Photo @PhilaUnionII

New York City FC II scored two goals at the death, between the 88th and 90+2nd minutes, to defeat Philadelphia Union II 2-1 on the turf of St. Johns University’s Belson field to tighten the playoff race in MLS NEXT Pro’s Eastern Conference.

Union II striker Eddy Davis III had outmuscled New York goalkeeper Alex Rando on the goaline in the 23rd minute to put Philly ahead in the first half.

In a pattern all too familiar to Union fans, head coach Marlon LeBlanc’s substitutes had little positive offensive or defensive impact on the match while NYC FC II head coach Matt Pilkington’s did. Center back Neil Pierre, and attacking midfielders Cavan Sullivan and David Vazquez were unavailable to Union II, as was Giovanny Sequera who is still out with injury.

In advance

For the first time ever, 2024 saw MLS-affiliated farm teams compete in the US Open Cup in place of their elder brother first teams. New York City FC II did so and was the last surviving division III side, earning themselves $25,000 in prize money. Their cup run lies below.

The Open Cup Run created MLS NEXT Pro regular season postponements, so NYC FC II holds from one to four games in hand against their eastern conference opponents. In most cases they hold three, as they do against Union II. Were they to win all three and add nine points in the table, they would lie second in the conference on 36, two behind Philly. In that sense the match on Long Island was a battle among first and second place.

Like Union II, NYC FC II has several first-team signings who play extensively with its second team. In age structure they are either a bit younger than Union II or a bit older, in one or two cases quite a bit older. Surprisingly, Philadelphia’s starters’ average age was a smidgen north of 20.Pierre, Cavan Sullivan, and Vazquez were unavailable probably left in Chester as bench players against Nashville. Olwethu Makhanya, Jamir Berdecio, Sanders Ngabo, and Andrew Rick were present.

First Half

Union II kicked off into a healthy breeze on St. Johns University’s turf. But at the beginning the hosts had more of the possession and the offensive pressure. In the ninth minute in the first of their two best scoring chances of the half a deflected feed rebounded off the near post.

Repeatedly, Union II tried to fast break immediately, presumably to catch New York’s midfielders upfield. At first they did not connect well, but as the half continued they began to do so. Clearly CJ Olney, playing at the attacking midfield vertex of the narrow diamond, was under instruction to press forward as much as possible.

The basic pattern of the half became back and forth, the Union using perhaps half the number of passes employed by New York. Union II made no attempt to possess the ball and break down their hosts’ defense. New York also attempted to attack quickly, but without employing long, deep diagonal switches. When the young Cityzens switched the field their deliveries were much closer to horizontal.

What turned out to be a key moment occurred when Frank Westfield went down with a head injury in the 30th minute.The vice captain left back continued into the second half but came off for the first time this season in the 63rd minute when Gavin Wetzel came on for him and Jamir Berdecio shifted from the right outside back to the left.

New York’s other decent first half chance to score came on a melee in front of goal in the 36th that Union II managed to block and clear.

Second half

At halftime neither coach substituted.

New York began with less urgency to attack, but quickly changed that trend and built more and more possession as the half progressed.

Coach LeBLanc remained true to his player development priority and began to bring on young substitutes in the midfield and the attack, taking off Kyle Tucker and Markus Anderson in the 75th minute and bringing on Leandro Soria at striker and 16-year-old Jamir Johnson at right midfield. The switch saw a shift in formation to a 4-2-2-2 “empty bucket” with a double pivot at defensive mid.

Player development governed again in the 81st when Randy Meneses replaced Ngabo at defensive mid and Kellen LeBlanc came on for Davis at striker exhausting Union II’s substitution opportunities. the coach did not use Sal Olivas because he is still recovering from injury.

It was primarily at the end of the match that Westfield’s absence was most clearly felt as poor first clearances were not followed by aggressive addressing of second balls. If Westfield is anything he is never hesitant to commit himself all out to defend or attack. Neil Pierre’s absence did not help either, as Carlos Rojas had to play the full ninety for the first time in quite a while and seemed less and less assertive.

Jonathan Shore was declared man of the match by the broadcaster because he scored the winner, but to PSP’ eyes Piero Elias  dominated central midfield at the end of the match. He had debuted in MLS against Atlanta two days before and went the full 90 Friday night. Unlike last season on Long Island, coach Pilkington did not make the mistake of bring him off.

Next Match

Union II next play Columbus Crew 2 at historic Crew Stadium on the grounds of the Ohio State Fair at 6:00 PM Sunday, July 28^th on Apple TV MLS Season Pass. They cannot be passed by anyone in the eastern conference this weekend, although should Cincinnati 2 win in Columbus Sunday they would match Union II on points.

Three points, plus two

1. Davis’s goal places him second in the league in scoring with 10.
2. Olney’s commitment to pressing NYC II central defenders and their keeper reminded this observer of Daniel Gazdag in 2022 when he was trying to trigger some beneficial automatic options in his contract.
3. Yellow cards totaled 10 for the match, 6 to New York and 4 to Philly as the referee tried to control the bad blood between the sides who both previous years have been close rivals for the playoffs. Philly edged NYC for the final playoff spot both seasons.
4. Academy teams’ structure shift: – The age levels of academy teams next season will shift from U15s and U17s to U16s and U18s.
5. An amateur eligibility detail: – A high school player appearing with a professional side as an amateur for part of a year may continue to do so for the entire calendar year. While it is often customary for a graduated high school senior to move immediately into post-secondary education following graduation, doing so is not mandatory. “Gap years” are possible. Eddy Davis III could therefore finish the season with Union II without excluding the possibility of joining an NCAA program next January. As a June 2024 graduate January 2025 is when his eligibility clock starts ticking.

BOXSCORE

Lineups

Union II: (4-1-2-1-2, L-R) 1^st – 6, U II – 8, Am – 6.

Starters: Andrew Rick; Frank Westfield (Gavin Wetzel 63′), Carlos Rojas, Olwethu Makhanya, Jamir Berdecio; Sanders Ngabo (Randy Meneses 81′); Kyle Tucker (Jamir Johnson 75′), Nick Pariano; CJ Olney; Markus Anderson (Leandro Soria 75′), Eddy Davis III (Kellen LeBlanc 81′). Starters’ average age = 20.2.

Unused substitutes: Mike Sheridan; Henry Bernstein, Sal Olivas, Gavin DeHart.

NYC FC II: (4-2-3-1, L-R)

Starters: Alex Rando; Chris Tiao, Matthew Leong, Samuel Owusu, Steven Bednarsky (Jonathan Lopez 77′); Piero Elias, Jake Rozhansky (Jonathan Shore 60′); J.J. Jimenez (Nicholas Kapanadze 90+3′), Maximo Carrizo (Camil Azzam Ruiz 77′), Ronald Arevalo (Julien Lacher 77′); Taylor Calheira.

Unused substitutes: William Meyer; Kofi Hope-Gund, Klevis Haxhari.

Goals

Union II          23rd minute           Eddy Davis III (NIck Pariano)

NYC FC II       88th minute          Taylor Calheira

NYC FC II       90+2nd minute     Jonathan Shore (Piero Elias)

Yellow Cards

Union II           10th minute          Olwethu Makhanya (dissent)

NYC FC II        33rd minute          Samuel Owusu (foul)

NYC FC II       39th minute          Jake Rozhansky (foul)

NYC FC II       44th minute          Stevo Bednarsky (foul)

Union II          45+1st minute      Jamir Berdecio (foul)

Union II          45+4th minute    Andrew Rick (delay)

Union II          47th minute          Markus Anderson (foul)

NYC FC II      77th minute          Chris Tiao (foul)

NYC FC II       90+6th minute    Jonathan Lopez (foul)

NYC FC II       90+6th minute    Camil Azzam Ruiz (foul)

Stats

Whistle & Flags

Ref: Kyle Averill, AR1: Eric Schreiber, AR2: Bryan Conetta, 4^TH: Robert Cordrey.