Chester—Philadelphia Union II returned home to Subaru Park after a two-game road trip to face Toronto FC II on Wednesday. It was a match that on paper seemed like a great opportunity to pick up three points, but Union II would only come away with one as they tied TFC II 2-2 and lost the penalty shootout 8-7.
The lineup saw the return of Cavan Sullivan, who between being with the first team and spending time at Manchester City, had not featured with the squad since July 13. Pierce Holbrook got the start in goal with a back line of Neil Pierre, Rafael Uzcátegui, Isaiah LeFlore, and Jordan Griffin. Giovanny Sequera was out due to yellow card accumulation, so LeFlore took his spot at right back. Nick Pariano, Kellan LeBlanc, Noah Probst, and Sullivan were the midfielders, and forwards were Eddy Davis and Sal Olivas.
The bench was a little more full for Union II on the evening as Kaiden Moore made his first appearance with the squad, though he did not play. It was announced on Monday that he was loaned from Atlanta United 2. Also notable was Alex Smith as the backup goalkeeper. He had been on the bench at Carolina Core and the MLS Next Pro Cup in 2024, but this was his first time in a lineup at Subaru Park.
The match did not get off to a great start for the home squad as they conceded a goal to Toronto in the 3rd minute as Antone Bossenberry got it past Holbrook in the bottom right corner.
Union II got back on track and found the equalizer in the 14th minute as Uzcátegui had a nice run that saw the ball go to Olivas and then Davis, who then sent it to LeBlanc. The 17 year old found the bottom right corner of the net for his third goal of the season, with Olivas and Davis credited with the assists.
Union II had seemed to wake up after conceding and continued to bring pressure after LeBlanc’s goal. Davis had a great opportunity on goal in the 22nd minute, but his shot was saved by Adisa De Rosario. Another chance came shortly after as Pariano ripped a missile from outside the box that hit the crossbar and bounced down in front of the goal line, followed by a narrow miss by Olivas a few minutes later that hit the left post.
TFC II got their own chance when an attempt was blasted on on goal, but Pariano was able to block it on the goal line, and then it was successfully cleared out. In the 41st minute, it looked like Olivas had the keeper dead to rights, but his shot went wide left of the goal—a huge opportunity missed.
Union II would, however, net their second goal to take the 2-1 lead in the 45th minute as Jordan Griffin received a fantastic cross by Cavan Sullivan, and then headed the ball into the back of the net for his first goal for Union II. Sal Olivas also got an assist on the play. They would take that lead into halftime after one minute of stoppage time. Griffin was the 17th different goal scorer for Union II this season. At that time, they had the third most goals scored (47) in Next Pro, but no “superstar” getting a vast majority (Malik Jakupovic led with 6).
The second half began with no changes for either side. TFC II did not take long to tie it up as they scored in the 51st minute via Michael Sullivan. They nearly found a third goal if not for a big save by Pierce Holbrook in the 58th minute as the defense was beaten again.
Markus Anderson subbed on for Olivas in the 61st minute as Union II’s first change of the game, and then in the 72nd minute, Stas Korzeniowski and Leandro Soria subbed on for Kellan LeBlanc and Noah Probst as Union II looked for some more offensive pressure.
Union II mostly controlled the ball but could not break through. Ryan Richter made his last substitution in the 81st minute, bringing on Malik Jakupovic and Willyam Ferreira for Davis and Sullivan. Three minutes of stoppage did not see a winning goal, ending with Soria’s shot sailing over the crossbar.
With it still tied 2-2 and each team receiving at least one point, it went to a shootout to decide who would get the extra point, and with Toronto shooting first. TFC II’s Patrick McDonald roofed it for the goal, but Union II’s Stas Korzeniowski followed with a goal. The second round was a miss for both squads as Michael Sullivan’s shot hit the crossbar, and Neil Pierre’s sailed over- a rare miss for the Union II defender.
The shootout continued though eight rounds with both squads converting on their shots. For Union II, that included Markus Anderson, Malik Jakupovic, Willyam Ferreira, Jordan Griffin, Rafael Uzcátegui, and Leandro Soria. It went to a ninth round where Antone Bossenberry, TFC II’s opening goal scorer, made his shot, but Union II captain Nick Pariano missed to the right to end the shootout in the visitors’ favor. Union II would come away with one point on the night, but it really was two dropped points where they could have tied Red Bulls II, who are in first, in points. Instead, they are in third behind Huntsville, with whom they are tied in points, and the East is getting tight.
Following the match, Union II head coach Ryan Richter shared his thoughts on the match:
“We concede two uncharacteristic goals, and if I go back to the Chicago game, also two [goals]. Just sloppy plays where it’s a little lack of focus, not reading the play early enough, take away the most dangerous players. And that’s for the first half of season, we didn’t give these kind of chances away. We could clean those up really easily. We didn’t play great, but we had the ball in this half a lot. Didn’t create, you know, a million chances, but normally if we score two goals at home, it should be enough, especially with the amount of chances that we conceded. So, you know, it’s a game in moments, and, you know, we didn’t do well enough defensively in the two moments that led to their goals.”
Union II did manage to respond not long after conceding the first goal, and took control of the match for much of the time. “The rest of the first half was good, you know, so that was okay,” said Richter. “We had a couple other moments in the first half where we created some pretty good chances that we need to do better with, but yeah, overall, I think it’s a game that we should win. So that’s where I’m disappointed, to only come out with the tie from the game and the penalty loss, because at home to me, this is a game that we need to win.”
Union II had 22 shots on the evening, with five on target. Toronto, meanwhile, did not control the ball as much, but all six of their recorded shots were on target. Union II certainly had chances, but the strikers seem snakebitten. 2024’s leading goal scorer for the team, Eddy Davis, only has four goals. The goals have been spread out for Union II, with 17 different players having at least one, but Richter noted, “I think a couple of guys need to have more goals, though. You know, that’s where a problem is. We have 17 goal scorers, but, you know, the strikers- Malik [Jakupovic] has six. And then we have four, four, three [goals for strikers Davis, Olivas, Korzeniowski] you know, so that’s not enough from the strikers. They need to produce more than that.”
Davis and Olivas earned homegrown contracts and first team playing time this season because they can produce and show a lot of promise, but they have been in a bit of a rough patch when it comes to scoring. On how the the team can help them get out of that rut, Richter shared:
“They’re getting chances, so that’s what the team can do, is help create chances for them. I think Eddy’s performance today… he was pretty good and dangerous and made right decisions in transition, the one that led to Kellan’s goal, the other chance Eddy created for Sal. These were really great moments, you know? But they need to take it. They need to take the chances. That’s what it comes down to, is get that confidence back in front of goal and you know, get on a run. You can go hot and cold for a striker run. If you take the overall picture for the season for both Eddy and Sal, probably not enough production.”
Besides lacking goals from the strikers, the absences of David Vazquez and CJ Olney have been felt as those two were key cogs in the creation. Cavan Sullivan had also been key during the season, and he looked strong in his return. Meanwhile, they have gotten goals lately from elsewhere, including midfielders and defenders. Kellan LeBlanc showed great skill on his goal, and then Jordan Griffin gave them the lead with his header for his first pro level goal. Both have been bright spots, and Griffin has been on a great run of form.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Richter said of Griffin’s play as of late and the goal. “He’s grown a lot this year. I think if you compare his first appearance, I think it was against Red Bull at home, to where he’s at right now. You know, he’s performing at a much higher level, so the goal is like a cap of a nice run that he’s in here. But for him, he needs to just keep going forward. Keep getting better every day, keep the focus and the training and you know, keep making every game one where he can take a step up. He’s been really solid in the last couple games, so that was great.”
For Griffin, who has had a strong year with Youth National Team appearances and is steadily getting quality time with Union II, it was a big moment for him to net his first career goal with the squad.
“It was a great feeling to get my first goal today. It’s not the result that we wanted, but a great feeling to score and help the team,” Griffin shared following the match. “It definitely feels great to help a team that I’ve been on for a long time, and I just want to keep doing everything that I can to help us. and every way possible. Definitely a little bit better to get a tie. Still not the result we wanted, but we’re just gonna keep working hard and we’ll get out of this soon.”
The defender knows there is work to be done as they enter the home stretch and hope to get a good playoff position. The defense has allowed some goals they should not normally, and Griffin described what needs work. “We can improve on some of our defensive actions, not falling asleep in the back, and just being more alert. Also just continuing to create chances and put them away. So, yeah, just continue to do all the things that we’re good at and just work on the stuff that we need to work on and just improve. We definitely created a lot of chances today. So just continue to do that each and every game and just put a few away will help us definitely.”
Union II will need to address the weaknesses as they really need to get three points at home on Sunday versus New England Revolution II before they go on the road. The ingredients are there for a strong playoff run, but Union II would greatly benefit from a strong performance on Sunday to give them momentum and perhaps get on a hot streak as the regular season heads toward the home stretch. They will play Revolution II at Subaru Park at 3:00 PM in what will be a very important match.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
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