Chester – Coming off a 5-0 rout of Toronto FC II and moving up to second place in the East, Philadelphia Union II entered Sunday’s match against Chattanooga FC looking to add some breathing room between themselves and their third-place foe. With the average age of Union II’s lineup at 19 and Chattanooga’s at 25 (including a 40-year-old goalkeeper), it was a real test for Philadelphia’s squad against fully grown men, as an average match in MLS Next Pro does not necessarily feature that.
Since Andre Blake’s return to the first team’s lineup, Andrew Rick got the start in goal with Union II for the first time since the squad last met Chattanooga back on May 3. That match was a 0-0 draw in which Union II won the 12-round penalty shootout 9-8. Cavan Sullivan, who was on the bench for the first team against the New York Red Bulls the previous night but did not play, returned to the second team lineup.
The match was not even a minute old when Giovanny Sequera went down after a collision with Milo Garvanian and was checked over for about two minutes, however he was able to continue. The Venezuelan was at right back once again, and would have another aggressive performance. Chattanooga brought some early pressure, but for the most part it was back and forth and leaning in Philadelphia’s favor. Kellan LeBlanc had a prime scoring opportunity in the 16th minute but sailed the ball over the crossbar. Union II would see a few chances, but Cavan Sullivan finally broke through with some nifty dribbling to the top of the box and then buried the ball in the net in the 18th minute to put Union II up 1-0 for his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Nick Pariano.
While Rick would make a save in the 21st minute, Union II’s defense was mostly suffocating any chances Chattanooga had, and brought shot after shot on the visitors, including a LeBlanc rip that hit the crossbar. Chattanooga’s Tate Robertson was shown the first yellow card of the match after a foul on David Vazquez in the 36th minute, and Farid Sar-Sar received a yellow in the 42nd minute after a foul on Markus Anderson.
Despite seeing few chances, a turning point came when Chattanooga leveled it deep within the six minutes of stoppage time as 18 year old DC United loanee Gavin Turner absolutely blasted the ball from outside of the box and out of Rick’s reach in the 45+6′, and the teams headed to the locker room at the half level 1-1. Union II had outshot Chattanooga 14-2 and were the more dominant side, but a shot that Rick could do nothing about was all Chattanooga needed to end the half with momentum.
Ryan Richter made one sub at halftime, bringing Malik Jakupovic on for Markus Anderson, who had gotten banged up late in the first half. This would mark the most playing time for the 16 year old. Union II were on the attack with attempts by LeBlanc, Eddy Davis, and Sullivan, but Chattanooga was gaining confidence. Frustrations were starting to show from the home squad, and Giovanny Sequera was shown Union II’s first yellow for a foul in the 53rd minute. Malik Jakupovic almost got one past Eldin Jakupovic, but it would be Chattanooga striking next as Rick was caught out of position and Jalen James scored to put Chattanooga up 2-1 in the 57th minute.
The match started to unravel a little more for Union II as Rick got called for a handball as the referee determined he was just out of the box with the ball, and was also shown a yellow card, setting up a very dangerous free kick for Chattanooga in the 64th minute. Rick made a fantastic save, but it set up a Chattanooga corner that they capitalized on as Tate Robertson scored to make it 3-1 in the 67th minute. At this point, Jordan Griffin and Leandro Soria subbed on for Isaiah LeFlore and Kellan LeBlanc, and then Óscar Benítez subbed on for Giovanny Sequera in the 72nd minute. Richter would make his final substitution following a cooling break with Willyam Ferreira coming on for Eddy Davis in the 78th minute.
Union II were down, but not out, and the moment many were hoping for indeed happened in the 84th minute: Malik Jakupovic scored on a header on the Chattanooga keeper, Eldin Jakupovic, who is apparently related to the young striker. It was Malik’s fourth goal of the season in only 69 minutes of play as he continues to impress. It was a time for the youngsters to shine as Ferreira had the assist and Griffin the secondary assist.
Union II rode the new surge of energy, and Cavan Sullivan nabbed a brace when he pounced on a ball deflected from a Chattanooga defender and drilled it home to the bottom right corner to level the match 3-3 just two minutes later. With his fifth goal of the season, Sullivan became the team’s leading goal scorer. Malik would have another shot saved in the 90th minute, but ultimately regulation would end still tied and head to yet another shootout. Union II had outshot Chattanooga 27-8, however the shots on target comparison was 7-5, showing quality, not quantity of shots mattered in this match.
Familiar territory: another shootout
Markus Naglestad was up first for CFC and made his shot, as did Union II’s David Vazquez, who scored easily. The second round also was even as Tate Robertson and Neil Pierre both converted, though Rick had read Robertson’s shot correctly.
Rick, who has shown great prowess at shootouts and is usually good for at least one save, came up big as he saved Robert Screen’s attempt. Unfortunately, Leandro Soria’s shot hit the right post to keep the shootout even.
Next up was Ethan Dudley, who scored, but Malik Jakupovic was also up to the task and buried it. Farid Sar-Sar’s shot was good, putting the pressure on Cavan Sullivan to score to keep Union II’s hopes alive. The 15 year old put it in the bottom right corner to send the shootout to a sixth round.
Milo Garvanian converted on his shot, and then Willyam Ferreira’s shot went in, though the keeper got a hand on it. On to the seventh round it went, where Rick came up huge again, making the save on Nick Mendonca’s attempt. Union II’s captain, Nick Pariano, who had lately been unlucky with his penalty kicks, stepped up and put the ball in the bottom left corner to secure the extra point for Union II.
The shootout win kept Union in second place in the East- just three points behind New York Red Bulls II and two points ahead of Chattanooga- but with two games in hand. They are currently in third place overall for MLS Next Pro. While it was the most goals given up in a match by Union II, they still rank first in goal differential and goals allowed.
Post-match commentary
Ryan Richter
After the match, Richter described being proud of his squad, but with areas to clean up. “I thought we had a really good first half, we’re all over them. Should score at least another goal, and then I think it’d be a different game,” Richter noted. “And then we concede the goal in a really silly moment, something that can’t happen at the professional level. All the goals I think are kind of youth soccer goals. So it’s ones that we have to learn from, but then amazing team spirit to come back and score the two goals.”
While Union II had most of the momentum in the first half, it ended on a sour note with Chattanooga’s goal. On the halftime message, Richter shared:
“They have to sort this stuff out on the field. So we talked about it all week, but especially in a game like this, when you’re playing against grown men. The defensive set pieces are key to not conceding. And it comes down to responsibility, knowing your role and communication. There’s no reason we didn’t get it right, and we got punished for it. So I’m actually glad we got punished for it, because it’s a lesson that these guys can learn is like, that amazing half you just played turned into 1-1 with them with all the momentum coming at halftime because of something that’s so preventable.”
Goalkeeper like Andrew Rick has bounced between the first and second teams, and saw a nice stretch where he filled in for Andre Blake, who was out for an extended period of time between injury and national team duty. Rick did an admirable job with the first team, facing tough competition and even getting a save on the likes of Lionel Messi. He still has much development to do, and got a much-needed playing opportunity.
“It’s very important,” Richter said about Rick being in goal for that game, “and you can see, I think he didn’t have a good game, if I’m being honest. I think, the standard and the level that I know he’s at, and that we hold him to, I don’t think he had a great game. And the first goal that part, it’s not just him, but part of his job is to make sure that we’re organized and switched on on those moments.
“So the goal on the ball in the back, that Rafa [Uzcátegui] leaves for him, I think he needs to be really clear if he wants to come for it, if he wants Rafa to get it cleared or play back to him. And he was a little indecisive in that moment and it led to the goal, and then the set piece- it’s like a second phase of the set piece that he can organize his line a little better because he looked when it goes to the first thing. If there’s three guys open in the middle field he has to have an eye on that that so he can organize the team. He’s a great goalkeeper. We’re lucky to have him. Anytime he can play with us, we’re very happy. But it’s one that he can see he’s still learning, so we have to keep working with him and let him see these plays and improve him.”
Cavan Sullivan and Nick Pariano
Sullivan had a big day getting his first professional brace, and had recently made his first MLS start against Nashville. While the result of that game was not in the Union’s favor, Sullivan was glad to get the opportunity.
“I think it was kind of nice to start a game and finally get to the real feel of what an MLS game is like,” Sullivan shared. “ Obviously, you know, coming into games later, somewhat more hectic, but also like players are tired and it’s a different type of game. So starting was pretty fun. I enjoyed it. Obviously, unfortunately the result there at the end, but I’m happy to get that under my belt and hopefully more to come.”
On his teammate Malik Jakupovic: “I asked Eddy [Davis] what it’s like to play with him just to, you know, understand him, before he came in at the half and then, I think he played really well. He comes into games and just scores. He’s a threat. He scores headers, he’s fast. So definitely happy to have him on my team. Hopefully, he can get, you know, I don’t know if he started yet, but a start soon. I want to play some more with him; I think we connect really well.”
“Yeah, obviously, it’s in a game like that it’s everything,” Nick Pariano remarked about the comeback. “This team’s got fight and we’ve shown that in a lot of different ways this year, and then I don’t know, just coming back like that was great. I mean, obviously in the first place, maybe you don’t want to put ourselves in that position, we need to be playing better than that, but to even go past that, I mean, you know, sometimes that’s when it’s hardest to then, like, come back and, you know, you feel like you deserve more, and then it’s gone. So, like, to fight back, regroup and that, it’s awesome.”
Pariano had been a little snakebitten when it came to penalty kicks lately, and just like with a closer in baseball, it’s the most recent performance that seems to matter the most. “Yeah, it’s great,” he said about what making the penalty kick did for his confidence. “Obviously, you know, we go to PKs a lot, so it’s important to put them away. And I think everyone’s been doing a good job on them. It’s all good to put one in and, yeah, I mean, extra points, so that’s important.”
The squad is looking to make another run to the MLS Next Pro Cup, where they just came up short after a magical season in 2024. Sullivan and Pariano were both there last year, and discussed the team’s aspirations.
“I think the squad rules deep, so you know, we have the depth, which is really important- similar to last year, we’re just hungered,” Sullivan remarked. “We want to get there, we’re ambitious. I think, in order to get there, we need to start keeping more clean sheets and holding out games rather than tying to go to penalties and playing at home, the first couple games would be nice.”
With many up and coming young players on the squad bringing lots of energy, Pariano shared “Oh, it’s great. I mean, that’s what we were built on last year, so that’s what we’re working with again this year, and the younger guys have been great, and that playoff run was a lot of fun for the guys that were part of it. So they know how much fun it was, especially playing games here in front of these fans. So keep playing games like this, in this fashion and stuff, keep working hard. And people will come back and that’s what we want. And, those guys are hungry. Just keep on winning. That’s the main thing, you know? And that’s the thing Ryan instills in all of us and everything we do. The most important thing is showing you’re a winner, you know? You help teams win, that’s the most valuable thing at the end of the day. So yeah, look forward to more of that.”
Union II have a “never say die” mentality that should make them just as fun to watch this season as the first team, as well as their exciting squad from 2024. Richter talked about the resilience, noting “Yeah, it was really cool. These guys were funny, man. It’s like, it’s great. And you look at the goal scorers. Cavan’s 15, scored two goals. Malik- 16. Willyam makes the assist for Malik. He’s 16, so it’s special guys we got coming through, and they have to keep keep using these moments to learn and get better.”
Sullivan summed up the day, noting, “I think we need to start just putting the game to bed earlier and getting those clean sheets. However, yeah, it just shows resilience. We could persevere, we could fight all day. So I think that really shows Philadelphia.”
The match wrapped up a four-game homestand, and Union II will now hit the road next as they travel to Crown Legacy on Saturday, July 19 at 7:00 PM.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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