Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union II Communications

After a weather delay of approximately an hour Monday afternoon at Subaru Park in Chester, Philadelphia Union II spotted Orlando City B a goal in the twelfth minute, but equalized in the 55th to force a penalty kick shootout at the end of regulation, which the boys from Philly won 4-2 to collect the extra point in the standings. They lie third in the East on 28 points with two games in hand on both NY Red Bull II and Chattanooga who lie first and second respectively.

Orlando’s Shawn Platts headed a high looping corner kick service from Gustavo Carabello in a gentle loop to the near post beyond the reach of Union II goalkeeper Oliver Semmle for the lead, in effect chipping him.

Philadelphia’s left back Isaiah LeFlore settled an Orlando clearance headed right to his feet 23 yards out on the left side of the “D” and lasered the equalizer to that same upper 90 of that same River End goal in the 55th to tie the match.

In the consequent penalty kick shootout after keepers Carlos Mercado and Semmle exchanged opening saves, Semmle smothered Dylan Judelson’s fourth PK, and Jamir Johnson buried Union II’s fifth to secure the comeback.

In advance

As happened last Thursday, Union II played at home the day after the Union themselves had played away, this time in Columbus. Several Union II regulars had sat the first team bench as reserves, and three played (Cavan Sullivan – 45 minutes; Sal Olivas – 27; David Vazquez – 19).

Orlando B played away two days after their first team had played away in Cincinnati. Historically they have not practiced as much roster interchange among their professional teams as has Philadelphia.

First half

The basic pattern of the first half was possession in the midfield and the attacking third by Philadelphia. The possession was punctuated by Orlando counterattacks based on speed down their left flank from Dyson Clapier. Neophyte Philadelphia right back Gio Sequera anticipated Clapier better than he had his previous opponent showing a positive learning curve from game to game. And Neil Pierre showed the positive effects of adequate sleep as his support for his colleague was effective.

In the eleventh minute the Floridians earned the corner kick that provided them their goal. Even Andre Blake at his best would have been challenged to make the stop.

Orlando immediately slowed play every chance they got, and were allowed to by the referee. They also fouled the Union frequently to preempt any creation of rhythm. Orlando played a low block after they had the lead. Often all eleven visitors were in the defensive third, allowing the Union to cycle and recycle its attacks.  It is an ugly style of play. It was however effective all the way to halftime.

No Union II player was able to put a shot past keeper Mercado.

Second half

Neither coach subbed at the half.

Coach Richter must have had some good suggestions at halftime, because Philly seemed to attack more effectively, but Mercado stepped up his game and kept the door shut. He ended the match with 12 saves which is itself an achievement.

Then LeFlore struck his golazo, and both coaches subbed at the 63rd minute. Philly followed with two more in the 72nd, replacing a striker and three of the four midfielders. And at the end Philly replaced the exhausted Eddy Davis before the shootout.

From Philadelphia’s point of view aside from equalizing perhaps the most interesting development of the half was the professional debut of 16.4-year-old attacking midfielder Willyam Ferreira (yes, it is spelled with the “y”.) Ferreira tried to attack on the dribble in addition to playing the pressing, passing combinations of Richter’s and Carnell’s principles of play. The young man was also not afraid to shoot from distance,(see photo), but did not beat the Orlando keeper.

Semmle did a credible Matt Freese imitation on the Floridians’ first and fourth shots in the shootout, and the streak of three actual wins and two shootout successes continued.

Cavan Sullivan

Unsurprisingly, Sullivan did not dress for the match. He had played the entire second half in Columbus the night before in the Ohio rain, his longest stretch of play ever in a first division game.

As we compare the Union II game minutes Cavan Sullivan receives to those received by his midfield peers – Sullivan’s are slightly lesser in both length and frequency – we must remember that all those peers are older than he. One-point-two years lies between Sullivan and the second youngest, Jamir Johnson who is still an amateur. Here are the current midfielders of the Union organization’s two professional teams, although Gio Sequera seems to be transitioning to right back.

Next Match

On the sixth day after the Orlando match, Union II will host Toronto FC II at Subaru Park Sunday, July 6^th at 3:00 PM in the third of four straight home games.

Three points plus one

1. Henry Bernstein will matriculate to University of Maryland sometime at the end of the summer, but is providing valuable depth at defensive midfield, to say nothing of a well taken PK in the shootout.
2. The competition among Ferreira, Johnson, and LeBlanc for Cavan Sullivan’s game minutes should be excellent as Quinn’s younger brother disappears into the ranks of the first team’s primary reserves.
3. Gio Sequera as a right back continues to be intriguing. He shows all the offensive instincts he had as an attacking mid, but seems also to be a ball winner. Will he be as reliable as Wetzel? Can he stand up to the physical pounding he will get?
4. Careful study of both our records and those available on MLS’s and the Union’s websites confirms that Neil Pierre dressing for the Columbus match the night before would have required his seventh short-term agreement to be eligible to dress as an off-roster Homegrown player. We conclude that Pierre, as Frank Westfield before him can not longer be an off-roster player.  The detail will affect the quantity of roster moves the Union can make during the secondary transfer window, if they choose to make any.

B O X S C O R E        

Lineups

 Union II (4-2-2-2, L-R) Head coach Ryan Richter. 1^st – 7+1; U II – 4+4; A – 0+3.

Starters: Oliver Semmle; Isaiah LeFlore, Rafael Uzcategui, Neil Pierre, Gio Sequera; David Vazquez (Henry Bernstein 72′), Nick Pariano; CJ Olney (Willyam Ferreira. 63′), Kellan LeBlanc (Jamir Johnson 72′); Eddy Davis (Leo Soria 86′), Stas Korzeniowski (Sal Olivas 63′).  Starters’ Ave Age = 20.6

Unused substitutes: Mike Sheridan; Oscar Benitez, Jordan Griffin.

Orlando (4-2-3-1) Head coach Manuel Goldberg.

Starters: Carlos Mercado ; Tahir Reid-Brown , Noham Abdellaoui ( Hayden Sargis^1st  36′), Thomas Williams ^1st , Shawn Platts (Zinadine Rodriguez 82′); Riyon Tori , Dylan Judelson ; Dyson Clapier (Bernardo Rhein  63′), Gustavo Caraballo (Favian Loyola^1st 63′), Shakur Mohammed ^1st ; Justin Ellis. Starters’ Ave Age = 20.0

Unused substitutes: Tristan Himes; Justin Hylton, Noah Levis.

Goals

Orlando             12th minute           Shawn Platts (Gustavo Caraballo)

Union II             55th minute           Isaiah LeFlore

Yellow Cards

Orlando             26th minute           Noham Abdellaoui (delay)

Orlando             43rd minute           Tahir Reid-Brown (foul)

Union II            65th minute            Sal Olivas (foul)

UNion II            80th minute           Mike Sheridan (Bench dissent)

Orlando            88th minute           Zinadine Rodriguez (foul)

Orlando             90+1 minute          Bernardo Rhein (foul)

Stats

Whistle & Flags

Ref: Alex Beehler; AR1: Sharon Gingrich; AR2: Robert Cordrey; 4th: Danielle Cornetta.

Shootout