CHESTER, Pa.— It was a double feature this weekend on the banks of the Delaware with Philadelphia and Columbus’s squads facing off. After the first teams ended in a 1-1 draw, their second teams followed suit with their own 1-1 draw on Sunday at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex. However, per MLS Next Pro rules, matches that end in a tie go to a penalty shootout to decide which team earns an extra point. Despite a strong effort by Andrew Rick in goal and some stellar shots by Union II’s penalty takers, it was not enough to overcome Crew 2, falling 8-7 in penalties.
Ryan Richter’s starting lineup saw a few changes from Wednesday’s match, which was expected as the first team was also home the previous night. Several first team-signed players made it back into the lineup, including Andrew Rick in goal, Stas Korzeniowski paired at striker with Malik Jakupovic, and Finn Sundstrom at center back, paired with Rafael Uzcátegui.
Nehan Hasan got his second start of the season, starting at left attacking mid in place of the injured Willyam Ferreira. Rounding out the midfield were regulars Kellan LeBlanc, Óscar Benítez, and Matheus De Paula, and Jordan Griffin and Giovanny Sequera were at left and right back, respectively.
Union II began with some quality pressing, which paid off when Sequera was fouled just outside the box in the 7th minute, leading to a dangerous free kick that ultimately resulted in a shot on goal by LeBlanc. He would have another good look at the goal in the 16th minute when he sailed a blast of a shot over the crossbar, and then almost chipped the keeper minutes later. Union II had some dynamic passing that kept the Crew 2 defenders busy in their end for much of the early going.
Despite seeming to be very in control of the match, Union II conceded in the 26th minute to Crew 2’s Zachary Zengue after initially getting a block by Griffin, but Rick lost his footing and could not recover in time, making it 1-0 in favor of the visitors.
That lead for Columbus would not last long, however, as Union II were awarded a corner, taken by De Paula, whose well-struck ball found Korzeniowski’s head for the latter’s team-leading fifth goal of the season, and De Paula’s first pro assist.
“It was a good moment,” De Paula said after the match about his assist. “I didn’t think it was mine at first. I was just like, we scored. I didn’t, like, really see it. But then after I got back in, everyone was telling me, ‘congrats’ and everything. Yeah, it felt good.”
It was a good bit of resilience for the team after conceding, which was certainly promising. De Paula noted, “Yeah, after we conceded… I was just trying to get everyone’s energy up again, because, like, it was early in the game and there was still a lot of time, so I was just telling everyone, like, to believe and like, yeah, we got the goal.”
Crew 2 saw some dangerous chances of their own, including a miss by Chase Adams, and then a free kick in stoppage time outside the box by Kevin Gbamblé that went over. Union II answered with some big pressure in the waning moments of stoppage, but the score remained 1-1 at the half with Union II outshooting their opponent 10-4.
“First half, I was a little disappointed and just some of the energy and the togetherness from the team, which is a challenge always at the second team level,” Richter said after the match. “But these guys have to be mature enough to be able to get that going for games, you know—the team is still first and when you’re here, you have to put that first.”
The second half began with no changes. Crew 2 nearly found a bit of luck when a deflection off Adams nearly went in if not for a fantastic save by Rick. Shortly after, Korzeniowski was fouled just outside the box, leading to a free kick. LeBlanc’s low shot went under the wall but easily into the hands of the Crew 2 keeper, Luke Pruter.
Crew 2’s Rui Aoki received the first booking of the match for dissent in the 52nd minute. After a flurry of activity near around Crew 2’s box, Korzeniowski went down with what appeared to be a knee injury and had to leave the field for a period of time, but was able to reenter. He was only on the field a few moments when he went down to ground in pain, and ended up leaving the match. John Ruf replaced him in the 58th minute. Following the match, Richter noted he was unsure of Korzeniowski’s status at that moment and that they would have to see how he was doing.
Shortly after, Hasan went on a run toward goal, got pulled down in the box with no call given—the referee largely let them play—and then Ruf made a tackle on Brent Adu-Gyamfi that stopped play. Another great look came after Ruf got the ball away from the keeper but no one could finish it, and then Crew 2 countered quickly forcing a fantastic save by Rick that deflected out for a corner.
Richter made another substitution in the 68th minute, bringing on Andrew Craig and Abdoulaye Diop for Sundstrom and Benítez. After the match, Richter noted that Sundstrom had been cramping up, and Craig had been impressive in Wednesday’s match, earning the opportunity.
Searching for the go-ahead goal, Ruf threaded a great through ball to Jakupovic, who in turn had some fantastic dribbling that led to him ripping a shot that just missed wide right in the 72nd minute. It was by far the best from the striker all day, who has been kept off the scoresheet for a few matches, but showed how dangerous he can be.
Tyler Gladstone replaced Hasan in the 82nd minute as the stalemate continued, and brought noticeable energy. Richter said of Gladstone, “He brought great energy when he came in, and that’s exactly what we were hoping that he would do—fresh legs, run at the defender, attack the space to make the 2v1 with the fullback, and I think he did a good job with that. So it was cool that he brought energy and he got into some really dangerous positions.”
Gladstone, who now has a few appearances with Union II under his belt and splits his time with the U-18s, said, “I just tried to come on and do what I do. Take people one on one, try to create opportunities on the left side. I feel like I did a pretty good job making an impact, so that was positive.”
Still tied at 1-1 with six minutes of stoppage time underway, Union II got a corner after some nice play from Gladstone, but LeBlanc’s attempt that came from it was blocked. Sequera was shown a yellow in stoppage time for Union II’s first booking.
Union II got another good look on a dangerous free kick as stoppage time was nearly up, but the attempt went for naught. Richter had thought his squad had played better in the second half, noting, “We know we had more energy and we looked like the better team. We didn’t create enough big chances, I would say. But it was okay.” Ultimately, regulation ended still tied 1-1, so Union II headed to their second shootout of the season.
LeBlanc stepped up first and converted on a low right shot, but Crew 2’s Brent Adu-Gyamfi followed it by making his shot.
Next up was Craig, no stranger to big PK situations (along with many of the U-18s) with recent heroics at the Dallas Cup. His emphatic blast down the middle was true, and then Rick came up with a phenomenal save on Kevin Gbamblé to put Union II ahead.
That would not last as Jakupovic’s low attempt was saved, and Crew 2’s Tarun Karumanchi converted. Stepping up next was Gladstone, another U-18 who had recent success at the Dallas Cup, who confidently buried his shot in the bottom left corner. “Honestly, I just pick a side and do it,” Gladstone commented afterward. “I’m pretty confident in my ability to pick out that corner, so that’s what I usually to do.” Crew 2’s Johann Chirinos followed with making his shot, keeping it level.
Ruf was up next, and skillfully made his shot. Rick then got hands on Zachary Zengue’s shot, but was unable to keep it out. The captain, Uzcátegui, was up next, but his shot to the right was swatted away by Pruter, putting the shootout on the line. Jamil Danjaji attempted a panenka, but Rick was not fooled and easily made the catch, continuing the shootout.
Sequera and Quinton Elliot made their shots in the next round, though Rick guessed right on Elliot. De Paula was next with a fantastic shot that blasted by Pruter, followed by Isaac Heffess making his shot.
In his second Union II appearance, Diop came up and confidently buried his shot, but Tristan Brown kept it level by converting his. Going to a tenth round, Griffin saw his shot blocked, and then pinged off the post and crossbar. Crew 2 now had the chance to win the shootout again, and this time they finished the job as Zach Lloyd beat Rick, who read it right but could not get his hands on it.
Rick, having a fantastic history with penalty saves (which I talked with him about last season in an interview), instills some confidence in the squad when he is presented the task, and is usually good for a few saves, which he showed once again. “I mean, he’s good at them, you know, and he likes them,” Richter said of Rick in penalties. “So I think the penalties that were scored were good penalties, and the first save he made was incredible. Yeah, normally if you save two penalties, that’s not bad. So just want the guys to finish them.”
Despite the draw with the shootout loss, the young squad turned out some strong performances. De Paula and Gladstone have been on the rise and have been adjusting well to the Next Pro level. Both of them shared what that transition has been like.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a jump just with the intensity with Union II, but there’s a lot of U-18 guys in there that make the transition pretty easy for me,” Gladstone remarked. “Just all in all, really, the speed of play, quick decision thinking and the decisions I have to make on the fly,” he said were lessons he has learned. “Like, obviously the players are much better than the academy level, so it’s just all the intensity.”
“I mean, at first, it was pretty nerve-racking because, I mean, coming from Academy jumping to, like, grown men football, I guess, it’s a little nerve-racking, but then I have all the coaching staff, like Fred, Henry [Apaloo], Ryan [Richter], they’ve all known me since I was like 10 years old, growing up in the Academy,” De Paula shared. “So it was kind of easy because they like helped me a lot. IDPs, everything. So after like the first week or so, it was pretty smooth. I started getting comfortable, confident. And from there, it’s all good.”
De Paula mentioned the speed of play was a big adjustment, “I’ve learned that I have to play, like, way faster, kind of think a step ahead in, like, every decision I make. And just the physicality using my body to, like, shield the ball, or just any sort of thing.” He certainly has seemed to adjust well, with Richter having mentioned previously that he has been incredible. De Paula, Gladstone, and other U-18s may not be available for upcoming matches due to traveling with the Academy to Salt Lake City for the MLS Next Cup, but their worth to the Union II squad has certainly been proven.
Additionally, after the match, Richter gave some updates about the status of some players. On Willyam Ferreira, who left the match early on Wednesday, Richter said, “It shouldn’t be a long term thing—it was his ankle, just after a couple days, hopefully he can get back in. So hopefully he’s back next week.”
Another missing player was Sal Olivas, who had been sent off on Wednesday after getting a second yellow, and swatted down the red card out of the referee’s hand. On if Olivas was getting any further discipline from the league, Richter said, “We haven’t heard anything, but I’d imagine that he does, and probably deserves that.” With Korzeniowski’s status unknown, Eddy Davis injured and possibly still out next weekend, and Ruf and Theo Reed likely gone with the U-18s, the striker pool may be a little thinner for the next match, so Olivas missing another match would definitely compound that.
Union II will next host Atlanta United 2 on Saturday, May 23 at 3:00 PM, once again on Kinetic Field. Follow us for more coverage of that and the upcoming MLS Next Cup for the Academy.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
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