Montclair, NJ- On a warm, tranquil Monday evening in New Jersey, the top two clubs in the Eastern Conference of MLS Next Pro squared off for their second matchup of the season. Both teams entered the match tied at 42 points and being two of the top-scoring teams in the league. Union II head coach Ryan Richter’s squad included Andrew Rick in goal, a back line of Isaiah LeFlore, Rafael Uzcátegui, Neil Pierre, and Giovanny Sequera, defensive midfielders Nick Pariano and Óscar Benítez, attacking mids Kellan LeBlanc and Markus Anderson, and forwards Sal Olivas and Eddy Davis.
The game was physical from the get-go. In the first minute of play, Isaiah LeFlore was shown a yellow card for a foul just outside the box, resulting in a Red Bulls free kick that was sailed over the crossbar. Union II would promptly go on the attack and earn a couple corners early that led to some headers by Rafael Uzcátegui that were blocked and went wide, respectively.
It was a frenetic start to the game as one might expect with these two teams, going back and forth and being very physical. In a game of this nature, a team definitely does not want to make costly mistakes that aid the other team, however that is exactly what happened in the 12th minute as disaster struck. Union II keeper Andrew Rick, who is normally so good with his feet, was dispossessed of the ball right in front of his goal, and Mijahir Jiménez easily tapped it home to put Red Bulls II up 1-0. It gave the home squad early momentum and confidence that would prove extremely costly for the Boys in Blue.
Óscar Benítez made a hard tackle to earn the next yellow card in the 19th minute, resulting in a free kick that was blasted toward goal, headed out, and ripped on target by Andy Rojas. Rick came up with a tremendous save to negate the attempt, however the Red Bulls were playing very confidently.
Red Bulls II would get another chance as Kellan LeBlanc was shown a yellow for a foul, leading to a free kick that went over the goal. Eddy Davis had a chance in the 42nd minute that was easily scooped up by Aidan Stokes, the closest thing to a shot on target they had in the half. Just as the first half was winding down, Red Bulls II struck again via a second Jiménez goal to make it 2-0 in the 45th minute. It was a very undisciplined half for Union II that seemed to lack communication. They were outshot 7-4 with none on target, and leading in fouls 13-7 with three yellow cards already.
The second half began with Stas Korzeniowski subbing on for Sal Olivas. Jiménez nearly got a hat trick early but Rick had a huge save that was then cleared by Neil Pierre. Another substitution came in the 53rd minute as midfielder Noah Probst made his Union II debut, subbing on for Benítez, who was being perhaps a little too physical while being on a yellow. After the game, Richter said he thought Probst did “okay,” noting, “There’s still some stuff, like the speed of the game looks a little quick, but he did well. I thought he did his job, played simple with the ball, and he was in good positions defensively. So, you know, I was happy with how he came into the game.”
Looking to bring on some new energy, Davis and LeBlanc were subbed off in the 68th minute in favor of Malik Jakupovic and Willyam Ferreira, the pair of 16 year olds who were signed to pro contracts this season. They ended up being two bright spots in the game, especially Ferreira who showed some impressive ball skills and a little creation in the attack that had been missing. Union II were starting to put some decent pressure late in the game, including some nice sequences from Sequera and Ferreira. In the 80th minute, Jakupovic just missed crashing a header into the goal off a corner. Right after, Jordan Griffin subbed on for LeFlore.
In the 84th minute, the ball was sent toward goal by Griffin, and Probst collided with the Red Bulls keeper and a defender, both of whom were down for a minute having taken the brunt of it. It had been one of the better chances for Union II, but they were still stymied. The best shot all night for Union II came from Korzeniowski in the 89th minute on a breakaway. He hit it hard, but right at the keeper. It was the first and only recorded shot on target for the visitors on an uncharacteristic night.
Seven minutes of stoppage time was announced just after Ferreira had a shot that hit the crossbar. Red Bulls got a shot off shortly after, but Rick made the save. Union II got one last attempt with a corner and a header by Korzeniowski that went wide, and the final whistle blew. While Union II had looked a bit better the second half, they just could not find the back of the net, losing 2-0. It was only their second loss on the road, and to a team that only has one home loss, but it was a lost chance to make a statement in the league.
Post match commentary
It was a humbling experience for the young Union II squad with many lessons learned, but also frustrating for a squad looking to win and take control of the conference. After the match, Ryan Richter shared his thoughts:
“Yeah, it’s learning and development, but it’s about winning. You know, that’s what this game is, and I don’t care what age or level it is. It’s about winning and committing to the team and doing the job for the team to win the game. And I felt too many guys… it was not the right level. It was not the right intensity, and it was not the right focus to try to help the team win the game. So you know, that’s what I told the guys after the game.
“They have good examples within the team of guys. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 5v2 in training, like, they are 100% committed, and they will do anything to make it in this game, and will do anything for the team to win. And that’s the attitude and the spirit that I love and that I believe in, and that I believe in for the development of the guys that they have to approach every day like that. And too many guys today just didn’t feel like that.
“So we’ll watch it again, and have some conversations, but, you know, that’s the starting point, and it’s only because we want to see them all reach the highest level that they possibly can. Some of them, it might be MLS, some might be beyond, some of them won’t make it. That’s the reality. But I don’t want them to look back in five years and say, ‘I wish I would have done this different, I wish I would have been more committed to this’ or whatever the case may be. You can have a bad game. That’s soccer. You can have a bad game. But if your preparation for the game is not where it needs to be, your mental focus is not where it needs to be, that’s the part that you’ll look back and be disappointed at.”
Richter pointed out that Red Bulls II were a good team and he wanted to see his players rise to the occasion. “I want to see us compete against that team, be the best version of us,” he shared. “And that definitely was not the case. And I take the blame for that, you know? What can I say in the week leading out, our focus and training, did I put them in the right place? And sometimes maybe it takes a game like this as a reminder. ’Hey, guys, it’s never easy- it’s never easy.’ It felt like too many guys tonight were passengers in the game.”
Meanwhile, Red Bulls II coach Michael Bradley was pleased with his squad’s performance. “Philadelphia a really good team in our league, and this was a real test for us,” he said. “So we talked a lot before the game in terms of understanding how to play in these kinds of games, how to make sure that we were ready for the moments of the game that we’re going to play out in the way they wanted, but also then being able to put the game back on our terms. So, yeah, really, really complete performance.”
He noted that limiting Union II to 13 shots but only one on target was a testament to his defense, and overall his players buying in and being prepared for the match.
On Andrew Rick and the goalkeeping
Goalkeeping has been a strength for Union II this season, and they still have the best goal differential in the league, but bumps in the road happen. While Andrew Rick has performed so well when he has filled in for Andre Blake with the first team, has come up big with Union II, and also made some fantastic saves during this match, it got off to a rough start for him. With the rotation of keepers and often being on the bench as the backup for the first team, was it a matter of just not playing regularly and a little mental lapse that led to the first goal? It happens even to the best. Having observed him and spoken with him, he is indeed a competitor, super focused, and has great maturity for his 19 years. Richter has worked with him for a long time, thinks very highly of him, and spoke about the lessons learned for him.
“I love Andy. I’ve known him since he was 11 years old,” Richter shared. ”I know how much he loves every moment that he’s on the field. So I don’t think he’s a guy that it’s like a drop in focus for Union II, but maybe it is, you know. So I have I have to ask him and he has to also understand, this is a huge part of his development. He has to play games every week. He has to play games at a high level and, you know, what we all think that he can reach. He has to use these games to be part of a team, help a team win and bring the best version of himself.” Rick has certainly been one to pick himself up after a mistake, and did well for the rest of the game, so it was an unfortunate blemish to an otherwise solid performance.
Looking ahead
Union II are now in second place in the East, and have another big match this week as they travel to Chicago Fire II on Friday. Their opponent was just named Next Pro Team of the Month for July and have been red hot, rising to fourth place. Stay tuned to see if Union II can bounce back and douse the Fire, as they have shown resilience after setbacks. Sometimes in the journey, it take a humbling experience to really move forward toward greatness.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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