Red-hot Philadelphia Union II, coming off a 5-0 drubbing of Toronto FC II, face a tough foe on Sunday in Chattanooga FC. The last time these two teams met—back on May 3, the result was a 0-0 draw with Union II winning the 12-round shootout 9-8. Since then, Union II has risen up in the standings to second and leapfrogged Chattanooga, who are now in third. New York Red Bulls II, over whom Union II has three games in hand, are in first.

Chattanooga differs from Union II in that they are an independent MLS Next Pro Club, so they do not have an MLS affiliate. As such, they have a team of a lot of “grown” men, with most of them in their mid to late twenties, and goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović, who is 40. Meanwhile, Union II consists mostly of teenagers and those in their early twenties.

Richter noted the benefits of playing against a team like Chattanooga and how it brings a high level of competition for his squad. “It’s a great challenge to have a team like that in our league with men on the team. That’s what our guys need to be exposed to because the physicality- if I compare the physicality of MLS to MLS Next Pro, that’s the biggest gap. Despite, obviously there’s differences in quality and athleticism, but the overall physicality is what we need to get up to speed with, and they need that challenge weekly. 
So having teams like Chattanooga in our league, it’s great for the development of our players because they’re challenging a different way than they are when they play against kids their own age.”

Goals for goals

Chattanooga are coming off a 1-0 loss at home against Chicago Fire II and are looking to rebound, while Union II are looking to extend their six-game unbeaten run that saw head coach Ryan Richter earn MLS Next Pro Coach of the Month for June and the squad earned Team of the Matchweek for last week.

The team has had contributions from 16 different goal scorers, including six that each have three goals. “I think we would like to have a couple of the strikers with more goals, and I think they’ve had the opportunities to have more than three goals,” Richter shared at training on Thursday, “but at the same time, our style will play- if there’s 10 guys committed against the ball, and we create these transition opportunities, it doesn’t matter who scores the goal.

“You know, it can be a deep run that you don’t get the ball, that drives a defender out of position that frees somebody else up. It can be the final pass, it can be just being the one who wins the ball that starts the transition, and can be the one who forced the ball in the wide area that’s our transition. 
Maybe it takes you out of the play to finish it off, but it makes a big moment for the team.

“But yeah, that being said, I think the strikers and they know that they need to be more aggressive and finish more chances, but we want to see our strikers getting double digit goals by the end of the season. I think that’s it. 
That’s a fair target, and I think it’s one that they’re capable of.”

CJ Olney loaned to Lexington SC

One of those 16 goal scorers was midfielder CJ Olney, who had two goals and two assists on the season, logged 935 minutes, and was a key contributor to the squad. It was announced Friday that the 18 year old homegrown has been loaned to USL Championship side Lexington SC through 2025, and will join former Union forwards Cory Burke and Marcus Epps, and former Union II goalkeeper Brooks Thompson.

Olney made one appearance with the first team in 2024, and was on the bench twice in 2025, so this writer feels it will be a great opportunity for him to advance his development against a higher skill level. Meanwhile, Richter has options to fill that position with Union II and it will be a great chance for some to step up, but Olney’s leadership, energy, and skills will certainly be missed.

Giovanny Sequera making a splash at right back

With three goals and one assist on the season, 19 year old Venezuelan midfielder Giovanny Sequera, who is on loan from Metropolitanos and has been with Union II since March 2024, has been handling right back duties for several games after the departure of Gavin Wetzel. Richter has been pleased with his performance, saying:

“He has as a person grown a lot- he’s so passionate and he wants it so bad. He’s such a fighter. 
He’ll do anything to make it in this game. And I think he’s finding a way to channel that in the right way and being aggressive on the field and how to use his voice to lift people up and how to continue to have that fire inside of him, but channel it in the right way.

“And then the change in position, I don’t think any of us would have thought that he could deal with that so well. Some of the nuances of the position that he does get right, he still makes mistakes and has to learn some of the positional responsibility with playing as a defender, but he’s so front footed and he’s so aggressive and everything he does is at 100 percent, and you can get away with a lot when you’re that committed. He’s been really fun to work with and see him grow as a person has been just as fun to see how much he’s grown on the field.”

I spoke with Sequera at training (with the help of Alex Okuma translating) about the season so far and his goals. Sequera shared that representing his country with the U-20s (and previously U-17s) was a great experience, as well as getting to spend time with his family. This season, he has also been able to help out fellow Venezuelan Rafael Uzcátegui with getting acclimated, and that they are both there with the same intentions- to work hard and do their very best.

On playing right back, Sequera said that it was not the position he was used to, but he is going to give his best wherever he plays. He is seizing the opportunity to play well in that position, pushing himself harder and doing that day after day. He noted that he did not do as well last season, but he is working to do better this season. His personal goals are to win the championship and make it to the first team. In this writer’s opinion, he will be one to watch with Union II as he continues to improve- his energy and aggressive play have been impressive.

Goalkeeping notes

At this point, goalkeeping duties have been rotating mostly around Oliver Semmle, who just needs to keep sharp in case he is needed for the first team, and Pierce Holbrook (see my recent interview with him). When asked about the development so far of Holbrook, Richter talked about how he was adjusting:

“A guy- it helps when you have a good character that you can fit into a group, you can speak to coaches, and you can have honest reflections of yourself. I think that goes a long way towards improvement. 
I think the clear thing for him is getting up to the speed of the game and the decision making and the crosses that he comes from, the balls behind that he comes from. Just reading those plays better every gamem and then I think the big area of improvement for him is with his feet. I think he knows that, and he’s working on it. 
So that’s what our job is in Union II, is to help the guys get everything they can- areas they need to improve, areas they’re good at, they need to improve, that they can get to an MLS level with those skill sets.”

Building off successes and facing Chattanooga again

Richter knows his squad has been a lot right, but as a squad that is at more of a development level, there is still a lot of growth going on and that needs to still happen.

“We’ve been solid against the ball the entire season and we’ve been committed against the ball, but I thought it was our best game with the ball and build up and creating chances and playing through the midfield and the overall speed of play was really good,” Richter noted about the match against Toronto FC II. “
So I was really happy with every phase of the game how we played. I think the set pieces are the one area that we can improve in, as a development team, we don’t spend as much time as, like a first team would on set pieces, but it’s going to be important important going into this game, because, like I said, you have 10 men attacking a ball in the box, you have to defend it like an adult if you want to keep balls out of the back of the net. 
So that’s when we have to be prepared for this week.”

Union II host Chattanooga at Subaru Park on Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 PM and will be aired on MLS Season Pass on AppleTV.

Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II