Photo: Ben Ross

Philadelphia Union II goalkeeper Holden Trent made nine saves in regulation and a tenth in the third round of kicks from the spot to lead Union II to an extra point in the standings Sunday evening in Ft. Lauderdale after an initial 2-2 draw.

Miami striker Lorenzo D’Agostini’s head beat Gino Portella’s to a cross in the 27th minute for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later Maike Villero collected a poor clearance off a corner kick, cut to the center of the top of the box and ricocheted his drive off Miami keeper C. J. dos Santos’s glove and the inside of the left post to tie the score.

In the 76th minute, substitute Union II attacking midfielder Anthony Ramirez collected an Anton Sorenson pass to the end line and laid a feed back towards the penalty spot that fellow midfielder Stefan Stojanovic smacked home for a 2-1 lead. But four minutes later a strong shot by Miami from the right had to be parried by Trent and fell to unmarked left attacking mid Lucas Meek who curled his strike perfectly around the Union keeper into the side netting of the far post, forcing kicks from the spot after regulation.

In advance

Union II played in Ft. Lauderdale  20½ hours after the Union did outside Denver 1700 miles away. And the Union have a Wednesday game home to D. C. Comparably, Miami II played 22½ hours after its first team hosted New England in Ft. Lauderdale, and its first team also has a match Wednesday. Neither proximity nor recovery time allowed extraordinary reinforcement from either first team.

Union II’s five 2006 birth-year players were trying, perhaps unsuccessfully, to qualify the academy U-17s for MLS NEXT Cup via the MLS NEXT Flex tournament in Maryland.  Union II center backs Hugo Le Guennec and Nathan Nkanji were still recovering from injury. And reflecting a 2023 rule change not previously known to the general public, Francis Westfield was suspended for his next match due to his red card against Red Bull II because he is an academy player not an MLS NEXT Pro one. Union II’s bench was short three field players.

A Union win would have leapfrogged Miami in the table. But it was a challenge having a short bench to combat south Florida’s heat and humidity. The possession statistics below were consistent from half to half showing that Union II’s game plan was to bunker, absorb, and try to counter.

First half

The first half was dominated statistically by Miami II.  They held roughly three-quarters of possession. They attempted over 260 passes, while Union II attempted fewer than one hundred (the proportion continued in the second half). Holden Trent was credited with three saves.

The Union’s improvised back line instinctively cleared long balls to the center of the pitch, directly into the empty bucket of the empty bucket formation where Miami recovered them with no trouble and came right back down the field. Union defenders clear to teammates up field, more often than not.

Second half

Miami II head coach Frederico Higuain substituted two of his back four at halftime, as he has done before this season more than once.

Philadelphia seemed to exert a bit more offensive pressure periodically thereafter, especially after Ramirez came on for an injured Pedro Alvarez in the 60th. The young Honduran has magic feet as he showed assisting on Stojanovic’s goal.

Given the shortness of his bench, and the constraint that all the field players were academy boys and only five could be on the pitch at any one time, Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc held his substituting until late. To their credit Philadelphia maintained good energy and effort, being helped by the coming of evening twilight and some slight cooling that may have accompanied it.

One such sub, soon-to-graduate senior Noe Uwimana struck the fourth shootout goal that secured the extra point for Philly.

Fairness demands mention that Miami’s final penalty kick miss was literally a “double-doink” miss, from the right post across to the left post and out. Like Kai Wagner in Minnesota last Tuesday, the unlucky shooter was the person who had tied the match to force the shootout in the first place.

Next match

Union II will host New England Revolution II Sunday, May 21 at Subaru Park at 3:00 PM.

Three points

1. Gino Portella took a blow to his nose mask early in the match which clearly stung him. He deserves credit for  continuing and playing a key role in the defense in front of Trent. If this site’s record keeping is accurate, his yellow card in the 65th minute means he will be suspended against New England next Sunday.
2. The double pivot did not miss a beat when Alvarez went down because Boubacar Diallo shifted back. Full credit to his coach for rotating his players during practice through the positional changes he may need to make.
3. Trent’s nine saves plus one bettered his best number from college.

BOXSCORE

Union II Lineup (4-2-2-2, L-R): Starters: Holden Trent; Anton Sorenson, Gino Portella, Juan Castillo, Luke Martelli; Pedro Alvarez (Anthony Ramirez 60′), Maike Villero; Boubacar Diallo, Stefan Stojanovic; Nelson Pierre (Luciano Sanchez 81′), Jose Riasco (Noe Uwimana 89′). Unused Substitutes: Brooks Thompson; Devon Stopek, Marcello Mazzola. 1^st – 3, U II – 8, Acad – 6. Injury recovery: Hugo Le Guennec, Nathan Nkanji. Suspended: Francis Westfield. Other tournaments: Brandan Craig, Andrew Rick, Daniel Kreuger, Alex Perez, C. J. Olney, David Vazquez.

Starters’ Ages

Miami II Lineup (4-2-3-1, L-R) : Starters:C. J. dos Santos; Noah Allen (Ezequiel Abadia-Reda HT), Ian Fray (Modeste Mendez HT), Farid Sar-Sar,  Nyk Sessock; Lawson Sunderland, Abel Caputo; Jake LaCava (Cameron Johnson 61′), Lucas Meek, Braxton Najib (Kobi Thomas 79′); D’Agostini. Unused substitutes: Cole Jensen; Joseph Convers, Felipe Valencia.

Goals

M II      27th minute      Lorenzo Agostini (Nyk Sessock)

U II       29th minute      Maike Villero

U II       76th minute       Stefan Stojanovic (Anthony Ramirez, Anton Sorenson)

M II      81st minute       Lucas Meek

Cards

U II       49th minute      Yellow      Jose Riasco (persistent infringement)

U II        65th minute     Yellow      Gino Portella (foul)

M II        69th minute    Yellow      Modeste Mendez (foul)

U II        80th minute     Yellow      Anthony Ramirez (time-wasting)

U II        86th minute     Yellow      Luke Martelli (foul)

Stats

Whistle:

Ref: Alejo Calume, AR¹: Abdel Kuttaineh, AR²: Preston Joyner, 4^TH: Amiel Aleman.