Photo: Marjorie Elzey

Wednesday evening Philadelphia Union II went toe to toe with Eastern conference leaders Crown Legacy FC, but fell in the second half to two moments of quality from the visitors.

In the 57th minute, left outside midfielder Jacob Williams split the opposite side of Union II’s defensive line with a perfectly placed early cross that was headed home by central striker Vinicius Mello. Seven minutes later in the 65th one of the North Carolinian center backs delivered excellently down route one to Mello’s head for a flick-on to Patrick Agyemang who over powered one Union defender and avoided a second’s slide tackle to clinch the result.

In advance

Crown Legacy FC is the professional youth development team of MLS’s Charlotte FC.

Union II lost a penalty kick shootout to Crown Legacy May 24^th in North Carolina after the conference leaders had engineered a comeback from two goals down to create the draw. Entering yesterday’s match, the Carolinians were first in the east on 27 points.  Philly was eighth on 17. For Union II the match was the halfway point of the MLS NEXT Pro season.

Neither first team played yesterday or will this coming Saturday. Both Crown Legacy and Philadelphia Union II  played with reinforcements from their first teams. Both Crown Legacy and Union II played last Sunday, Legacy losing to Columbus Crew 2 2-1 in a battle of the conference’s top two teams, and Union II clean-sheeting Atlanta 2 1-0. And they both play again this Sunday.

A consideration governing use of Union II’s five U17s (Andrew Rick, Daniel Kreuger, Alex Perez, C. J. Olney, and David Vazquez) was that the group stage of MLS NEXT Cup begins this coming Saturday. Midfield starters Perez and Olney therefore played seventy minutes. Keeper Rick was expected to go 90.

First half

The half ended scoreless.

Union II played its restraining line higher up the pitch the did Crown Legacy, giving the impression that Union II penetrated deeper on its possessions. But only rarely were there meaningful opportunities to score as the visitors’ midfield did a solid job of falling back to defend.

Union II’s press forced Crown Legacy central striker Mello to drop into the midfield to try to help with ball possession. Crown Legacy seemed to favor playing through its right channel with winger Patrick Agemeyang who was handful for left back Juan Castillo and left center back Brandan Craig..

Union II’s offensive blend of first-team reserves and Academy U17 players produced well coordinated play. C. J. Olney integrated well with Jeremey Rafanello, Chris Donovan and Quinn Sullivan. Frank Westfield stood out in the defensive center for both correct anticipation and speed of ground coverage.

Crown Legacy probably had more threats on goal, keeper Andrew Rick having to come out to prevent breakaways from developing into worse as many as three times.

Union II had strongest threat of either team to score in the 42nd minute when Sullivan crossed inside the six to Donovan closing on the near post for a flick. Crown Legacy keeper Isaac Walker made an excellent pure reaction save at extremely close range to preserve his zero.

Crown Legacy maintained its base shape with cautiously little positional interchange, especially out of the midfield into the attack.

Second half

The second half saw two moments of excellent quality from the visitors.

The first came against the run of play with a perfectly delivered cross that split Union II’s left center back and left back for an uncontested header. The second occurred in Union-like fashion with a long high central channel service from just in front of the line of Crown Legacy’s six that was headed on for by one striker for another who overpowered one defender and beat the next one’s slide tackle  to hammer home and clinch three points.

Union II remained game. Marlon LeBlanc shifted to three in the back with an extra midfielder. But Crown Legacy keeper Walker stood tall making several solid saves to prevent Union II from clawing back any chance at a result.

At the beginning of stoppage time substitute Union II striker Nelson Pierre would have beaten Walker had his shot been on frame, but somehow in the heat of the moment it was not, and a miracle late comeback was not to be.

Crown Legacy played less cautiously in the second half, being more willing to vary their spacing from each other if not actually interchange, and the men against boys phenomenon began to assert itself in the midfield.

For the first year of MLS NEXT Pro play, Charlotte FC’s academy would not yet have provided as competitive a MLS NEXT Pro side as the Union’s has done, so they brought in several capable young adults to form their squad and in the second half it showed.

It is also worth mentioning that those young adults had been run ragged by the boys in blue by the time the match was over.

Next Match

On four days’ rest Union II will host Chicago Fire II Sunday June 18 at 6 PM at Subaru Park. Its five U17s will be away at MLS NEXT Cup, eliminating three quarters of its teenage midfield.

Three Points

1. Patrick Agyemang demonstrated that Brandan Craig on the night was not up to the physical challenge he presented. The first team’s 19.2-year-old number four central defender needs more raw upper body power in order to handle a player like Crown Legacy right winger.
2. The Jamaica Football Federation’s official twitter account lists Andre Blake as in the squad that will play the friendlies in Austria today and next Tuesday. Damion Lowe is not listed. The matches prepare the Reggae Boyz for Concacaf’s Gold Cup which begins in Chicago June 24 when the United States plays Jamaica at Soldier Field.
3. In an article Tuesday behind The Athleic’s paywall, Tom Bogert mentioned four current Union first teamers as players to monitor during this summer’s transfer window. Under the heading “Out of contract this winter,” he said Kai Wagner has turned down two Union contract extension offers, that the club is bracing for his departure, that if the compensation is right, they would be open to him leaving this summer, and that the club has several alternatives in mind should Wagner leave. Under “Summer agreement for winter transfer?” he said Jack McGlynn is destined for Europe. There have been no official offers but the Union are aware what clubs are interested. And under “Keep an eye on,” he mentioned Julian Carranza and Olivier Mbaizo.

BOXSCORE

Union II Lineup (4-2-2-2, L-R): Starters: Andrew Rick; Juan Castillo, Brandan Craig, Hugo Le Guennec, Anton Sorenson; Alex Perez (Boubacar Diallo 71′), Francis Westfield (Daniel Kreuger 84′)*; C. J. Olney (Nelson Pierre 71′), Quinn Sullivan; Jeremy Rafanello (Stefan Stojanovic 71′), Chris Donovan (David Vazquez 76′). Unused substitutes: Brooks Thompson; Gino Portella, , Carlos Rojas, Luciano Sanchez. 1^st – 6, U II – 7, Acad – 7. *=announced as a concussion substitution.

Starters’ ages

Crown Legacy Lineup (4-3-3, L-R): Starters: Isaac Walker: Joao Pedro, Andrew Privett, Jack Neeley; Jacob Williams (Ervin Cruz 79′), Erik Pena (Aron John 71′), David Poreba, Nick Scardina; Iuri Tavares (Marko Filipovic 71′), Vinicius Mello, Patrick Agyemang. Unused substitutes: Russell Shealy; Brando Bedolla, Brian Romero, Gurman Sangha, Josue Rodrigues, James Nyandjo, .

Goals

CL         57th minute       Vinicius Mello (Jacob Williams)

CL         65th minute       Patrick Abyemang (Vinicius Mello)

Cards

U II       38th minute        Yellow        Francis Westfield (persistent infringement)

CL         68th minute        Yellow        Erik Pena (foul)

Stats

Whistle

Ref: Luis Diego Arroyo, AR¹: Gjovalin Bori, AR²: Max Smith, 4^TH: Stephen Foster.