Chester, PA — While it was a wet and windy evening, the Philadelphia Union rode into Subaru Park on the back of an eleven-match unbeaten run, looking to set a new franchise record and continue their climb up the Eastern Conference table as they hosted Orlando City on Saturday evening.

Riding the coattails of Milan Iloski’s three-goal output, plus a goal and two assists from Indiana Vassilev, Philadelphia would treat the fans to a 4-2 victory on Saturday night.

“I was really proud, especially of the guys who haven’t been in the starting group or haven’t gotten so many minutes as of late, because it’s hard when you aren’t in a rhythm of playing each week to go out and start a game being brave, being aggressive, in the way that we did, and the guys from the way we started the first half, the way we started the second half, and the way we played the entire game, and we did a really good job in this,” interim head coach Ryan Richter said of the squad’s performance when speaking with the press post-match.

“So the attitude was right, the confidence was right, and because of the way that we approached the game, because of the way the guys approached the game, we got a great result out of it.”

Prior to the match, the club announced the short-term call-ups for two Union II players in Jordan Griffin and Rafael Uzcategui. For Jordan, this was his first-ever call-up with the first team, and for Uzcategui, this was his second call-up but his first time appearing in an league match roster.

With the international window and players missing the match for Philly that evening, the Union head coach had some decisions to make, in particular, who would fill the void at right back. Richter opted in favor of consistency, keeping Nathan Harriel—wearing the captain’s armband—at center back and giving Ben Bender his first start since Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup in August. Japhet Sery Larsen would join them along with Kai Wagner on the defensive line.

“I actually I tried to stay away from the conversations with Ben this week about what he needs to do in this position,” Richter said. “Of course, we gave him some advice for the game, but I don’t know that he probably ever played right back in his life, and I thought he did a great job in that.”

For Sery Larsen, it would be his first start since July 22 in league play, and he spoke about adapting to play in MLS during his first season with Philadelphia.

“I mean, it’s a really different leap from what we are used to,” the center back mentioned when speaking to the media. “The physicality, the play one-on-one on big spaces. So there’s a lot of things I’m trying to adapt into. It takes time coming, but obviously you want to settle in as quick as possible. That’s not always the case. Try to stay patient, learning every day, improving every day.”

Andrew Rick, coming off a ten-save performance on Sunday with Union II, returned to goal for his first MLS start since May 5 against, coincidentally, Orlando City.

The midfield consisted of Jesús Bueno, Jovan Lukic, Quinn Sullivan, and Indiana Vassilev. Milan Iloski and Bruno Damiani started up top as the forwards to round out the starting eleven.

The bench consisted of Geiner Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya, Jeremy Rafanello, Ezekiel Alladoh, George Marks, Finn Sundstrom, Rafael Uzcátegui, and Jordan Griffin.

Four minutes into the match, head referee Sergii Demanchuk stopped play due to a potential handball on Sery Larsen on a block of Bernardo Rhein’s shot inside the box. However, after a delay to check, no penalty was awarded as the ball had come off the defender’s chest first, and play continued.

The Philadelphia Union took the lead in the 11th minute following a penalty conversion from Milan Iloski for his 14th goal of the season after he was taken down in the box by Eduard Atuesta, giving the home side the early lead.

Iloski would double the lead eight minutes later following a nifty feed from Indy Vassilev, allowing the California native to rip a shot just under the outstretched arm of Maxime Crepeau, extending the lead for Philadelphia to 2-0 with his 15th goal of the campaign.

Orlando City certainly had their moments in the first half, especially down the left side with Iván Angulo, who beat Bender on a few occasions that led to prime opportunities for the Lions. However, while the Union bent at times in the first half, they did not break, as both teams headed to the break with the home side up 2-0.

Throughout the first half and through most of the second half, the work done in the midfield was exceptional from Philadelphia, in particular from Jesús Bueno and Jovan Lukic, who won the battles and kept Orlando from getting key chances to move into dangerous positions for the most part.

“When we looked at it, the way that Orlando plays, it’s with these central combinations are really dangerous, and of course, even in the game,” Richter mentioned. “I mean, some of Griezmann’s touches are just… they’re class. You know, there’s no other way to describe it. They’re just class. So as much as you can deny the supply into them, you know that’s how we can try to limit a great player like that. And it was important, the communication from the center backs to them, the moments when they had to jump aggressive, the moments when they had to protect the back four, and they made so many small plays, tackles, recovering with the back pressure, interceptions that they made that led the transitions, but both of them were were really good tonight.”

The Union came out of halftime swinging, as Vassilev scored two minutes into the half following a nice feed from Bueno, giving the midfielder a prime opportunity to bury his fourth goal of the season and extend the lead to three.

Iloski would join the party four minutes later with his third goal of the match, his 16th goal of the year and second hat trick of the season, to give the home side a 4-0 lead. It marked the first time in MLS history the Union had scored four or more goals in four straight games.

Iloski also joined Julian Carranza and Daniel Gazdag as the only Union players ever to score multiple hat tricks in a single season.

“You know, that’s what I was brought here to do and to play,” Iloski said to the press. “That’s where I’ve had all the success in my career, really. So, you know, I’m really comfortable, really happy. Me and Bruno have a great connection up there, and really work well together. So, you know, it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been pushing for it for a while. And you know, when Richter came in and the new staff, that was really clear that was what we were going to do, and I was super happy to hear that. So really comfortable, really happy, and feel like I’m impacting games, which is really important.”

The assist on Milan’s third goal gave Indiana his second assist of the evening, along with Lukic on the hockey assist.

With each match since the World Cup break, it seems more and more that Vassilev is gaining confidence, which is something Richter praised about him on the night.

“I think tonight was his best game,” he said. “You know, he had the goal and I think two assists as well. But the work that he puts in defensively, you know, it just makes the team better. So, like I said, tonight was probably his best game of the second half of the year. He was excellent.”

Orlando City would finally break through into the scoring column following a foul by Harriel on Daryl Dike just outside the 18-yard box. Antoine Griezmann went short on the kick, finding Iván Angulo to spoil the Union’s attempt to get three clean sheets in four matches.

Richter’s moves from the bench were to bring in Agustin Anello and Alejandro Bedoya for Sullivan and Iloski in the 79th minute. Richter then brought on Jeremy Rafanello and Ezekiel Alladoh for Vassilev and Damiani in the 85th.

Martín Ojeda made things interesting late with a 90th-minute goal to draw the match within two as the defense broke down on the play, allowing the road team to creep back into the match late. The assist on the play went to Harvey Sarajian.

“I mean, of course, an ideal world that doesn’t happen, and you know, you keep a clean sheet,” IIoski said about giving up the two late goals. “You know, like we said about rotating a lot of guys, a lot of guys are tired. A lot of guys are playing 90 minutes for the first time in a while, so it’s obviously not ideal. But it’s easy to lose a little bit of focus there when you’re up 4-0. So, you know, we got the win, which is most important.”

Jordan Griffin came on for Ben Bender in the 90th plus one minute of stoppage time for his MLS debut. The homegrown defender played the remaining minutes of the match and made a few defensive stops to keep the match from becoming even more interesting during his six minutes of work.

“With all these guys, when you see the the progress that they’ve made, and you see what they put in over this, you know, last 10 years, and you see what his family has committed, it’s a nice feeling to put him in,” Richter said of Griffin’s debut. “Proud of him to to make his MLS debut, and yeah, the sample size was small. You know, he made a couple good interventions and a couple good tackles. But like I said, the sample size from the game was small. But you know, we’ve seen over the last 10 years, and especially the last two years with Union II, just his growth, and it was a good moment for him to get his debut tonight.”

However, in the end, Philadelphia was able to hang on and take the 4-2 win and, in the process, set a new club unbeaten streak record at 12 straight. The Union have taken 32 points from their last 12 matches, tied for the most points in any 12-game span in Major League Soccer history. The last team to accomplish the feat was Seattle Sounders FC in 2018.

Richter, having been part of those teams from 2022 through 2024 as an assistant, saw those squads score goals by the bunches, maybe not at the rate we are seeing lately, but when I asked him what the similarities were, the coach was quick to answer.

“I think the thing that you can go straight to is the confidence of the players,” Richter told the media. “You know, and that’s what you feel. You see the energy they’re playing with, and if you can give this to a team, if a team feels like that, you got to keep that rolling because it’s so powerful. You know, it’s so powerful when the players step on the field and they expect to win. They expect to score. You know they’re not happy now because they conceded the two goals at the end. So that kind of confidence is contagious. It can take you a long way, and we have to bottle that up and keep it as long as we possibly can.”

While the Union remain in sixth place following the match, with the Chicago Fire defeating Charlotte FC 1-0 on the road, the Union closed ground on the upper half of the Eastern Conference and are now behind Charlotte by only four points, while Inter Miami and New England are only seven points ahead.

“It’s just simple,” Vassilev said about what has been the theme during this run. “The message is simple. We know we’re good players. They give us a light structure to go out there and do what we do. And then, obviously, in this league, momentum is everything. Once you can get a good string of games together, and players get confidence, play at home a couple times, the fans get behind us. All of a sudden, it changes things. I mean, 12 unbeaten is a result of very, very hard work, and yeah, we’re going to continue to believe in ourselves and see where that takes us.”

The Union return home on Saturday, October 10, after a week off as they face Western Conference opponent Real Salt Lake, who defeated New England 3-0 on Saturday. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be available on Apple TV.

Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union