CHESTER, Pa.—With a lot of scenarios at play on Decision Day to get into the playoffs in a tight race, Union II fell short after drawing NYCFC II 1-1 and losing the penalty shootout, thus ending their season. The mostly very young squad put up a valiant effort, with a golazo by Kellan LeBlanc and goalkeeper Andrew Rick’s heroics in net, but they will miss the playoffs for the first time since MLS Next Pro’s launch in 2022.
Coach Chris Harmon’s starting lineup saw Andrew Rick, wearing the captain’s armband, return to goal for the fifth time this season with Union II and first since July. First team defender Geiner Martinez made his second appearance with Union II, this time at right back with Kaiden Moore and Finn Sundstrom at center back and Jordan Griffin at left back. Óscar Benítez and Matheus De Paula paired at defensive midfield, while Kellan LeBlanc and Giovanny Sequera were on the attack. Theo Reed and John Ruf rounded out the lineup as the striker duo.
The first half was very frenetic with a lot of back and forth, and the referee was quite vocal at times as he sought to keep the behavior of both teams in check. Both squads saw some early chances with Máximo Carrizo, who would be a thorn in Union II’s side throughout the match, missing a shot wide two minutes in, as well as some pressure around the NYC goal from Union II. Rick made saves in the 15th and 17th minutes, but a huge one came in the 19th minute when Máximo Carrizo broke through and went 1v1 with Rick, who made the fantastic stop.
NYC had chance after chance, and Union II’s left side was getting burned as Griffin was getting caught up high. This was handled better in the second half, which Harmon later remarked, “Yeah, we had to find a little bit more balance. Again, it’s striking the balance of a game that you need to win, and and not being too eager to to open up the spaces too early. These are learning moments for these guys and for us.”
NYC finally broke through in the 43rd minute as a wide-open Carrizo once again went running down the right side, passed it off to Adonis Campos, whose cross was knocked in by Drew Kerr. Just before the half ended, Rick once again came up big with a save to keep the deficit at one.
No changes were made at halftime, though it was clear, as Harmon remarked postgame, that the openings on the left side were addressed as they were handled better.
Union II had to play with some urgency, and finally got a big break when Martinez was fouled just outside the top of the box, setting up a free kick. LeBlanc, whose free kicks have been exemplary, went top-shelf on a shot blasted through the wall, leveling the match 1-1 in the 52nd minute.
The defense and Rick continued to stand tall as Sundstrom intervened on a big chance for NYC and knocked it out for a corner, leading to a shot that knocked out with a full-stretch save.
The match would see a plethora of bookings, with each team having four by the end, but a costly one came in the 62nd minute when Martinez was booked after NYC’s Jonathan Lopez ran into the 6’3″ defender who got in his way.
Union II continued to push for another goal as just a draw was not going to be enough. After Rick made yet another great save and then scooped the ball on the resulting corner, the keeper quickly got the ball out and Sequera went on a run and took a shot, but it was deflected out. Following that, Sundstrom was subbed out in the 66th minute for Willyam Ferreira as Harmon looked to get more on the attack.
NYCFC II keeper Max Learned was forced to make saves as the half wore on, but despite some quality chances, Union II were kept at bay. Harmon made another change in the 78th minute, replacing Ruf, who was on a yellow card, with Tyler Gladstone. LeBlanc then pushed up more into a striker position.
One thing Andrew Rick is known for is his prowess when it comes to saving penalties (see my conversation with him about it) and that skill would become necessary as events took a turn in the 81st minute when Martinez committed a foul in the box on Kerr, who had appeared to possibly be offside but the flag stayed down. Martinez was shown a second yellow, leading to a red card ejection. On top of that, a penalty was awarded to NYC.
Cooper Flax, who had had the late game-winning goal the last time these teams met on that field earlier in the season, stepped up to take the kick, did a little stutter step and did not fool Rick. The keeper dove to his right to make the save and keep the match level, and Union II’s hopes afloat.
“Really happy to to get him to step in,” Harmon said post-game of Rick, who in the end had 10 saves and was phenomenal. “Obviously, for us, yeah, he’s a difference maker, right? So he’s somebody that can come in and save PKs and help lead the line. So I thought he was exceptional today.”
It was clearly a good tune-up for Rick, who is expected to get the start with the first team next Saturday against Orlando as Andre Blake will be on national team duty.
After missing several matches due to injury, defender Rafael Uzcátegui, who was so key to the strong defense throughout the season and provided great leadership as the captain, finally made his return as he subbed on for De Paula in the 84th minute. Rick ran right to him and gave him the captain’s armband at this point.
“Yeah, for us, obviously Rafa was on limited minutes, and in the end of the game, I knew we had to find a way to get him on,” Harmon said. “We had to find a way to make sure he was going to end the game. He was only on maybe 20 minutes that he was able to play or something like that. So his leadership, his stability that he gives us in the back, something that we’ve been missing. So obviously, it was great to get him back on on the field to to end the season.”
As stoppage time was underway, the second goal Union II so desperately needed almost came as LeBlanc ran on goal, and passed over to Reed, but the 17 year old who has had the game-winner two times saw his shot saved by Learned. Rick also made some late saves, and the second half ended still in a stalemate, and proceeded to penalties. Results around the league had made anything less than a win not enough for the playoffs, so winning the shootout would be for nothing but pride at this point.
NYCFC II shot first, with Flax converting, and LeBlanc went first for Union II, but saw his shot saved. Rick, who is usually good for at least one penalty save, answered by denying Molinari. However, Gladstone, who has been strong on PKs at the Academy level and made one with Union II earlier this season, hit the crossbar.
For the third round, Suchecki shot past Rick, but Sequera’s shot was saved. NYC’s Pierre (no relation to Neil that we know of) skied the ball well over the crossbar, and Uzcátegui finally scored one for Union II.
In the fifth round, Lopez hit the crossbar, giving Union II hope. However, Moore also hit the crossbar and NYCFC II won the extra point. Ending the season in 11th place, Union II were denied a fifth-straight MLS Next Pro postseason appearance.
“Obviously disappointing to to not get the result, which ultimately, yeah, we all wanted three points. We all wanted to come in and take care of our part. Really proud of the boys for how they fought till the end. Yeah, not an easy match. NYCFC makes it extremely difficult. But I would say how we ended the game, couldn’t ask anything more of the guys of the staff.”
Union II had a strong run of form during the final stretch, and Harmon was proud of that. “We set higher standards for ourselves. But I have to thank all their efforts and everything. I think in the last eight weeks we’ve lost one game in regulation. So for them to to come through the second half of the season and really push, I’m proud of that.”
It was a season of many ups and downs, from Ryan Richter getting promoted to the first team on an interim basis (and being a catalyst of the Union’s second-half resurgence), to players coming and going due to many different factors (college, academy matches, first team appearances, national team, injuries…) and a young squad to boot.
Richter noted early in the season that at the second team level, it goes in cycles. The previous couple years saw tremendous talents with deep squads of future first-teamers like Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, Frankie Westfield, and more. This season, many teens from the U-18s featured, and there were learning moments. There were also great moments.
On what excites him about the players on this squad, Harmon shared, “Yeah, there’s a lot of quality, and not only that, these guys got a lot of experience this year, so a lot of minutes under their belt for some of these younger players, some debuts, things like that. Really excited for the young guys. We’re going to continue to promote the young guys, and you know, for me, there’s been some really good success stories in this season where guys have broke through and performed well, scored goals, and gained a lot of valuable experience.”
While a disappointing end, Union II has many players with bright futures, and when they begin that sprint season in 2027, they will hopefully build on that experience.
More photos from the match- check out the awesome work by Emily Wallace-Sutton, who has been working with us this season!
Main article photo credit: Emily Wallace-Sutton
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