CHESTER, Pa.— Looking to make it a perfect three-game homestand, the 2-0 Philadelphia Union II welcomed new MLS Next Pro side Connecticut United FC (1-1) to Subaru Park on Sunday in a matchup of a very young squad comprised of many teenagers versus a team of mostly 22-23 year olds. This, of course, is typical of the independent teams not affiliated with an MLS club, and brings great competition and challenge to the younger players—a challenge Union II head coach Ryan Richter welcomes.
“That’s exactly what the players need, because you should just see the overall physicality and the competitiveness of this game compared the first two games of the season. I mean, it’s such a bigger challenge, but mistakes are punished,” he said.
In the end, Union II were indeed punished for some mistakes, and fell 2-1 in the end while playing down a man for the last 30 minutes. They seemed to be caught off-guard initially with the way CT brought their attack, but seemed to adapt as the match went on, and learning most definitely occurred.
“You have to be up to the level of the physicality before we talk about anything from the game, and that’s not always the case with the second teams,” Richter continued. “So having these independent teams, I hope that the league can keep adding more of them, because it’s such a valuable experience where you can say you learn from mistakes, but you really learn it from mistakes when you get punished for them.”
A familiar lineup
The starting lineup looked very much like the previous match, with a notable change being Giovanny Sequera’s return to the squad after being pulled to the first team the last two weeks. With Jordan Griffin out with a hamstring injury, Sequera slotted into right back and Oliver Pratt moved to left back.
The rest of the starting lineup was the same: Malik Jakupovic and Sal Olivas at striker, Kellan LeBlanc and Willyam Ferreira at attacking mid, Óscar Benítez and Timo Mendoza at defensive mid, Rafael Uzcátegui and Finn Sundstrom at center back, and George Marks in goal.
On the bench were Alex Smith, Matheus De Paula, Theo Reed, Kaiden Moore, John Ruf, Nehan Hasan, Andrew Craig, Lennon Harrington, and making his first appearance in the squad, 16 year old Tyler Gladstone.
How the match unfolded
CT United came out pressing Union II from the get-go. The first test for Marks came in the 6th minute as the ball got flicked past the defense, setting up a shot by Cauã Paixão that Marks was able to get a piece of and knock out. In short order, he had to make another big save on Laurie Goddard’s shot that he batted off the line, and not long after caught the ball on a free kick.
As the game progressed, the physicality of it was noticeable, and Union II were the first to receive bookings, with Benítez in the 15th minute and Pratt in the 16th, both for poor tackles.
It initially looked like Marks was beaten in the 17th minute, but Michael Boamah’s goal was ruled offside. CT got another huge opportunity in the 26th minute off a scrum in front of the net from a corner, but Jakupovic headed Goddard’s attempt away from the goal line and cleared it out.
CT received their first booking in the 28th minute when Alex Monis was shown a yellow for a poor tackle on Pratt. Shortly thereafter, Jakupovic had a major chance as he received a ball from Sequera, then ripped a shot from near the top of the box that was blocked by defender Rickson van Hees. It was the best chance so far for Union II, but a moment Jakupovic would learn from.
Another big opportunity came in the 38th minute when Jakupovic initiated a nice sequence, passing off to Ferreira, who crossed it to LeBlanc, and his one-timer went wide left of the goal. It did not take Union II much longer to finally connect, however.
In the 42nd minute Pratt sent a through ball up the left side to LeBlanc, who fed it to Jakupovic at the top of the box. The 16 year old faked out two defenders with a stutter step, and then sent the ball between two other defenders and keeper to the bottom right of the net for his second goal on the season.
“I mean, he has these instincts in front of goal, and then he has the quality to finish,” Richter said after the match of Jakupovic. “So it’s no surprise when he does the unexpected thing that leads to the bigger chance. You know, whether it’s the little shot fake that gets the goal, if it’s a one-touch finish, if it’s the little clever things that you need in front of goal that you can just like, feel these moments and it just, you can see it developing, but he just has the composure and instinct in front of goal to kind of make these things up.”
Union II headed to the locker room up 1-0, but in the second half, CT United found their equalizer in the 57th minute via Goddard, who got by Sundstrom and slotted it past Marks. It first goal given up by Union II this season on a goal Marks really could not do anything about, and the result of CT being relentless in the attack.
Momentum continued to swing in CT’s favor as Benítez was shown a second yellow and sent off in the 60th minute for a poor tackle, rendering the home side down to ten men while they already had their hands full. On top of that, Olivas went down with a non-contact injury and had to be off the field for a period of time. This led to Union II playing briefly with nine men, which CT took full advantage of as they forced Marks into a save, and almost sent the rebound in if not for some quick defending by Sequera.
Richter went to his bench in the 64th minute, bringing on Matheus De Paula, Nehan Hasan, and Lennon Harrington on for Jakupovic, Ferreira, and Sundstrom. He then brought on Kaiden Moore for Mendoza in the 70th minute as CT United bringing a lot of pressure.
Richter shared after the match that his decision to bring Moore on at that point had a lot to do with the red card. “And then, you know, when the decision we brought Lennon in, we felt we needed to little more solidity in midfield, so we moved him into midfield and brought Kaiden as a center back. But Lennon was the best option to kind of solidify the midfield at that point.”
Marks was forced into another huge save on 1v1 in the 73rd when Moore was beaten by a speedy Barnabás Tanyi, but the keeper was able to bat the ball away. It was another example of Marks putting on a fantastic display during the match and so far in general with Union II.
Richter made his final change in the 78th minute, bringing on John Ruf for Olivas. With regulation waning, Union II continued to battle, seemingly hoping for at least a point by holding the tie. Sequera was shown a yellow in the 80th minute as CT continued to bring the pressure. They found what would be their game-winner when Tanyi scored in the 86th minute after Moore had the misfortune to get burned again. That 2-1 scoreline would hold, handing Union II their first loss of the season and making both squads’ records 2-1-0. Union II were out-shot 17-4, giving up nine shots on target, while only having one of their own.
Post game thoughts
It was a hard-fought match, and while the loss surely stung, Richter, ever the pragmatic leader of the squad, looked at the learning moments for his young squad. He shared his thoughts after the match:
“Yeah, I thought it was a really physical, competitive game. Two teams playing in a similar style. I think it took us some time to adjust to the physicality of the start. And then we presented the first half, we grew into the game a little bit. And then obviously the red card changes a lot from the game. And then, yeah, I still think we can look at, the goals are avoidable with just the fundamentals of how you defend.
“So we need to look at these, improve on them and get better. That’s what we need to do. That’s what I told you guys: that’s what this season is going to be. It’s win or lose, we need to improve every single game with the group that we have, and as a team and individually, just about looking at these and using them as a learning moment that we get better. But yeah, it’s clear, like, I think even though down a man, it was tough, and obviously they had control of the game and created some good chances in that moment, the goals are very avoidable.”
Marks commented on what he saw from the visitors in their attack. “They were very direct. They kind of took a page out of out of the Union’s book a little, I think. Seemed like older boys, pretty good physically, playing for second balls a lot. And we were probably not up for the physical challenge right off the bat, and they had a lot of room. They were winning physical duels, winning second balls. And just yeah, like I said, hoping to do what we were hoping to do to them. I thought we grew into the game, and then it’s gonna be tough with a man down, but I thought overall, they’re probably the better side.”
One bright spot was the buildup by Pratt, pass by LeBlanc, and goal by Jakupovic. “Yeah, the goal was great,” Richter said. “And it makes good play to get out of pressure and play the ball for Kellan. And then it’s against teams like this, you have to be able to get into that space, so breaking the first line and having quick ideas to get there, and then when you do, being able to slow back down and have the composure to pick out the right pass. Kellan did that in the play, then it was a great finish for Malik, of course, but overall, the team goal that was, that was really nice.”
On the second half struggles and how they were trying to see out the game, Richter noted, “I mean, the red card obviously changed the game a lot, and at that point, we’re kind of just trying to see the game out to see if we can get to 1-1 at the end of the game. We weren’t able to do that, obviously. But I mean, they’re a good pressing team. We didn’t challenge the space behind them enough.”
The defense had some tough breaks, and Marks shared his thoughts on what could be better or what lessons could be learned. “I think first goal is disappointing to give up just because I thought they created some quality moments. And that wasn’t one of them, that was just like kind of a loose play. But yeah, it’s young boys, and, you know, we’re trying to figure it out, and it’s early in the season, and these are great opportunities for them, so just try to take the whatever mistakes, lessons, what have you, and move forward in season and into their career. So they did a great job today, and we almost got something out of it.”
Despite the loss, it was a standout performance for Marks, who had five saves on the day, and another solid job by center back and team captain Uzcátegui. Richter thought they both did well on the day.
“George gives us great composure. He helps a lot with our back line. And Rafa is one guy you would say from the beginning of the game, like he’s up for the physicality and the challenge of the game,” Richter said. “And I thought even from the start, the rest of the back line is like, oh [shoot], this game, these guys are actually, you know, they’re going for the ball, they’re actually going for for these duels. And he’s ready for it from the beginning of the game, tries to get the group going—and he did, we know that he can stand up at this level.”
“I think I give my best every time I go out,” Marks said, “but when you step in the field, you want to win. So that’s the goal at the end of the day. But I liked the fight from the boys, and I think there’s a lot to build off.”
Whether Marks, who is the third keeper for the first team, continues in this role for Union II, or Pierce Holbrook steps in at some point, he has proven he has great composure and skill, and provides great leadership for the young squad. They will need that moving forward as they navigate some big matches coming up. Their next game will be Sunday, March 22 at 5:00 PM at Red Bull New York II (at MSU Soccer Park), who they lost to in their last meeting, the 2025 Eastern Conference final.
New addition
Earlier in the day, Malian midfielder Mamoutou Berthé was announced as a new signing to Union II.
“We’re excited to welcome Mamoutou to the Union II family,” said Ryan Richter in Union II’s press release. “He’s a competitive, athletic and aggressive midfielder with a strong soccer IQ. We’re looking forward to helping him continue to develop his game in our environment while preparing him for the next level.”
Having represented Mali at the U20 and U23 levels, Berthé spent 2023-2025 with US Bougouba in the Malian Première Division, where he made 54 appearances. Prior to that, he developed at Africa Foot, one of the top academies in Africa.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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