High Point, NC – For only the second time ever, Philadelphia Union II faced independent Next Pro side Carolina Core FC, visiting Truist Park Stadium in High Point, North Carolina. Union II were riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, and were undefeated on the road, but both of those streaks came to an end as Union II suffered their first road loss by a score of 3-2.
Notably, Holden Trent, the Union goalkeeper who sadly passed in 2024, played for High Point University and was from nearby Greensboro. Some of the guys from the Bridge Brigade traveled to the match and paid tribute to Holden.
With the first team only having a friendly this week with Eintracht Frankfurt, head coach Ryan Richter had a much deeper lineup available. Andrew Rick got the start in goal, and Sal Olivas and Neil Pierre returned to the Union II squad after being on the bench with the first team last Saturday. It was only a matter of when, but Malik Jakupovic, the team’s leading goal scorer (6) got his first start with Union II, and was paired up top with Olivas.
The midfield included Kellan LeBlanc, Óscar Benítez, Markus Anderson, and the captain, Nick Pariano. Jordan Griffin got the start at left back with Isaiah LeFlore out with a red card suspension, and Pierre, Rafael Uzcátegui, and Giovanny Sequera rounded out the back line.
The match started with Union II coming out aggressive as they tend to do, and in the 5th minute Neil Pierre had a shot from distance that went wide. It did not take long to find the opening goal as Kellan LeBlanc had a fantastic pass to Markus Anderson, who sent it home to put Union II up 1-0 in the 11th minute. It was followed up just a minute later by a shot on target by Sal Olivas from outside the box, but it was saved by Alex Sutton and went out for a corner.
Union II’s aggressiveness ended up hurting them when Uzcátegui fouled CCFC’s Jacob Evans inside the box, leading to a penalty kick that was converted by Glory Nzingo in the 23rd minute. This seemed to give Carolina Core a lot of confidence, and they scored another just two minutes later when they punished Union II for some poor defending, and Josuha Rodriguez beat Griffin to the ball to score the go-ahead goal.
Union came charging back with chances, and in the 32nd had a near miss to the left by Giovanny Sequera. Shortly after, Msunguchi Alenga fouled Anderson just outside the box, setting up a free kick that was blocked and sent back to Pierre, who missed with his header. The pressure continued, and it was Union II’s turn to earn a penalty kick when Anderson was taken down in the box by Daniel Chica. The penalty was converted by Sal Olivas to level it 2-2 in the 37th minute- his fourth goal of the season.
The first half would end after five minutes of stoppage time, and despite some great chances for Union II, they were unable to find a third goal before the halftime whistle blew. They had out-shot CCFC 12-3, but CCFC was proving to be a challenge and were very physical.
It was beginning to be a pattern as the second half had barely begun when CCFC was awarded what appeared to be a bit of a questionable penalty kick. Sequera was called for a foul in the box even though he did not appear to make contact with Nzingo, who fell to the ground. Nonetheless, the referee pointed to the spot. Nzingo converted once again to put CCFC up 3-2 in the 51st minute.
Andrew Rick came up big again when CCFC had a breakaway chance in the 57th minute, but was negated when Rick came off his line to make a huge stop.
Jakupovic had an unreal scoring streak, with goals in all five of his appearances leading up to this match. That streak came to an end when he was subbed off in the 65th minute for Eddy Davis, and Jamir Johnson also replaced Benítez.
Looking for some fresh legs, Stas Korzeniowski and Leandro Soria replaced Olivas and LeBlanc in the 77th minute as Union II were battling for the equalizer. Willyam Ferreira was then brought on in place of Anderson in the 82nd minute with Union II still down 3-2. They almost found their equalizer when Pierre leapt up for a fantastic header off a corner that was put right on target, but the keeper managed to come up with a huge save. Union II continued to get some late chances and fought hard until the end, but the 3-2 score stood. It was only their second loss of the season.
Had Union II won, they would have, at least for a day, been in first place in the East as New York Red Bulls II play Thursday. They remain in second and will look to start a new streak on Sunday at Subaru Park when they host FC Cincinnati 2 at 6:00 PM.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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