After a 4-1 drubbing of Carolina Core on Sunday at home, Union II hit the road and head north of the border to take on Toronto FC II for the second time this season. They last met TFC II in the their season opener on February 28 at Subaru Park, where they won 1-0 thanks to a Malik Jakupovic goal and some quality saves from George Marks. It had been tight game with a very young squad figuring themselves out, but since then, Union II have had some time to gel and grow in certain areas.

They saw a lot of things click and go right against Carolina Core, but it is still very much a development team with areas to improve upon. Speaking with Union II head coach Ryan Richter ahead of the TFC II match, he was pleased with the result last Sunday, but they need to keep building on the positives and cleaning up the weaknesses—taking it to the next phase.

“So you saw on the goals that we had the composure to play out of trouble and create some really good situations,” Richter said. “But I think there were opportunities for many more of them, and they kind of just broke down in almost the last play type of thing, the last pass, the last kind of action. So then the next piece is to turn more of these good plays out of pressure, or good possession moments where we create a good situation actually turning into more opportunities.”

Those who follow the Union may be aware of head coach Bradley Carnell, and Jim Curtin before him, using five-game increments to track point totals and progress. It is a little different at the MLS Next Pro level. Richter noted that they look at progress from week to week, and have eight-week development cycles and have individual development plans. Part of that is the fact that they often have less consistency in their lineup, with some first team players getting minutes, Academy players stepping in, and then the signed Union II players in their roles.

“So for us, the 11 players that will start this weekend will probably be different from the 11 players that started last weekend,” Richter noted. “So it’s a different group, and the full target is on this game. It’s not on the next five games. It’s, ‘let’s focus on this weekend’. Get our head in the right space so we can perform well and see if we can put together a good performance.”

With the second team playing on a Friday night and the first team on Saturday, that does present some challenges, though Richter noted that even though Union II is playing a road game, the first team being home makes it easier—though he prefers his squad’s matches being on Sundays.
Sometimes, players who did not get many (or any) minutes with the first team on a Saturday see action on a Sunday with the second team. Malik Jakupovic is a good example as he is starting to earn minutes with the first team this season.

For this weekend, it is likely that striker Eddy Davis get some minutes with Union II as he is returning from an injury, as Union head coach Bradley Carnell noted in his press conference. Davis played the majority of last season with Union II, but made his MLS debut. He has yet to appear for the first or second team in regular play in 2026 (he was only on the bench in the very first competition, the away leg of Concacaf Champions Cup against Defence Force on February 18).

Two players who started last match that had not appeared with Union II in 2026 were first team players Stas Korzeniowski and Andrew Rick. Sal Olivas, who had been starting at striker, had picked up a knock (he is still questionable for Friday), and Korzeniowski needed some minutes. The same went for Andrew Rick, just needing minutes since Andre Blake has been the starter with the first team.

Additionally, Willyam Ferreira was out with illness and Kaiden Moore picked up a knock, so with them unavailable for the Carolina Core match, it opened the door for some other players to get minutes. Academy midfielder Tyler Gladstone, making his pro debut starting in place of Ferreira, certainly proved he could produce when he got that opportunity, and had an assist in the match. Defender Andrew Craig also made his debut off the bench.

One player who is seizing opportunities and contributing well to Union II is Matheus De Paula. He may not have goals or assists to show for it, but Richter has a lot of praise for the midfielder, saying “Yeah, he’s been amazing, you know, through preseason and now into a few matches, two matches in a row starting with the second team.”

Union II have had strong defensive performances, conceding only four goals this season, and the goal scoring is picking up. As an defensive mid, De Paula has been a key part. Richter noted, “He’s been incredible, you know, the the energy that he brings in the game, the quality that he brings the game, but just how smart he is on the field. And he helps a lot. He really, he really helps the team a lot because he’s really clever on the ball, takes good decisions. Then defensively he has the right balance of when to be aggressive and when to hold your position, and can kind of pick up the spaces.”

Richter also remarked about De Paula’s leadership and personality that he brings to the field. “When he sees someone out of position, he’s confident enough to kind of communicate to the guys, and he’s grown into a real leader, so it’s pretty been pretty cool to see.”

As a 17 year old, of course, there is plenty of room for growth, and he has a real opportunity to contribute not just to the U-18s, where he helped them win the Dallas Cup, but with Union II. Richter continued, “What we want to see with him growing is just more of this. A player with his quality, who is helping control the game a lot for us, we need him on the ball more, and more actions against the ball. That’s what I would say, is we want to see him more in the game, because he has the ability to kind of help dictate the tempo for us a little more, so as he grows into this role and as he gets more confident, that’s where I see him taking the biggest step in the next few weeks.”

Currently, Union II are in third place in the East at 11 points (tied with second place Red Bull New York II) at 3-1-1. They have only had one road game so far, and it was a 1-1 draw and shootout win against RBNY II. TFC II are in 12th place with five points and a record of 1-2-2, however they are coming off a 3-3 draw against top-of-the-table Crown Legacy that saw them equalize late in the game to force a shootout, which TFC II lost. It will also be a match where they once again face Jackson Gilman, formerly of the Union Academy and Union II, who had a successful college career at Pitt. (Check out our wonderful conversation with him)

When it comes to TFC II, Union II will need to keep an eye on forward Fletcher Bank, who along with Gilman, was a 2026 draft pick out of college, as well as 16 year old Jamaican midfielder Jahmarie Nolan. Both players have three goals on the season, though Union II were able to contain Bank in their first meeting, and Nolan was not in that match. Richter called Bank, who also has four assists, TFC II’s most dangerous player. Union II’s right back, Giovanny Sequera, will be important to thwarting him according to Richter.

“Gio is gonna have to be on on the top of his game, as far as from a discipline standpoint, to hold his position and limit his opportunities for him to turn and run at him. And he’s gonna have to be really good in this position, in his positioning and his anticipation and the way that he closes the ball and and really disciplined and focused throughout the 90 minutes,” Richter said.

Bank will also present some challenges, which Union II’s back line will need to be ready to neutralize. “With both those guys, we have to make sure when they’re in and around goal, that we’re tied to them, that we don’t give them looks at goal. But as a group, we have to limit the opportunities that they’re getting the ball in isolated situations. So that’s a team topic, as well as the individual focus and the guys matched up against them.”

Union II will look to keep the momentum going as they go for their first road win. Richter knows that though they scored four goals and overpowered their opponent in the last game, they have to keep building. “Just because we’ve made a better performance last game than the game before, doesn’t mean now this game, we’re definitely going to make a better performance than we did last week,” he said.

“But that’s the goal, keep growing in every phase of the game, and keep aware that we have to get better. That’s what this team is here for—it’s to improve every single week. Knowing that it’s not realistic to think that it’s just going to keep going, up, up, up. But that’s the goal for every week, and that’s how we approach this week, and how we want to approach the game, is to keep being consistent the things we’ve been doing well, take them to another level and then improve on the things that we believe that we can improve on.”

The Union play TFC II at 7:00 PM Friday at York Lions Stadium, with the livestream available on mlsnextpro.com and OneFootball.

Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.