CHESTER, Pa.— Philadelphia’s youthful second team was back in action Sunday on a mild afternoon after winning their opening match the previous week against Toronto FC II. Their opponent, FC Cincinnati 2, was coming off a 3-1 loss to Connecticut United. In 2025, Union II seemed to have Cincinnati’s number, defeating them in all three regular season matches and the playoff match. That trend continued as the squad won 1-0 behind a Finn Sundstrom goal, to improve to 2-0 on the season and be third in the conference standings.
Head coach Ryan Richter rolled with a very similar lineup to the previous match, except Sal Olivas got the start at striker with Malik Jakupovic, and Sundstrom was at center back with Rafael Uzcátegui. Jordan Griffin was at left back and Oliver Pratt was at right. The midfield saw Óscar Benítez and Timo Mendoza at defensive mid, and Kellan LeBlanc and Willyam Ferreira at attacking mid. George Marks was once again in goal. Richter also had a full bench this time, with rest of the players from the previous match, as well as the addition of Andrew Craig. This was the center back’s first appearance in the Union II roster since June 2, 2024, but he still has yet to debut.
The match had barely started when FCC2’s Nathan Gray took down Sal Olivas in the 3rd minute, earning an early yellow card. The home side followed up with a near miss moments later when Ferreira floated a free kick to Uzcátegui, whose header banged off the crossbar.
The Ohio side saw their first chance in the 6th minute when Ademar Chávez’s shot from the edge of the box forced a save by Marks. The visitors picked up their second very early yellow card in the 7th minute when 30-year-old first team center back Matt Miazga fouled Olivas. Miazga’s appearance in the lineup came as somewhat of a surprise, but he was apparently trying to get his legs back in his first match since last September.
Union II were getting chances on several corners and free kicks as the half wore on. In the 24th minute, a foul on LeBlanc by Deiver Mosquera led to free kick right outside the box that Ferreira sailed over the goal.
The breakthrough finally came in the 37th minute off a corner executed by Ferreira, which found Sundstrom for a well-timed header and a 1-0 lead. It was Sundstrom’s first goal since joining the Union organization.
The third and final yellow card caution of the day came in the 45th minute to FCC2’s Ayoub Lajhar when he pulled down Pratt from behind. At the end of first half, Union II were outshooting FCC2 5-1, and that trend would only continue in the second half.
The visitors made a triple substitution at the half, including taking Miazga off. Union II came out with a lot of energy and had a chance when Ferreira ripped a ball sent over by Griffin over the bar. Cincinnati got a great chance to level it shortly after, but their free kick outside the box was knocked out wide of the net.
In the 52nd minute, Griffin went down with an injury out of bounds after his momentum on a play carried him toward the boards. It appeared to possibly be a non-contact injury, and after some attention from the training staff, he got up and gingerly walked off to the locker room, unable to continue. No update was available on Griffin after the match. Meanwhile, Union II had to play with ten men until Kaiden Moore subbed on in the 56th minute.
Richter made his next changes in the 69th minute as Willyam Ferreira and Timo Mendoza came off in favor of Matheus De Paula and Nehan Hasan.
Union II were pushing hard for a second goal, and Jakupovic nearly had it in the 80th minute when Olivas sent a through ball to LeBlanc, who in turn passed it to the top of the box. Jakupovic one-timed it with his left foot, but sailed it high over the goal. John Ruf subbed on right after for LeBlanc, bringing on some fresh attacking firepower.
Richter would say postgame, “Malik—we know what he can do. He should score a couple goals today. He knows that, and he’s pissed at himself for it, and that’s what we love about him. He’s a striker, and he wants to score. So he gets in the right position. He has the quality to do it. He needs to do better today, and he holds himself to a standard where we won. He’s pissed at himself that he didn’t get two goals, because that’s what he he’s hungry for.” It was evident with the way the 16-year-old was attacking, but in the end he was kept off the score sheet this time.
Cincinnati made a late push in the last moments of stoppage, including a corner, but it was cleared out and the match ended with the 1-0 scoreline in favor of Philadelphia holding, and the home side outshooting their opponent 13-3, and only allowing one shot on target. Marks picked up his second straight clean sheet, and the defense, anchored by another strong performance by team captain Uzcátegui, got the job done.
Richter, however, noted postgame that his squad needed to clean up a few things. “My message to the guys was that game should never end with us defending a corner to possibly lose points in the game. We need to kill that game. We need to score the second, score the third, and end the game,” he said.
“And even in moments when it got really sloppy, it didn’t have to be, and we can play simple, and we could have created more and more chances—but that’s okay. We have to learn from that, and then the next time we’re in this position where we have control of the match, that we don’t leave it to the last minute where it still can be decided.”
It has been a new-look Union II this season with a lot of Academy U-18s and and a couple new signings, but they seemed to look more comfortable, compact, and cohesive this match. Richter was pleased with a lot of what he saw.
“I don’t want to go through the guys individually, but what we asked as far as the compactness of the team, I thought they did a really good job of that, and then we did a much better job playing through the middle of the field, playing through our sixes,” Richter shared.
“I thought Timo Mendoza had a great game, and he was always an option in build up, and we were able to play through him,” he continued. “It opened up so much in the field, which I didn’t really see last week. So I was proud of him and Óscar in the way that they, and as a team, how we improved in this, because it’s part of the style we want to play. We have to be able to give the ball to our sixes in tight space, and they have to go turn and try to play forward from there, and it creates space for our attacking players, so I was happy with that.”
Richter was also pleased with newcomer Oliver Pratt, who he said has the mentality to make adapting to the level easy, and he also praised the leadership and defensive work of Uzcátegui and the set pieces of Ferreira.
Ferreira shared his thoughts on the set pieces, saying, “I think set pieces could decide the game, especially if it’s like a last play of the game, and it’s a corner kick. You don’t want to scuff it up. You want to deliver and give your team a chance to maybe get the three points, or tie a game, or whatever the case is.”
After mostly coming off the bench in 2025, Ferreira appears to have an elevated role this season, having started both matches in strong fashion. “It’s something I’ve been waiting for,” he noted on being a starter. “Last season…got minutes, but not a lot. So blessed for this season to actually start and help my team as much as I can.”
While the team is young, and many are getting their first action at the Next Pro level, they are no strangers to playing with each other. Many, as Ferreira noted, have been playing at the Academy together for a long time. “So we do have a lot of new guys, but I know these ones because I played Academy with them. So every day in training, we just, you know, look to push them, and pushing them helps the whole group overall. So I think they’ve adjusted pretty good.”
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
When asked what lessons he learned last season that he could pass on, he stated, “Physicality. Last year it was, I think, one of the reasons why I didn’t get all the minutes I got was because physicality. So this year, I’m focusing more on my… to get a little bigger and see if I can improve in that aspect of the game.” He already is showing great confidence and improvement, and will be one to watch as the season progresses.
Meanwhile, the young first-team-signed defender, Sundstrom, had a chance to shine with the game-winner and his first goal for Philly. He shared after the match, “It’s an honor. I knew yesterday, I just felt it that I was going to score a corner, and just came to it. Just envisioned it, so very grateful.”
“I think we came out pretty good today,” Sundstrom said. “Just the aggression was really good. The press, everything, everyone together. I think we led off a little bit in the second half, which we did in the first game too, which I think we need to improve on.”
Having started for the first team in the season opener at DC United, and coming from USL previously, Sundstrom shared what it was like adjusting around the different levels of play. “Yeah, it’s different… every league has a different philosophy and just how they play. MLS is very high level, high speed. USL is kind of chaotic and physical. This league’s tactical with young players, very different with every league, and I’m enjoying it.”
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
A very positive day for the defender who had some learning experiences in DC, and one he will continue to build off whether he is with the first and second team. Likewise, Union II as a whole have a lot of positives, but also some areas to grow as they hope to keep the early momentum going. They will host brand new Connecticut United FC next Sunday, March 15 at 3:00 PM in their first-ever matchup.
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