It has been a rough stretch for Union II, being shut out for the past three matches with one draw/shootout win and two losses, with both defeats on the road. They hope to get back on track as they hit the road once again to face NYCFC II—a team they lost a heartbreaker to back on June 14 in interim head coach Chris Harmon’s debut.

That match was scoreless until NYCFC II’s Cooper Flax, their leading goalscorer, scored the game-winner at the death from a free kick in the 90+9′. Union II had even been playing up a man since the 73′ after Sebastiano Musu was shown a second yellow, leading to an ejection. It was a missed opportunity for Union II, and one that they would probably like to avenge the second time around.

“Yeah, obviously it’s like a clash of two styles,” Harmon said of facing NYCFC II. “So for us, it’s a really exciting matchup. Obviously, to lose the way we did adds a little bit of extra fuel to the fire, so I think these guys are going to be up for it. Again, obviously, it’s a team that a lot of these guys have a lot of history with, so for sure it’s it’s going to be an exciting one. Obviously, another one on the road in a challenging environment, but I think we’re going to be all right.”

Going into the match, Union II (7-10-3) currently sit in 12th place, and NYCFC II (8-7-3) in 10th. However, Union II are only five points out of a playoff position with plenty of matches left, so they could still mount a comeback. They certainly need to get scoring goals to start getting better results.

In their previous match, last Saturday against Chattanooga FC, Union II fell 2-0. Harmon reflected, “Yeah, not not the outcome that we wanted. It’s a learning process for these young guys, especially against an older team. We knew that going in it was going to be a difficult one from that standpoint. But yeah, I would say that there were still things that we took away from the game, and you know we’re going in at halftime, and we really lost that on two moments.”

He continued, “Two moments where [Chattanooga] were, I would say a little bit more mature, and maybe we were a little bit naive in in how we defended and how we reacted to things. That being said, I thought we still created chances to score goals. We put ourselves in some really good spots to come away with a goal or two in the first half, and that remains to be how we press and how we collectively defend is, I would say, high up the field. It was very good.”

Harmon knows there are flaws to work on, and after all, it is still a development squad. “Once we got broke, there was a lot of spaces for them to play, and that’s where kind of our youthfulness showed in terms of how we got back down and collectively got back into our block. Still, even late in the game, we were still having transition moments where we’re getting in behind them. So for us, we’re going to continue to learn and highlight those things because that’s the strength of our team.”

Being in a scoring rut and losing the last two matches when at one time, the team was near the top of the table has to weigh on these players who are very competitive and want to win. There are certainly a lot of lessons to be learned by the squad, and when asked if the coaching staff had any concerns about morale or confidence in the squad, Harmon was very pragmatic.

“Yeah, a lot of life lessons that we’re preaching. But I would say the mentality of the group—and you can usually tell this—you feel pretty bad on the weekend, and then when you get to the first training session, all of a sudden they come out in the way that they came out and competed. It was like, okay, okay, this is the the process. You have to continue to push them, but I would say from their mentality, their competitiveness, it’s been excellent. So I have I have no complaints in terms of how they’ve responded this week and continued to train and continue to try to get better. That’s all I can ask.”

Getting the strikers scoring could be a huge boost in confidence. Guys like Malik Jakupovic, Eddy Davis, Sal Olivas… they are not new to this and are certainly hungry to score. Theo Reed and John Ruf, talented as they were with the U-18s, are still new to the level but show a lot of promise. Getting any of them going would bode well for Union II, on top of scoring threats like Kellan LeBlanc and Matheus De Paula.

“I would say from a creating chances standpoint and a stats standpoint, we did pretty well to arrive into their box, and then yeah, the execution and the quality we’re still searching for a little bit,” Harmon said of the Chattanooga match. “But these guys again, I keep telling the nines, I would be a lot more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. So the fact that these guys are still putting themselves in great spots and continuing to come out and work hard and train these things with a great mentality is a positive.”

Helping guide these players is a new face on staff, but not new to the Philadelphia Union organization. Nick Bibbs, who played for Bethlehem Steel in 2016, has also coached with The SWAG and Sporting Athletic Club. Now he joins the Union II staff as an assistant coach, and Harmon is excited about having him aboard.

“I’ve known Nick a long time, and we actually played against each other in the area, so I know what type of person he is. I know obviously the type of coach he is too,” Harmon said. “And watching him coach, he’s a true professional. He’s somebody that I think has a wealth of knowledge. He’s lived it. He’s lived the life that these guys are living now. So he has a valuable experience. He’s got a great personality for it. The boys, you can tell, took to him right away. So to have somebody like him, day in and day out, has been really positive, and we’re really excited for him to step into this role and continue to grow.”

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The first team of course, is playing at the same time just like last week, but I do not expect that to be a hindrance to Union II for this match in terms of roster. They should likely have the same players available, including keeper Pierce Holbrook, though there has been some rotation in that position. Academy goalkeepers have been backing up the starters, with Alex Smith, Matthew White, and Charli Lorenz in that role, though they have not seen action. Still, they are gaining valuable experience.

White, a member of the U-18s who has had US Youth National Team call ups, has been training with Union II and has been on the bench a few times. On how close he thinks White is to being ready to make that jump to the Next Pro level, Harmon said, “Yeah, I think Matthew is close. Obviously, you know Pierce is here, and we’re trying to make sure we squeeze everything out of him and see ultimately what what type of goalkeeper he’s going to continue to develop. And we love having Pierce. He adds a leadership aspect. Obviously, he’s an older one from the Naval Academy. He’s somebody who we love to have within the group.”

Harmon sees the development that still needs to happen, and they want to handle it right. “But I would say Matt White is close. I wouldn’t say that, you know, we’ve completely said he’s going to play or he’s not going to play with second team,” Harmon said. “It’s a process with these things week to week based on on how he continues to develop. He has had a great week this week, so we’re going to continue to evaluate where he’s at. But I wouldn’t be surprised, you know, if he’s for sure going to be in our environment, and we’ll see if maybe we can get him a game or two here in the last couple.”

NYCFC II are also coming off two losses, so they likely will have some urgency to get back on track as well. As Harmon said, these teams have a lot of familiarity and history, so it should be a good one. The match kicks off at 7:00 PM at Belson Stadium, St. John’s University, in Queens, New York. It is a unique venue as it sits atop a parking garage, which does lead to the ball bouncing a little differently. The match will be streaming on YouTube via mlsnextpro.com or on OneFootball.

Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.