw and included some sloppy play. “Yeah, I think the second half was a lot better than the first half as far as how open we were when we lost the ball,” Richter shared.
“But I think we created too many chances to only have one goal. So I think that’s the story of the match. We should normally win this game, not a shoot out.”
He was, however, happy with Isaiah LeFlore scoring. “Yeah, he’s been really good at this level. He’s so aggressive, and when he’s aggressive and attacking forward, and he has that pop in his first step, then he fits perfectly in the system and the style we want to play.” Richter continued by sharing some points for improvement:
“But when he’s not aggressive, then he puts himself into a position where he can’t use his biggest strengths. So I think he’s doing a better job at that. He’s been really consistent for us, and, of course, scored a great goal.”
LeFlore, for his part, was in great spirits following the match. After being signed to the first team from Houston Dynamo 2 ahead of the 2024 season, and then missing all of 2024 due to an ACL tear, he has had a long road to get to this point. While he has appeared on the bench a handful of times with the first team, including in Columbus, he has yet to play in an MLS match. In 2025, he has started in most of Union II’s matches. As such, he has been a part of several comeback draws/wins.
“Yeah, I think we’ve been in that position a few times now and I just encouraged the guys at halftime,” LeFlore said. “I think we’re comfortable in that position, we know that we can get one, if not two, and usually when we do get one, we get a quick second one. That wasn’t the case today, but, no, I think we’re comfortable coming back. We’ve been in that position before, so I think that’s fine.” Indeed, it was unfortunate the second one did not come this time as it did against New England Revolution II on Thursday, but he was the reason they even got to the shootout this match as he scored his first Union II goal and first since 2023 when he had two with Houston Dynamo 2.
“Yeah, it certainly been a long time coming,” LeFlore remarked about his goal. “I don’t know, there’s games where I just have a funny feeling, whether I don’t know, I’m going to play well or what have you, but I just had a feeling I was going to score today. And I mean, I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I tore my ACL and just felt like an uphill battle since I joined the Union, and to see the hard work pay off, I mean, it feels great, and the work is working, so just keep on working.”
Union II remain in third place in the East and fifth overall in MLS Next Pro with two games in hand over the teams above them, and by far the best goal differential at 17. Their next match will be at home on Sunday, July 6th against Toronto FC II at 3:00 PM.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
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