Chester—Philadelphia Union II returned home to the friendly confines of Subaru Park after a two-game road trip to host Chicago Fire II in a battle of number three versus number four in the standings. While the final score of 5-2 may seem like a blowout, especially when considering both Chicago goals came at the end of the match, Union II battled the entire match with a good team that is hard to keep off the scoresheet, and were out-shot 24-21.
The starting lineup saw George Marks getting the nod in goal for the second time this season. The keeper featured in their win at FC Cincinnati 2 and has been in a back up role for the first team. The back line was the standard with Neil Pierre and Rafael Uzcátegui at center back and Jordan Griffin and Giovanny Sequera at left and right back, respectively. CJ Olney, Nick Pariano, Markus Anderson, and Cavan Sullivan got the start at midfield. Rounding out the lineup was the striker duo of Sal Olivas and Stas Korzeniowski.
As Union II took the field, there appeared to be an energy that seemed to be lacking in some of their recent performances, and they really started the match looking like a team with purpose. They were pressing, making quality passes, and taking their chances. While Chicago Fire II got a couple opportunities in the early going, it was Union II bringing most of the pressure. That finally paid off in the 15th minute when Korzeniowski buried his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Sequera, to put Union II up 1-0.
Fire II’s Jason Shokalook, the number two goal scorer in Next Pro going into the game, was bringing some threats and was showing why he has so many goals this season (17 when all was said and done), but the defense (and the offside flag) had other ideas. The offense was also rolling, and Olivas was able to go on a breakaway at goal after a pass from Sullivan. He blasted the ball past Fire II’s keeper, Owen Pratt, to put Union II up 2-0 in the 21st minute. Sullivan earned his fifth assist of the season. Union II saw more chances, but finished out the half up 2-0.
“The energy was good,” Richter remarked post-game, regarding the first half. “We started the game the right way, created a lot of chances, and got the two goals for halftime, and that was huge.”
The second half kicked off with a perhaps a little extra mojo because the stadium erupted in cheers for the Eagles beating the Rams in dramatic fashion just before the start. Union II picked up where they left off with the energy and pressing. Marks handled any threats that came his way, and the defense continued to be strong.
As Sequera was making a run at the goal in the 60th minute, he was taken down in the box by Justin Reynolds, and the referee pointed to the spot. Sullivan stepped up and buried the penalty kick for his sixth goal of the season, making the lead 3-0. Immediately after, Ryan Richter made his first substitutions, making four changes. Kellan LeBlanc, Óscar Benítez, Kaiden Moore, and Eddy Davis came on for Anderson, Sequera, Griffin, and Olivas.
“Yeah, that was a huge moment in the game,” Richter said of Sequera’s turn at the corner and drawing the penalty. “Gio somehow gets himself and wiggles through these situations and he has that special quality in those types of situations where he, like, wiggles past the guy and somehow gets himself in a really dangerous situation. The guy makes a bad challenge to draw the penalty, but Gio adds that little piece of, like, he has the 1v1 one that’s like—you can’t quite explain how he always can kind of get his shoulder past the guy and get past him. So that was a great play by him.”
Chicago was getting some chances, and Marks made a big save on Dylan Borso’s shot. A few minutes later, Korzeniowski bagged a brace on the day when he scored in the 66th minute for his sixth goal of the season. Pariano flicked a pass to Korzeniowski, who spun around and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. Richter had mentioned previously that the strikers needed to get scoring, and score they did. Marks and the defense, for their part, did a tremendous job negating some chances for Fire II that came in quick succession, including a goal line clearance by Pariano.
What seemed to be the final substitution came for Union II in the 75th minute as Malik Jakupovic replaced Korzeniowski. The 16-year-old striker had played the previous day for the U-18 squad in their 2-1 win over New England Revolution, scoring in the 2nd minute. Jamir Johnson and Willyam Ferreira, who were unused substitutes, had played in that match as well. They have all been fantastic in their appearances with Union II, and provide a lot of options with depth as the squad moves toward the postseason.
LeBlanc nearly made it 5-0 on a quality shot after receiving a great pass from Sullivan, but Pratt made the save. Union II would need to make one more substitution as Pierre exited the match with an apparent head injury, and Leandro Soria came on as a concussion substitution in the 80th minute.
Marks made another great save as Shokalook put a shot on target as regulation was winding down. Union II were not done scoring, however, as Jakupovic chipped Pratt to make it 5-0 in the 83rd minute, assisted by LeBlanc. Fire II would get one back after Jhoiner Montiel was fouled in the box by Moore. Shokalook took the PK, which Marks saved, but Shokalook buried the rebound to make it 5-1 in the 89th minute. Shokalook tacked on another goal in the last seconds of the four minutes of stoppage time to make it 5-2, but it was too little, too late. Union II had an emphatic win and had played their most complete game in some time.
“I thought it was a really good team performance, and the two goals at the end are a shame,” Richter remarked after the match. “We need to do better in both moments. That’s clear, but I don’t want to take away from the performance of the team, the five goals, the strikers scoring. So it was it was a really good team performance.”
Marks concurred, saying, “It was good—I think a good, like 89, 90 minutes, but, no, I think we were really happy. And just being with them like the day before in training, they set out the objective very clearly. Richter does a great job with that, and they kind of checked the boxes and the different things they need to do.”
It was also a nice response after dropping their away match versus Chicago via late goals conceded and missed opportunities.
“Yeah, it was a great performance,” Korzeniowski said. “Last time we were out there [in Chicago], we lost 2-0, and it was a really deflating loss, just because we weren’t able to get things right in front in front of the goal. And then on the defensive side, the goals we gave up were uncharacteristic of us. So there was was a personal element to this win today, but it was just a complete performance from back to front, and the goal showed for it, and the clean sheet up until then. But, you know, I think there’s a lot of positive takeaways, and it’s good to build this winning momentum as we hit the last stretch of games on the regular season.”
For Korzeniowski, it was a continuance of momentum he has been building. The towering Penn graduate and 2024 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year had gone on a cold spell over the summer, and got his first goal since June in the previous match at Crew 2.
“It’s always a process that you’re working towards, and it just took me a little bit of time to get to get some momentum,” Korzeniowski said following the match. “I’ve been training hard and working at it and just waiting for my moment to come together, and I guess I’ve experienced a bit of that in the last two games. But I’m really hungry and ambitious for more, and that’s the feeling of a goal scorer—is that once you get a taste of it, you’re constantly desiring more of it, and I’m I’m feeling really good about myself. But I know that I want to catch up for some of the goals I left out on the field earlier in the season and make up for that. Every game it’s the same approach, just don’t overthink it and let it come to you. And when I have my moment, just bury it.”
As much as Korzeniowski did his part on the offensive side, Marks did his part and more in goal. The former Clemson and Charlotte FC keeper, who was signed at the end of August as the Union needed goalkeeper depth in the wake of Andre Blake and Pierce Holbook’s injuries, was outstanding. As Blake provided great leadership the night before in goal for the first team, Marks followed suit with Union II. He recorded ten saves on the day and did well directing the defense.
“He was excellent,” Richter said of Marks. “ I mean, he was excellent in the game. I feel bad for him that we conceded two goals because he deserves a clean sheet with his performance today.”
Korzeniowski also had high praise for Marks. “He is a cat, I mean… that guy stood on his head and it was incredible. He saved the pen, too, and it was unlucky not to get there for the rebound. He played with us at Cincinnati and this is his second game, and just in key moments reads the game really well and it’s he’s quite a guy off the field too, so it only makes him more special. So shout out to him—he’s phenomenal.”
It was only Marks’s second match within the Union, but he has integrated quickly. On the move to Philly, Marks said, “It’s something new for me. I’ve been in Charlotte for a long time, four years, so some tough goodbyes, but I think I did a good job of reframing the perspective and seeing this as the opportunity that it was. I’ve been really lucky to have Phil [Wheddon] and Ross [Cain] to welcome me to the GK Union, and all the boys have been fantastic. I think I’ve done my best to hit the ground running.”
He certainly has, and while a clean sheet would have been nice, he did make a great initial save on Shokalook, who has been so good at penalties and scoring in general. Marks discussed the penalty, saying “Ross does a good job with the analytics and stuff. He’s good with the Opta, all the data with the penalty, so I kind of just listen to him. It doesn’t really count for much, to be honest, because he touched it right in, but it’s always good when you can save a penalty and hopefully you can give the guys confidence moving forward that I can save a couple of them.”
MLS Next Pro’s best defense, who have given up the fewest goals, has impressed Marks. He also noted how it starts with the first team and goes down through. “It’s a good group of young guys. I think, to be honest, it’s more about the identity through the club, from the first team to the Next Pro team. You can see it’s a defensive mentality and worse comes to worst, if it’s an off day for the team, they don’t want to give up goals, they want to limit opportunities for the other team. And I think you can see that with Bradley [Carnell] with the first team. I think they’ve given up the least shots on target, the least shots in MLS, and that trickles down here. So I think the cohesion that they have all the way through is really good and it prepares these young boys, and that’s why they’ve had the success with the academy that they have.”
It was a strong performance as the squad nears the postseason. As FC Cincinnati 2 dispatched New England Revolution II, Union II jumped over them in the standings to take back second place. Meanwhile, first place Red Bulls II had a draw with the eliminated Inter Miami II, but lost in PKs, and Union II are now only three points behind them. It is good momentum heading into the last two matches.
Korzeniowski feels confident in his team as they wrap up the regular season. “Just got to ride that high and keep climbing the mountain, just stacking wins, stacking good days, and I think the most important thing going into the playoffs—and this would be my first year—but in my experience in college is, you know, when you come into those high tension moments as you rely on your preparation, you rely on your training, you rely on on the good things you’ve done in the past. So we’re just trying to great moments for the future.”
Richter, in his (so far) very successful first year heading the second team, is confident in his squad heading into the postseason. When asked if he felt that win instilled some confidence heading toward the playoffs in his squad, he said, “I hope so. I hope so. It does for me, I hope it does for the guys.”
Union II have two regular season games left, and will travel north of the border to Toronto FC II on Friday for a 7:00 PM match, and then return home to host NYCFC II on Sunday, October 5 at 1:00 PM for Decision Day.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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