CHESTER, Pa.— In Chris Harmon’s first match as interim head coach, Union II took on NYCFC II as they returned to league play following an entertaining friendly against the Côte d’Ivoire national team last Monday. Unfortunately for the home side, they were kept off the score sheet for the second straight match (three if one counts the friendly) as they fell victim to a goal at the death by NYCFC II.
Union II’s lineup was completely full for the first time in quite a while. Back from US Men’s Youth National Team duty, Malik Jakupovic, Jordan Griffin, and Kellan LeBlanc returned to the lineup. Joining Jakupovic up top at striker was Eddy Davis. Along with LeBlanc, Willyam Ferreira was at attacking midfield, and Matheus DePaula and Óscar Benítez were at defensive mid.
Griffin returned to left back, and Oliver Pratt got the start at right back in place of the absent Giovanny Sequera, who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. With Finn Sundstrom suspended after being ejected last match for a second yellow card, Andrew Craig started at center back along with captain Rafael Uzcátegui. Pierce Holbrook rounded out the lineup in goal.
Notably, academy amateur Jett Harrison, who joined the U-18s in the winter, made his first appearance on a Union II gameday roster, appearing on the bench and was an unused substitute.
Union II started out by putting a lot of pressure on the Pigeons’ defense, and in the 2nd minute saw a nice buildup lead to LeBlanc putting a shot on goal that was easily saved by the keeper. Two minutes later, Jakupovic went on a run and passed to LeBlanc, who was cleanly tackled to negate the scoring opportunity. Shortly after, Jakupovic brilliantly threaded a ball forward that Ferreira ran onto for a 1v1 with the keeper in one of the best chances of the day, but his shot was saved, denying the 17 year old his first pro goal.
De Paula was the recipient of an early yellow card in the 8th minute after a hard tackle, but managed to play the rest of the match cleanly. After some back and forth, NYCFC II received their own booking in the 15th minute after Joao Loiola Santos committed a foul, and then another one in the 20th minute for Sebastiano Musu.
Jakupovic went on a run in the 24th minute, showcasing his speed, but was unable to get a clean shot off as the keeper came out to block. He ripped another shot minutes later that sailed wide left. NYCFC II put some pressure on their hosts as well, but their attempt to finish the chance went high over the crossbar.
Union II got their first corner in the 35th minute, taken by LeBlanc, which nearly led to a goal after the ball was sent back in and deflected just wide by Benítez. NYCFC II saw chances was the first half was wrapping up, including off a corner that saw Holbrook punch the ball out, and the rebound get deflected by defenders in a flurry in front of goal. As stoppage time was underway, Holbrook came up with a fantastic save where he deflected the shot over the crossbar.
In the waning moments, a yellow card was shown to NYCFC II’s Kieran Smith for a foul on Ferreira who was running toward goal. The first half ended in a 0-0 deadlock, with NYCFC II outshooting Union II 9-7‚ though Union II led in shots on target 3-1.
Harmon made one halftime substitution, replacing Pratt with Lennon Harrington, with the latter going to defensive mid and Benítez moved to right back. Union II went right on the attack, earning a corner, which was fruitless.
In the 55th minute, Jakupovic went on a run and passed to Davis, whose shot was saved and deflected out for a corner. Shortly after, NYCFC II registered their second shot on target, comfortably saved by Holbrook, who had another save minutes later as the Pigeons were really threatening.
Nehan Hasan replaced LeBlanc in the 63rd minute for Union II’s next substitution. Shortly after, NYCFC II earned a dangerous free kick just outside the box, but Union II’s wall blocked the shot.
Union II’s next substitution saw Sal Olivas replace Jakupovic in the 69th minute. In the 74th minute, NYCFC II’s Musu made a dangerous tackle and and was shown a second yellow card, leading to a red card ejection.
In the 79th minute, the referee had had enough of NYCFC II’s Cooper Flax and booked him for dissent. Uzcátegui was down for a time after a collision, but after clearing concussion protocols was able to continue. The match was getting chippy with some tempers flaring, and in the heat several players were cramping up.
NYCFC II saw yet another yellow for a foul in the 87th minute, awarded to Jonathan Lopez. Ferreira was then replaced by Theo Reed as the match remained scoreless with regulation winding down. The referee announced a minimum of seven minutes of stoppage time. Pushing for the game-winner, Uzcátegui made a bullet of a shot from distance that the keeper got a hand on to tip over the crossbar. Union II had a couple more chances as Benítez and Reed followed up with shots that went for naught.
As many Union fans have noted in the past that playing up a man seems to be the Union’s kryptonite, the same could be said for the second team—at least on this day. Craig fouled Ponce in the 90+9 just outside the box, setting up an NYCFC II free kick. Flax took the kick, beating Union II’s wall with a blast into the upper right corner of the goal to give his team the 1-0 lead, and it would be the game-winner.
As Theo Reed had said when I interviewed him earlier in the week, the squad really wanted to get Chris Harmon the win for his first match, but it was not to be. Harmon, for his part, was proud of his squad for the fight they showed, but saw areas to grow.
“Yeah, obviously a tough one to lose like that in the last minute,” Harmon said after the match. “I thought the boys battled so well. I just told them, you know, in the second half, for us, that’s the way we want to play. We want to create a lot of chances, we want to be really difficult to break down, and I think we did that. And again, for me, the game is won and lost in the boxes. And for us today, we weren’t good enough in the opponent’s box. To find that goal, yeah, you just need a little bit more quality. But I’m so proud of the boys in terms of how they fought, how they played. I told them, if they play like this, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
The loss dropped Union II down to 11th in the conference, and while results have not gone their way, the margins have been very thin and the matches very close. With a young squad finding their way, it can surely be frustrating. So how does Harmon, who only just returned a few days ago from coaching the U-18 MNT, get his squad on track?
“For me, the message has been, for the two days I’ve been in, is that we’re gonna have to do this together, and that we have to make sure that—there’s going to be difficult moments, we can’t come apart, and we have to be, yeah, a real team,” he said. “And I think, again, today they showed that.
They showed in tough moments in the last five, ten minutes of the first half, we were defending the box. We were blocking shots, we were defending corners, we were having to suffer a little bit, but again, I think the boys did a really good job of staying together.”
Taking the reins mid-season is not always an easy job, but one thing Harmon does not have to worry about is learning a whole new squad. Having been the U-18 coach the last year and having many of those players on Union II, as well as having been around Union II plenty. He noted the ease of the transition:
“Yeah, I would say, obviously, with the help of the staff and Fred and Ryan [Richter], really seamless, and again, obviously, I know these guys. But you know, I think organizationally, we do a good job of making sure that we were around each other a lot, we worked together. And even as the 18s coach, I’m in with the second team during training, so I knew these guys, we support them. Every time we’re in the hotel with 18s at the Academy, the second team games are on. So we’re watching these guys all the time. So, yeah, obviously, it’s a new role for me, but I feel really comfortable stepping in with the help of all the staff. It’s been really fun and I’m looking forward to more moments and more games with these people.”
Hopefully for Union II, their efforts will soon translate into getting on the right side of those thin margins, and they will look to do so in their next match as they travel to Osceola Heritage Park on Sunday, June 21 to face Orlando City B at 7:00 PM, the first of three away matches in a row.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
The One Team We Agree On 
Leave a comment