STORRS, Conn.— In what promised to be a very physical battle of two teams with similar styles, the match between Philadelphia Union II and CT United at UConn’s Morrone Stadium did not disappoint. After losing 2-1 at home to CT United back in March where they lost after scoring first, Union II completely flipped the script. After conceding first, Union II went onto score twice and hold on for the 2-1 victory.
Ryan Richter’s starting lineup featured mostly the players who typically are a part of the squad, but was the first pairing this season of Stas Korzeniowski and Eddy Davis at striker. It was Davis’s first start of the season after coming off the bench in the previous match in his return from injury that kept him out for quite some time. In Korzeniowski’s only other appearance with Union II this season, against Carolina Core, he scored a brace.
The usual pairing of Willyam Ferreira and Kellan LeBlanc were the attacking mids, while Matheus De Paula and Mamoutou Berthé held it down at defensive mid. The back line remained unchanged with Jordan Griffin, Rafael Uzcátegui, Finn Sundstrom, and Giovanny Sequera. Pierce Holbrook got his second straight start in goal.
Of note, with Andrew Rick and George Marks away with the first team, and Alex Smith and Matthew White with the U-18s at MLS Next Flex, U-18 keeper Charli Lorenz was in the matchday roster for the first time as the backup keeper.
Unlike in their previous meeting, Union II matched the physicality of CT United right away instead of being caught off-guard. The home squad, in turn, was plagued by offside calls in the early going, with two in the first four minutes, and another in the 11th minute.
The first big chance for Union II came when Korzeniowski was fouled in the 12th minute right outside the box, setting up a free kick taken by Ferreira, but the curling shot went just over the crossbar.
Holbrook, who would make four saves on the day, showed growth from the previous match as he is getting back in form. He made what appeared to be a big save on shot by Cauã Paixão, but the CT were ruled offside on the play to negate the attempt.
Another chance came for Union II via a shot by Korzeniowski in the 16th minute, but a CT United’s keeper, Anthony Ramos, made a great save. The momentum seemed to be in Union II’s favor, but that changed in a moment that resembled what Union II has been known to do well.
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
After winning a free kick deep in CT United territory, Union II conceded a goal in the 19th minute after their attempt was cleared out quickly and the ball was slipped to Paixão running toward goal. The Brazilian forward got past Holbrook for the easy tap in and the 1-0 CT United lead. They had another opportunity, this time by Laurie Goddard—who would give Union II issues throughout—but Holbrook made the save in the 22nd minute.
The home team seemed to really ride a wave of confidence after their goal, putting more pressure on Union II. However, Union II bent but did not break, and battled back. Holbrook kept the deficit at one with a fantastic save in the 30th minute to deny Jeremy Medrandra, and again in the 36th minute on Paixão’s attempt.
Union II responded in the 37th minute when De Paula got the ball literally rolling, seeing it to Berthé, who knocked it to Korzeniowski, who in turn tapped it to Davis. With a fantastic top bins finish, Davis scored the equalizer for Union II. It was the homegrown striker’s first goal of the season.
Davis almost did it again two minutes later as he attempted to head in a cross, but it went over the goal. Union II kept the pressure up, and headed to the locker room at halftime with the 1-1 scoreline.
In the 54th minute, Korzeniowski just missed a goal for the lead, but his shot ricocheted off the left post, barely avoiding crossing the goal line. The towering striker, however, used his brute strength to ward off defenders and was not denied on his next attempt when he slotted the ball into the lower left corner to put Union II up 2-0 in the 62nd minute. It was Korzeniowski’s third goal of the season, and Berthé’s first assist for Union II (though he had a secondary assist on Davis’s goal).
Richter made his first changes immediately after, bringing Nehan Hasan and Sal Olivas on for Ferreira and LeBlanc in the 63rd minute.
As Davis was poised to run on goal, he was fouled by Medrandra in what seemed like a DOGSO in the 66th minute. While a free kick was awarded and a yellow card shown to Medrandra, a yellow was also shown to a very heated Richter for dissent from the sideline. The gaffer was shouting that it should have been a red card, but head referee Shaye Lane thought otherwise.
CT United, putting some serious pressure on Union II as the second half wore on, found themselves stymied by some great defensive work by the center backs Sundstrom and Uzcátegui. Sequera also made some great plays on his side, which saw continued pressure from CT United.
Looking to bring on some defensive reinforcement in the 76th minute, Óscar Benítez replaced Davis for the final Union II substitution. The Boys in Blue rode out the pressure, again with some great work by Sundstrom, who had perhaps his best game with Union II thus far.
With four minutes of stoppage time to go, CT United were throwing everything they had at Union II. Holbrook made a nice play on free kick for CT United that came after a Benítez foul for a yellow card in the 90+2 as Union II were trying to close out the match. As the stoppage time progressed past the four minutes, the pressure was mounting, but Union II were able to hold on and get their first road win of the season.
Despite being outshot 15-11 (5 on target to 3), Union II held up to the barrage of pressure in a match that saw 38 total fouls (22 for CT United, 16 for Union II). Union II looked more disciplined in their attack, however, and were not caught offside at all, while CT United was five times.
Richter had told us at The One Team We Agree On prior to the match that the keys to the game would be to handle the physicality and pressure that CT United would bring, solve situations quickly, and create chances, and said that he felt they were prepared for it. He was proven right with a gutsy performance that resulted in three hard-fought road points that catapulted the squad to third in the East at the time of this writing and improved their record to 4-2-1.
Union II will return home next Sunday with some momentum to take on second-place Red Bull New York II, who they tied 1-1 and won the shootout in their last meeting. It will surely bring no shortage of pressure, but Union II should have some confidence going in.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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