CHESTER, Pa.— Philadelphia Union II will officially embark on their 2026 campaign on Saturday at Subaru Park against Toronto FC II, and the squad taking the field may look quite different from opening day last year—and not just because of the sharp, new primary kits that were unveiled Wednesday.
Much of the squad from the 2024 Eastern Conference Champion squad returned in 2025, but since then, many players have either moved up or moved on. Head coach Ryan Richter, in his second year at the helm, has a squad of many young, less experienced players (at least at the Next Pro level), but that does not mean they are not talented or capable of succeeding.
A new cycle at Union II
We at The One Team We Agree On spoke with Richter ahead of the match on Saturday, and Richter noted the changes and how there will need to be a lot of growth. You can view the entire interview on YouTube:
“I think the biggest difference is the transition of some of the players last year. I would say it’s a lot of guys that had experience at the MLS Next Pro level, and they were kind of at a different point in their cycle and their development closer to the first team,” Richter shared.
Indeed, seeing players like Stas Korzeniowski, Cavan Sullivan, and Andrew Rick getting important minutes with the first team, guys like Sal Olivas and Eddy Davis being integrated more, and Neil Pierre on loan (as well as rumored loans of CJ Olney and Markus Anderson), change is afoot. Couple that with other more experienced players like Nick Pariano, Isaiah LeFlore, and David Vazquez moving on, and you have room for upcoming talent to step in and players that had a smaller role getting a chance to break out.
“Now it’s kind of a new group of players that are kind of starting out their their next step with Union II, and, you know, see exactly where they’re at and how far they can get this season,” Richter continued. “But I would say it’s like kind of a new cycle with as far as the players and just even the age of the players.
“To use a couple examples, like Neil Pierre- played last year was his second season as a full time starter in the second team. And you saw the the level compared to the year before for him. There’s other guys in that were kind of in that same space. CJ [Olney], David [Vazquez], Eddy [Davis], Sal [Olivas], a lot of these guys… Markus [Anderson], whereas this year, you see more guys kind of at the beginning of that phase.”
Returning to Union II and being more in that beginning phase, according to Richter, are players like Willyam Ferreira, Malik Jakupovic, and Kellan LeBlanc, and Jordan Griffin, who played big roles, but have a chance to make a big splash. He noted even Timo Mendoza, one of several Academy U-18 players who have been in with the squad.
“A lot of guys that are kind of in that space now where it’s gonna be a great opportunity to see how much they can grow this season, and see how far we can get, kind of month by month, game by game… see how much they can continue to grow and adapt to the level, and see how far they can push it,” Richter said.
Season aspirations
After making it to the MLS Next Pro Cup Final in 2024 and the Eastern Conference Championship in 2025, Richter said it is, of course, always the target to get to those championships. This level, also, has a huge development aspect as he noted:
“We try to take it game by game and week by week, because it is a development team. If you look too far in the future, forget about the little details, especially for the players, you forget about the little things that they need to do right, week by week. When they have the target for them, it might be to play on the first team, but there’s a long way that they have to go to do that. For us, it’s to win MLS Next Pro, but there’s a lot of games that lead up to that, and there’s a lot of improvement and development that has to happen along the way to get to that space. And you saw that with the group that we had last year, and in the in the year previous with Marlon [LeBlanc] and the staff then.”
What should fans expect to see Saturday when they take on Toronto FC II? As always, Richter was pragmatic, noting how it will be a new experience for many, while the squad has a lot of talent and room for growth.
“This year, you know, we’ll have to see how much we grow—that’ll be the story of how far we make it and how competitive we are as as far as in the Eastern Conference, and how far we can take it. We’re also realistic that a lot of these guys Saturday will be their first game playing at this level. So we shouldn’t expect them to be perfect from the first game we but we should expect the right commitment, the right reaction to a good/bad game. We have to build the following week to get better again.”
Returning players stepping up
While at the time of this article, no official roster news has been released, we expect to see players like Kellan LeBlanc, Willyam Ferreira, Malik Jakupovic, Rafael Uzcátegui, Óscar Benítez, Giovanny Sequera, and Kaiden Moore play big roles.
Jakupovic is coming off a tremendous showing with the US U-17 Men’s National Team in the Concacaf Qualifiers. He was tied for the most regular season goals with Union II in 2025 and did not even play the full season. Richter has high praise for the 16 year old striker, and sees him having a “big year.”
On Jakupovic’s national team call up, Richter said, “He’s the kind of player that, if you put him in a game, he’s going to score goals. And if it’s a game that’s a blowout and there’s seven goals, he’s going to get five of them. He’s just so hungry to score, and he has such quality in front of goal and and knows how to put himself in the right positions, in the way that he reads the game, that it’s no surprise me with the amount of goals that he was scoring in these games.”
After coming off the bench in the majority of his appearances last season, this could be the season to take hold of a starter role. Jakupovic is also still learning how to be a professional soccer player as he navigates being a teenager—a fact not lost on Richter. He is, however, excited to see what he can do: “He’s one that we all believe in so much, and we can’t wait to see how it’s going to go for him this year, next year… but for us, there’s no limit on where he can take it or when the next step can happen.”
Goalkeepers
Meanwhile, the goalkeeper situation will likely continue to be how it has been with Union II. Five different keepers made appearances in 2025, and Richter said to expect more of the same based on the first team schedule and who is available, and keeping guys match-fit.
One keeper who featured in 2025 was Pierce Holbrook, who went down with a knee injury in warm up in August. According to Richter, Holbrook is “fully fit” and played in two preseason games, though he still has some work to do. “He’s not quite moving exactly the way that he was prior to the injury, so that might take a couple more weeks, but he has the mentality to to keep pushing to get to this spot where you know where he where he was, and then to keep going to where he wants to get to,” Richter said of Holbook.
New faces, new opportunities
While many U-18 Academy players have trained with Union II during the preseason, and it remains to be seen who will play roles, one name that people should know is John Ruf. The Academy striker has been impressive thus far to the Union II staff.
Richter noted, “John has surprised a lot of us. You know, he surprised the entire coaching staff, just with his physicality, his work rate, his effort against the ball, his runs behind. He finds a way to make an impact in almost every game that we’ve played through preseason and every training session, he trains like an absolute animal. So he’s made a great impression so far for him.”
He also noted, of course, that Ruf has some things to clean up, but that comes with the territory. He has room to grow, and that is exciting.
“But he has a lot of the qualities that we like in a striker, and he has some time here to develop, and he’ll be one that certainly gets the opportunity with Union II,” Richter said. “And for him, it’s the same—as I say with with all the guys—it’s about getting better through the entire season, and he seems to have the kind of personality and the kind of work ethic that can make that possible. And the opportunity is there for him this year, because he’s earned it with the way that he came in this year.”
Another new face around the Union’s campus is midfielder Jett Harrison. He was recently announced as joining the Union’s U-18s, and appeared in the Snow Bowl tournament recently. Richter, who was at the Snow Bowl and thought the tournament was fantastic, got to see a lot of the U-16s and U-18s in action. He said Harrison has been training with his squad the last two weeks, and mentioned he is adapting to the new environment and teammates, but has a great personality and fits well in their style of play. They are not trying to rush his development or skip any steps.
“But the opportunity is there for all of the guys in the academy,” Richter, a former Union Academy coach himself, noted. “And you know, that’s kind of our our goal with the whole program is to to, whether local or coming from outside, that we can bring guys through the ranks and prepare them for the next step, be successful, take another step, but just trying to do that at the right time, that that gives the player the best opportunity for success.”
Coaching staff changes
Richter’s staff at Union II including returning assistant coaches Henry Apaloo and Fred, and Ross Cain returns as the goalkeeping coach. Shabab Rahman takes over as performance coach after Eric Udelson departed for Chicago Fire II. Kyle Chin is the new performance analyst, replacing Diego Parra, who is now with the San Jose Earthquakes’ first team.
Richter was thankful to have worked with Udelson and Parra, and had high praise for both of them. On the new members of his staff, he said:
“With Kyle joining the staff, you know, he’s worked in MLS Next Pro before, and you can see already, like he completely gets it how to work with coaches, what the coaches need at what point in the week. You know, you don’t have to get on them too much for the detail and preparation for games. And he’s on it, so that’s really cool to see.
“And then with Shabab, there’s going to be some growth for him stepping into that role, like I mentioned, it’s a little different coming from the Academy. It’s a little different because it has to be individual, and we have to from a physical standpoint prepare these boys to compete against men, so they have to be robust enough to do that. And that’s the job of the performance coach in the second team, is getting these guys physically prepared that they’re in a space where they can compete against men.”
Facing Toronto FC II
The first match of the season can be a challenge at the MLS level, and it certainly is at the Next Pro level as well. Richter noted the unpredictability as a lot of players are training with the first teams, and the lineups can be quite different if they do get to see any preseason games. He does know what he hopes for his team, however.
“It’s a lot of guys that it will be their first time playing in MLS Next Pro. And for some guys that were maybe coming a little bit from the bench or maybe had a not as big of a role last year, they’ll be playing a big role this year. So what I’m looking forward is to is seeing that they’re brave and aggressive.”
The Academy players have come up with similar style of play, and they know what is expected, but will be playing at a different level. Richter shared, “Now it’s trying to do it at a different level, against some older competition, against better competition, but that no one’s afraid going into the game. That’s all that I ask, you know, and we can correct the mistakes as we go through the year, but the starting point can’t be that everyone was hiding on the field. That can’t be the case. So what I look forward to most is no passengers, everybody showing what they can have. And again, mistakes are okay, because that’s how we work forward.”
A certain Toronto FC II player is one that Richter is very familiar with, however. Jackson Gilman, who completed his senior season at Pitt (and was a teammate of former Union II defender Gavin Wetzel), was drafted by TFC II. Not only did Gilman come through the Academy and spend time with Union II, but Richter coached him at the Academy level. Richter spoke of the midfielder:
“Jackson’s a great character. He’s someone we would have loved to have in Union II this year, but he was drafted by Toronto out of Pitt. He had a great college career at Pitt. I had the chance to work with him from when he was a U-12, and then also at U-14 for a little bit, and then a U-17 as well. And then last year, we had him in during their breaks, in school in the spring break, and then through the summer as well. So no surprise to me that he’s latched on with an MLS organization, and he’s top kid, top family, someone we’re all rooting for, just not this weekend.”
Union II play their earliest match ever, opening at home this Saturday, February 28, at Subaru Park. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 PM. New this season, matches will be streamed free via the OneFootball platform (more details here), and will also air on the MLS Next Pro website.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
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