CHESTER, Pa.—With three regular season matches remaining, the pressure is mounting for Union II to make the playoffs. That path will not be easy, as all three remaining opponents are higher in the standings. This Friday at home they will face Columbus Crew 2, currently third in the Eastern Conference at 12-7-5. Their remaining two games are against teams also fighting for the playoffs. On September 13, they travel to 9th place Chicago Fire II, and then host 8th place NYCFC II on September 20.

For interim head coach Chris Harmon, just like his counterpart with the first team, Ryan Richter, it is one game at a time. He shared ahead of Friday’s match, “To be honest, we haven’t talked that much about playoffs. They know it’s important. They know that playing more meaningful games is better for them. For for us to be able to play three teams that are above us, that’s huge because we know that the importance of the game increases. So we’re always looking for these types of games. We don’t shy away from them.”

While winning is important, as always, the development at the Next Pro level is also crucial. Harmon knows that and embraces it. “Even sometimes the games that have have been difficult for us, we know that we can get something from them in terms of how we learn and get better. I’m hoping that we’ve reached the stretch of the season where we’ve learned our lessons, and we know we’re going to be young. We know we’re going to have younger guys out there, but for us, it’s no longer an excuse. We’re going to continue to to push, and being home, you know, with two of the last three is is a real bonus.”

Union II have already faced Crew 2 twice, with the first being a 1-1 home draw where they lost 8:7 in penalty kicks on May 17. Then they faced them on the road on July 18, losing 2-0.

“As we look towards a really good Columbus team, we know what type of game it’s going to be and and how good we’re going to have to be in order to to get something from the game. So that’s been the message. The boys have had a great week of training, and we’re looking forward to it,” Harmon said.

The clash with Crew 2 is big for the Philadelphia side, who are coming off a 3-2 road win over FC Cincinnati 2. That was against an already-eliminated team that struggled this season, but the heat was a factor, and it was a road match, so it was not a cake walk. Harmon was proud of his team for the result, getting the early goal, and bouncing back after conceding.

“The conditions were difficult, a really collective performance where we basically took everybody- and that’s been kind of the theme the last, I would say over the last month, making sure that everybody feels connected to it, Yeah, really happy for them. It’s never easy to win on the road, so to get the result and to keep the momentum going has been great.”

It was a strong performance with a brace by Theo Reed, a first professional goal for John Ruf, and a 10-save performance for Pierce Holbrook. For his efforts, Reed was named MLS Next Pro Rising Star of the Matchweek. Having worked with both Reed and Ruf with the U-18s, Harmon has seen their development at both the Academy and Next Pro levels, and shared his thoughts on their progress:

“Super happy for both of them. I would say this year has been challenging in a lot of ways, but also so great for them. We always preach into these guys, and to Theo and John, and they take it. They take each week in stride. They know that there’s going to be weeks where they’re getting a lot of opportunities, and then some weeks where they’re going to have to sit back and and learn. You know, behind a Stas, behind an Eddy.”

Reed has been steadily making more of an impact and getting minutes, while Ruf has not quite as much, however with the loans of Stas Korzeniowski and Eddy Davis, they have a chance to step up and be more impactful. The previous match, against FC Cincinnati 2, was a great example.

“They’ve really really taken their role with a lot of maturity, and and also taking their opportunities,” Harmon continued. “You know, for John to get his first goal, super happy for him. He’s somebody who brings an effort and a mentality standpoint every day to training. So really happy for him to get that.”

“Theo, who in our opinion has been really sharp the last couple weeks, so for him to get the start, really well deserving. And to get two goals, it just shows that he constantly puts himself in great spots. We’re going to continue to push these guys and continue to ask them to perform, and whatever their role is on on the match day, to come with the same mentality.”

There can be a lot of competition at striker, but the camaraderie of the strikers at Union II is noticeable, and Harmon appreciates it. Reed, in fact, was close to getting a hat trick, but his shot deflected off the keeper and Ruf finished it into the goal.

“I think that the great thing with these two is if you watch the goals back, they celebrate with each other. They’re two guys that, for sure, could think about each other as direct competition, and in some ways they are. But they understand that they’re better when they’re both performing, and they celebrate each other’s success. And I think that just speaks a lot to the culture of the academy and of what we have going on here with the Union.”

As far as personnel, Union II should have Kellan LeBlanc back after a red card suspension. They have also been without the services of team captain and center back Rafael Uzcátegui for the past two matches, though he was on the bench in the last one. After getting injured in the match against New England Revolution II, he has been making his way back.

Harmon provided an update on the Venezuelan defender, saying, “Yeah, Rafa’s still coming along. We’ll see if if he’s going to be cleared for the weekend. He’s still day to day… showing improvements, which is good. He’s out there every day with the guys and participating in training in some way, shape, or form. So we’ll see where he’s at. We’re hoping he can he can play.”

In the meantime, Kaiden Moore has been stepping in, whether it has been at center back or outside back. Harmon shared that he was “super happy” with how Moore has been playing, noting, “He’s somebody who’s seen his minutes grow. Having a natural left-footed center back, I think really helps us. He has a great mentality, a great mindset. He’s somebody who, whether he was playing or wasn’t, was bringing the same mentality to training every day. So, really happy for him. I think he’s in a good spot, and fully deserving of his opportunity as we continue to push him and get big minutes out of him.”

Union II will host Columbus Crew 2 on Friday, September 4 at 7:00 PM at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex’s Kinetic Field. It will be streamed on the MLS Next Pro YouTube channel and on OneFootball.

Reactions to MLS Next Pro’s calendar shift

Last week, it was announced that MLS Next Pro would move to a summer-to-spring calendar after a sprint season in 2027, just like MLS. MLS Next, the league the Union Academy participates in, has already been doing this, meaning all three levels will be aligned.

Philadelphia Union interim head coach Ryan Richter has coached at all three levels, from the youngest ones in the Academy all the way up to the first team. He shared his thoughts:

“Yeah, I think it makes sense. You know, not just with MLS, but also with the academy schedule being the same, because there’s so many players in between that it just makes sense for it all to be aligned. And ultimately, it’s MLS Next Pro is a development league, and the point is to try to help guys improve so that they can reach the MLS level. So you have to align with the first team schedule and give the guys the best opportunity, whether that’s the quality of play on field, whether it’s the way that you organize the organization around the team, or the way that the league is is organized. The whole goal is to to put players in the first team, and we have to take, and the league has to take every step that gives the players the best opportunity to do that.”

Chris Harmon, having coached at the MLS Next and MLS Next Pro levels, also gave his thoughts:

“Yeah, for me, really positive that we get meaningful games. I wasn’t exactly sure how they were gonna approach that, but for me to to match the first team schedule, I think I think it’s a real positive. It keeps everybody on the same schedule. It makes player movement a lot easier. It gives these guys another meaningful season. So we’re always looking for meaningful games. I think the shift is really positive, and it’s going to fill a space in the calendar that needs to be filled one way or the other. So to be able to play games in a format where there’s something on the line, I think is really important.”

For more on the calendar shift, be sure to check out my article detailing the changes: MLS Next Pro to Shift Competition Calendar

Main article photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union II.