Chester—For the fourth time this season, Union II faced FC Cincinnati 2—but with bigger implications than their previous three matchups where Union II was victorious in all of them. It was win or go home in the first round of the MLS Next Pro playoffs, and Union II were determined not to bow out of the postseason early. With how the teams were very familiar with each other, it would be no small task. In front of a good-sized crowd at Subaru Park, a brace by red-hot striker Stas Korzeniowski secured the 2-1 victory for Union II over their foe.
The lineup for Union II included George Marks in goal, the usual back line of Jordan Griffin, Rafael Uzcátegui, Neil Pierre, and Giovanny Sequera. Nick Pariano, CJ Olney, Kellan LeBlanc, and Markus Anderson were in the midfield. Stas Korzeniowski, tied for the team lead in goals, and Sal Olivas rounded out the lineup at forward. There was also a lot of depth on the bench for the match. It was the most complete roster they would have during the playoffs as they will lose players to the U-17 World Cup in Griffin and LeBlanc, as well as Cavan Sullivan (not in the lineup due to playing with the first team the night before) and Jamir Johnson (unused substitute).
In the first half, Union II were seeing the bulk of the early chances, aside from an early save Marks had to make, and came out hungry and pressing. That pressure on the goal came to fruition in the 10th minute when Korzeniowski put a header in the net from a LeBlanc free kick to make it 1-0 Philadelphia. Despite keeping the ball mostly in their attacking end, Union II conceded the tying goal in the 37th minute via a header by Andrés Dávila Mosquera. Union II nearly took the lead again moments later when Korzeniowski ripped a shot just wide left of the goal. The first half ended still tied 1-1, with Union II outshooting Cincinnati 9-5.
“On the first goal on the set piece, I just read it, the flight of the ball,” Korzeniowski shared after the game. “I saw that it was gonna drop short and, I guess it was just instinctive, you know, I saw the defender wasn’t going to jump for it, and so I just cut across him and got my head onto it.”
He continued, praising the tutelage of assistant coach Fred: “I’ve been practicing them a lot with Fred. He’s been great for that. Since March, we understood that was one of my areas in my game that needed improvements, so it was it was great to score a header goal. We had a moment on the sideline during our the celebration where we acknowledged how big of a moment that was.”
Photo credit: Philadelphia Union II
The second half began with no changes for either side. Union II got three corners in a short span, plus a dangerous free kick just outside the box, but were unable to get a good shot off them. After a nice interception by Anderson, LeBlanc was able to rip a shot on target that was saved by Paul Walters.
Ryan Richter made his first substitution in the 61st minute, bringing in Óscar Benítez for Olivas. Union II’s pressing finally paid off when Korzeniowski bagged a brace after a beautiful set up by Olney, who got the assist, putting them up 2-1 in the 64th minute.
On that goal, Korzeniowski had high praise for Olney, saying “CJ’s a wonderful player. He has a really good pass selection, and he just read my movement well. We were outnumbered going into the box, and I saw that they were all really ball-centric and I just halted my run and stayed back a bit, and as I’ve practiced so many times, just try to hit it, lace it on the ground to the far corner, and I’m glad I hit it the way I wanted to.”
Richter was also pleased with how the goal came about, saying “That was a great execution. CJ’s ball around the corner to Markus, setback for Nick, one touch ball behind, great for C.J the drive into the assist zone, and then be able to pick out in this moment. And good movement with Stas to separate, right? Take him to the front post, peel back off, and we’ll just get the timing right in that, and then to execute one touch. So all around that was a really, really good play, and then the type of goal that we work on along.”
Things were getting a bit chippy halfway through the second half, with Benítez getting what seemed a soft yellow card, and Cincinnati getting two yellow cards in a short span after fouling LeBlanc and Sequera.
Malik Jakupovic and Willyam Ferreira subbed on for Anderson and LeBlanc in the 81st minute as Union II were looking to hold on to their lead, if not tack on more. They nearly got that goal moments later when Pariano had the ball just come off his foot to the keeper as he was primed to send it home.
Noah Probst subbed on for Jordan Griffin in the 89th minute as Union II as their final substitution. At this point, Cincinnati were throwing all they had forward to get the equalizer, but the Union II really buckled down on defense, and after three minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle was blown, with Union II emerging victorious 2-1. When all was said and done, they had controlled the second half really well, outshooting Cincinnati 20-5 for the match and did not allow them to have a single corner kick.
They will wait to find out their opponent for the Conference Semifinals after Red Bulls II, Huntsville City FC, and Chicago Fire II won their matches, and Red Bulls II will get to choose their opponent as the top seed. Union II will host either Huntsville City FC or Chicago Fire II the weekend of October 24.
After the match, Ryan Richter shared his thoughts, and was very positive about the performance. He said, “I thought the match, for MLS Next Pro, was a really high level for both teams, and I thought it was competitive both ways, and they had chances that they could hurt us, and then, you know, we had probably a few more—certainly in the second half, I thought we had better control of the game and created a decent amount of goal-scoring chances.
“But I was proud of the guys the way they raised their level of their game, everyone in that participated. It was an awesome energy, great experience, a really good crowd for Union II, and that’s the kind of games we need these guys to play in, where there’s a little bit more pressure and you need to perform, and I was happy with the way that the guys stepped up there.”
It was a strong game for Olney, who since returning from his loan to Lexington has made a huge impact on the squad. “I thought he was great,” Richter said of Olney. “You see when you move him into his natural position, just how much more influential he can be in the game. So he’s done a great job for us out of position for the last few weeks. But today, when we moved him there, I think you can feel almost immediately how much he can affect the game when he’s in his natural position.”
Goalkeeper George Marks, who earlier in the week was honored with MLS Next Pro Save of the Year for four saves in a row he made while with Crown Legacy, had a solid match. Richter remarked about Marks’s leadership and communication with his teammates:
“That confidence is something that everyone gets—the guys in front of him, they feel that confidence. And sometimes it’s the instruction that he’s giving to the guys front of him, but a lot of times it’s the easy, not the routine plays that he makes look so easy every time. It’s no hiccups, and this gives the defenders confidence that if one ball goes over top, he’s in a position where he can play off his line and clear it out. So defenders can be more aggressive and more confident in the way that they’re defending the space in front, knowing the goalkeeper’s in control of the space behind him.”
Also having a huge game was Korzeniowski, who has seven goals in his last five matches after not scoring a goal most of the summer. Strikers can get on streaks, which he was well aware of.
“I guess I’m just riding on a way of the momentum and trying to keep that, latch onto it,” Korzeniowski said. “Just… it’s a moment in time. It was just a dry spell, and every striker’s familiar with that. It’s a part of the game, and it’s how you deal with it, and I think I just pushed myself through the summer, through the injury, and just kept grinding away at it, and it finally clicked. I knew when it would, that I’d be in a good spot, and I’m just trying to keep perspective, not get too ahead of myself, but understand the things that got me to where I am right now, and to keep doing that.”
For some of the players, it was not their first foray into the playoffs. Nick Pariano and Neil Pierre were part of the squad that went to the MLS Next Pro Cup in 2024, can offer some wisdom to their teammates who are new to the experience.
“The message is… we talk about a lot in training, Ryan talks about it all the time, is that ultimately you have to win games and you have to be like a winner. You have to win in everything that you do,” Pariano said.
The veteran players are also hungry to get back to the summit and win it all this season. Pariano said, “I think everyone that was there last year, this year really wants to get there, and I think it was cool for like all these young guys that saw us do that last year, so I think they absolutely want to play on that stage. And so one game at a time then, you know? One more home game at least, so we’re looking forward to that.”
Pierre had a similar sentiment, saying “I’ll just say, take it game by game, especially if that’s the message we’re saying, ’cause if you think about the bigger picture, oh, we need to get this, we’re gonna forget about the game. And so I think it’s just taking it day by day and training hard every day, no days off, and then, hopefully we get to get farther than we did last time.”
It was quite the week for Pierre, who was celebrating his 18th birthday on Sunday, as he was named MLS Next Pro Defender of the Year and part of the Best XI. On the honor, he said, “I’m still kind of like, I don’t know how to feel yet. It’s still kind of hitting me. I guess maybe after the season ends, it’s like, all right, I’m cooled down, ’cause right now just playoff mode, straight playoffs. So I think obviously it’s a great feeling. I think without this team, I would not have this. So I think it’s, to be honest, just giving it back to the team.”
Korzeniowski remarked about the mood in the locker room and the attitude moving forward, saying “Yeah, it’s at an all-time high. I come from a college background wherein my season ends after three months. And this has been a longer season than I’ve ever been used to. You’re playing from March and you’re playing for moments like these. You play to make it to playoffs and then you want to stay. You want to stay alive, and you want to continue your form.”
He continued, “And we’ve been in a good run, and we’re trying to leverage that and to just keep that momentum as a collective and we’re gonna lose a few guys because the upcoming U-17 World Cup, which will will definitely be felt in the group, in training numbers, but we know what our identity is and we know what collective goals are, and yes, they’ll be a loss and we’ll miss them, but we’re still going to do everything to get where we want.”
Stay tuned to find out who Union II will face, which will surely not be an easy task as the East is deep. But for now, Union II are more determined than ever to keep pushing forward.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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