Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union II Communications

In a rare second team home game on a Saturday night, Philadelphia Union II tied Crown Legacy FC through both regulation and 30 minutes of extra time 1-1 to win the resulting penalty kick shootout 4-3 on the decisive fifth penalty from CJ Olney.

The conventional sports news was overshadowed by the announcement at the beginning of the match that first team reserve goalkeeper Holden Trent died earlier that day.

Trent’s first Subaru Park appearance in an official  game resulted in a penalty kick shootout win when he abandoned tentativeness and saved the fifth and final PK on April 23rd, 2023 home to Toronto II for a 5-4 shootout margin. Andrew Rick’s save of Crown Legacy’s fifth attempt would seem to bookend and memorialize the North Carolinian’s professional career.

News in advance

In his pre-game press conference on Friday head coach Marlon LeBlanc  made solemn reference to  Trent as being in some type of serious, unfortunate situation whose detail he did not specify. He said he would have no further comment on Trent’s situation.

Mid-afternoon Saturday before tap off, the Union posted that Trent had passed away. No further details are available. We are all asked to respect the privacy of his family, fiancé, and friends in this time of intense and private grief.

…

Because last spring Charlotte FC hired former Union Director of Academy and Professional Development Tommy Wilson to be its new Technical Director, some were calling this Union II – Crown Legacy playoff match the Tommy Wilson Derby since it pitted a team he helped build against the one he is currently building. Both sides did Wilson proud,

Philadelphia’s first team did not qualify for MLS’s playoffs so it did not restrict access to any Union II playoff eligible first teamer. Crown Legacy’s first team did qualify, and played away the very next day in Orlando. But the interchangeability among the two North Carolina squads seems lesser than Philadelphia’s.

With its first team having a week off, Philadelphia has had the same group practicing together for three consecutive days, a circumstance that has been beyond unusual for Coach LeBlanc at any time over the last three years.

The regular season meeting between the sides June 13^th occurred before Union II had undergone its annual mid-summer transition. Not only did the two teams not know each other well, Philly had changed noticeably since they met.

The June match was scoreless for the first hour until Leandro Soria scored in the 65^th minute on a breakaway through ball. It was 1-0 until the 84^th when a Kyle Tucker corner kick found Frank Westfield’s head for the second goal, and CJ Olney iced matters in the 4^th minute of stoppage time on another through ball breakaway.

First half

Yesterday’s match began with the announcement of Trent’s death. The stadium observed a moment of silence in his memory. His final match was his only one this season, a full match for Union II at home against New York Red Bull II on June 26th.

The fundamental pattern of most of the game asserted itself from the opening moments of the first half. Philadelphia controlled most of possession with complex technically proficient combination play in the outside channels, bring the ball into the center primarily when in Crown Legacy’s defensive third and penalty box.

Crown Legacy packed zone 14 defensively and at first tried to counterattack into the green space behind Union II’s defensive back four. The Carolinians’ combinations were much simpler than Philadelphia’s with a greater emphasis on individual pace.

Both sides generated lots of corner kicks, and in the 28th minute the Carolinian goal keeper Chituru Odunze  failed to collect an especially long and especially lofted service from CJ. Olney. His failure meant that center back Olwethu Makhanya jumping next to Neil Pierre (see picture) headed home decisively for a 1-0 lead that held up until the 90th minute.

Both teams played hard physical soccer and after half an hour of warnings, the referee began to issue yellow cards.

Second half

Union II made one change at halftime, bringing on striker Sal Olivas for starter Markus Anderson who had suffered several hard fouls in the first 45 minutes. Crown Legacy made no changes at the interval.

Head coach Kevin Sawchuk brought on his first fresh legs just short of the hour mark, replacing defensive mid Erik Pena with Filip Mirkovic and left wing Nimfasha Berchimas with Tyger Smalls. Particularly when defending, Sawchuk’s side seemed to interchange among three different shapes. They attacked in a 4-3-3, but often seemed to assume a 4-2-3-1, or a 4-2-2-2, or indeed a flat 4-4-2. The group seemed well drilled in the changes and executed their changes well.

They stopped playing for the green space behind Union II’s backs and began to build possession in front of them. The tactical constant throughout the game was familiar to Union and Union II followers, namely width. When Crown legacy had the ball, two outside channel players, one on either side, had the proverbial chalk on their boots.

Slightly before the 70th minute coach Sawchuk made the move that proved decisive 20 minutes later. He brought off Cam Duke who had begun acting like a trailing striker or attacking central mid for Dylan Sing who moved to striker and applied real pace and physicality to the position. Israeli starting striker Idan Toklomati had had his pace and silky technical skills negated by Makhanya and fellow center back Pierre and dropped back to the number 10 in the 4-2-3-1, or alternatively out to the wing.

In the 77th minute with a one goal lead, Coach LeBlanc brought on Jose Riasco for Eddy Davis  a move that reflects his development first approach as Riasco is not as instinctive defending in Union II’s system as is the 18.3-year-old amateur. No one can accuse LeBlanc of lacking bravery. And the move looked better and better as extra time wore on since Davis would have been dragging had he tried to play the full 120.

Just before stoppage time, Sing broke free with the accelaration of fresh legs and innate pace and scored the match equalizer from Nicholas Scardina.

Immediately thereafter Union II drove down the field and created a series of chances in Crown Legacy’s box that flirted outrageously with the goal line. But the Assistant Referee judged the ball never fully across the line, and shortly thereafter the full time whistle blew.

Extra time

Both teams played extra time for what we believe was the first time this year. Going straight to penalty kick shootouts in the regular season meant the experience was brand new to both sides.

Extra time’s first half was decent if tired soccer. But each team dragged badly in the second 15 minutes. Crown Legacy made its next-to-last substitutions in the 97th bringing on pacey Jonathan Nyandjo for Toklomati, and its last in the 105th with Josue Rodrigues for Julian Bravo. But Union II’s central defensive rectangle of Pariano, Rojas, Pierre and Makhanya managed to dispossess Nyandjo at least twice and by the middle of the second extra time period penalty kicks looked inevitable.

Penalty kick shootout

No one missed putting their shot on frame.

Next match

Union II will host either Chicago Fire II or Columbus Crew 2 at Subaru Park next Saturday, November 2^nd at a time yet to be determined. Chicago hosts Columbus tomorrow, Sunday, October 27^th 

Cavan Sullivan

The youngster received considerable physical attention from Crown Legacy and toward the end of the first half he took exception to it verbally to the referee, receiving a yellow card for his opinions. He executed his responsibilities competently on both sides of the ball. Coach LeBlanc substituted him off in the 67th minute for Carlos Rojas who formed a double six with Nick Pariano.

Crown legacy was prepared for Sullivan’s tactic of overloading either outside channel and had older players in place to disrupt it. And Sullivan did not have his shooting boots on for the day.

Three points + 2

1. Makhanya started and avoided any glaring or game-changing mistakes.
2. Pariano, Olney, and Vazquez all played the full 120 minutes in the midfield, not a surprise from Olney but an achievement for the other two.
3. Olivas played very well defensively as a striker.
4. This was the first Union II match of the season in which Jamir Berdecio did not play a minute.
5. Crown Legacy played higher than an eighth seed in quality and should be encouraged by their progress.

BOXSCORE

 Lineups

 Union II (4-1-2-1-2, LR) 1^st – 8; U II – 8; Acad – 4. Starters’ average age = 18.7   Starters: Andrew Rick; Frank Westfield, Olwethu Makhanya, Neil Pierre, Gavin Wetzel; Nick Pariano; CJ Olney, David Vazquez; Cavan Sullivan (Carlos Rojas 67′); Eddy Davis, Markus Anderson (Jose Riasco 77′), ( (Sal Olivas HT).

Unused substitutes: Mike Sheridan; Jamir Berdecio, Kyle Tucker, Giovanny Sequera, Jamir Johnson, Kellan LeBlanc.

Crown Legacy: (4-3-3). Starters: Chituru Odunze; Julian Bravo, Willian Sandoquiza, Jack Neeley, Nicholas Scardina (Josue Rodrigues 105′); Cam Duke (Dylan Sing 67′), Erik Pena (Filip Mirkovic 58′), Aron John; Nimfasha Berchimas (Tyger Smälls 58′), Idan Toklomati (Jonathan Nyandjo 97′), Brandan Cambridge.

Unused substitutes: George Marks; Brian Carmona, James Nyandjo, Simon Tonidandel.

Goals

Union II           28th minute            Olwethu Makhanya (CJ Olney)

Crown L           88th minute           Dylan Sing (Nicholas Scardina)

Yellow Cards

Union II           30th minute           Gavin Wetzel (foul)

Union II           32nd minute           Cavan Sullivan (dissent)

Union II           43rd minute           David Vazquez (mutual foul)

Crown L           43rd minute           Julian Bravo (mutual foul)

Union II           53rd minute          Frank Westfield (foul)

Crown L           86th minute          Kevin Sawchuk (bench caution)

Crown L          120th minute         Filip Mirkovic (dissent)

Stats

Whistle & Flags

Ref: Abdou Ndiaye, AR¹: Matthew Rodman. AR²: Max Smith 4^th: Alexandra Billeter.