CHESTER, Pa.— It was a day full of soccer at the Union’s campus in Chester on Saturday, and long before the first team kicked off against D.C. United, the Academy teams were in action on the WSFS Bank Sportsplex fields on a pleasantly warm, sun soaked day. The U-18, U-16, and U-15 squads all took on their Red Bull New York counterparts in the kind of contests one would expect against a rival like the Red Bulls, just like with the first and second teams. The campus was buzzing all day with a plethora of competition, with the Union’s U-14 and U-13 squads facing CSA Monmouth, and the Philly Six Spring Cup college tournament also taking place.
U-18
Kicking off the morning were the U-18s, coming off their recent Dallas Cup win and also defeating D.C. United the previous week via a Lennon Harrington goal. Notably, as it was the last home match of the season, it was also the final match at home for the many seniors on the squad—some of whom went way back in the Academy system. While some seniors were not in the squad as they had been with Union II in Toronto the night before, most were with the U-18s Saturday morning.
Gunnar Graham (Yale), Brett Seemuller (St. Mary’s College of California), and Max Owusu-Antwi joined at the U-10 level in 2017. Team captain, Andrew Craig (Michigan) also joined in 2017 at the U-11 level, and had been in the Union Juniors program prior to that.
Goalkeeper and St. Joseph’s University commit Alex Smith joined the Academy at the U-11 level in 2018. Nick Greer (Dartmouth) and Peter Doran (Penn State) joined the U-12s in 2019. With many of these young men having played together for such a long time, and the newer ones having integrated well, it was likely a bittersweet moment for them taking that field one last time, though they have promising future endeavors to look forward to.
The match got off to a quick start with Timoni Gbalajobi, playing up from the U-16s, scoring early in the first half to give the Union the 1-0 lead. Mateo Gallegos sent a fantastic through ball into space for Gbalajobi, who sent it past the keeper. Unfortunately for the home squad, the Red Bulls found their equalizer later in the first half with a well-struck shot from the top of the box.
Lennon Harrington, a Cornell commit, joined at U-15 in April 2023, just in time for the GA Cup. Ronan Sullivan (St. Joe’s) joined in the fall of 2024 with the U-18s.
In the second half, the Red Bulls took the 2-1 lead after their shot got just past the outstretched arms of a diving Alex Smith. The Union found the Red Bulls’ defense difficult to break through, and were unable to muster any more goals, falling 2-1. It was a tough result for Chris Harmon’s squad, but they will turn their attention to their season-culminating competitions in MLS Next.
U-16
Peter McDonnell’s squad also took on Red Bull New York in a match where they put up a touchdown on their opponent. It began with a penalty kick after a foul in the box only a few minutes into the match, converted by Javier Linares. It was followed by a goal by Liam Holtzman, who ran onto a well-timed ball sent from midfield and booted past the keeper.
On a corner, it appeared a Red Bull player put his arm around the neck of a Union player, slamming him to the ground, resulting in the Red Bull player being sent off. Despite playing down a man, the Red Bulls managed to score two goals to equalize. Their second goal came off a poor giveaway in the box by the Union, which the Red Bulls pounced on and slotted in the back of the net. Jayden Kouadio got one back for the Union shortly after to take the 3-2 lead, which the Union would not relinquish.
In the second half, the Union exploded for three more goals, courtesy of Keegan Quenneville, Linares, and Maxi Karl. The Union finished with an emphatic 6-2 victory.
U-15
Wrapping up the triple-header against the Red Bull Academy were Ben Moane’s squad of U-15s. The Red Bulls put Union keeper Thomas White to work early, forcing him to make a nice save in the first few minutes. It would be the Union striking first, however, with a goal by Salvatore Palazzari just outside the top of the box. The first half continued in a very back and forth manner, until the Red Bulls found their equalizer just before halftime with a strike from the left side of the box.
The Union, however, answered back early in the second half when Cullen Hosszu-Barrett’s throw in dropped to Mason Cannon, who hit it past the keeper to make it 2-1. Later on, a throw-in deep in Red Bull territory was bounced around inside the box, and ultimately found the foot of the highly-touted new acquisition, Almamy Barry, who slotted it into the bottom right of the goal to make it 3-1 in favor of the Union.
Adding an exclamation point to the scoreline shortly after, Barry dropped a great pass to Evan Roberts, whose low shot went past the keeper for the fourth goal of the day for the Union. The final whistle blew moments later, with the 4-1 victory of the Union sealed.
While The One Team We Agree On did not cover the U-14 and U-13 matches, we understand that the Union’s U-14s had a 10-0 result with a standout four goal/two assist performance by Mikey Blaszczyk.
It certainly was a big weekend for the Union Academy with their many talented young athletes. Stay tuned for coverage of the MLS Next Flex and MLS Next Cup action as the spring wraps up for the Academy squads.
All photos by Jillian Almoney.
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