CHESTER, Pa.— After an impressive 4-0 victory that featured an Eddy Davis hat trick at New England Revolution II, will Union II keep that momentum rolling and get a streak going? They have a prime opportunity to do so on Sunday as they return to the friendly confines of Subaru Park after playing their last four home matches at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex.
For his first-ever pro hat trick, Davis received MLS Next Pro Player of the Matchweek honors, and has been heating up. He is now tied with Stas Korzeniowski for the team lead in goals (five). After battling injuries during the season, the all-time leading scorer for Union II, who had 13 in 2024, is finding his stride and has become a catalyst for the squad.
With their victory, Union II (7-8-2) rose to 9th place in the Eastern Conference and are right in the hunt for a playoff position. They also brought their goal differential back to zero as it had taken a dip into the negatives after the recent Red Bull II match. They will host Huntsville City FC (5-7-4) who are currently in 13th place and most recently drew Chicago Fire II 2-2 and won the penalty shootout. They have struggled as of late, having not won a game since a 4-0 victory over struggling FC Cincinnati 2 back on May 13.
The last time Union II and Huntsville faced off, it was in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on October 25, 2025, where Union II were victorious with a 1-0 final score after Stas Korzeniowski scored on a penalty kick.
For former Union II midfielder and captain Nick Pariano, who went through the Union Academy before playing at Duke, it will be a homecoming. He was the 21st homegrown for the Philadelphia Union, signing in December 2023. He was a starter for the 2024 Eastern Conference Champion Union II squad, and then was the team captain in 2025. While he was on a first team deal, he only was on the bench for the first team a handful of times, and did not get any minutes at the MLS level. He did, however, provide quality leadership on and off the field for Union II during his time there.
Huntsville’s top goal scorer of the season has been forward Maximus Ekk, who has eight goals and two assists, so Union II will need to keep him in check. The Philadelphia defense has been strong, and Pierce Holbrook recorded his first clean sheet of the season against Revolution II, so Union II will need to continue that run of form (we will consider that recent Red Bull match an aberration).
Despite the team’s ups and downs, they are ranked second-best in goals allowed in the conference. Now, if they can keep building on recent successes, they have a chance to go on a run and make a case for getting themselves into the playoffs. In this writer’s opinion, if Malik Jakupovic can also get on a hot streak, as he seems overdue for some goals (though he did score on Wednesday in the friendly against MLES Academy), the team could really start making a push.
Catch the match on Sunday at Subaru Park at 3:00 PM or streaming on mlsnextpro.com or OneFootball.
Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.
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