Photos: Feature is  courtesy Kevin Barrett; Text are courtesy Philadelphia Union II Communications.

Stas Korzeniowski

Korzeniowski after scoring against FC Cincinnati 2 at Subaru Park Sunday, October 19th, 2025.

In his post-game comments after the playoff win over Cincinnati when asked to comment about striker Stas Korzeniowski, Philadelphia Union II head coach Ryan Richter stated that the striker had scored three goals in 20 games in the first part of his season, but seven in his last five.

When asked to explain the change, coach Richter said that Union II has been trying to modify the way the U Penn man plays the position. They believe he will maximize his success as a striker by defending in the collective and getting himself as far forward as possible to use his size, strength, and technical skill to create shot opportunities.

Previously as a secondary school and collegiate player, he had dropped back into the midfield to collect the ball with his back to goal as a hold-up player to facilitate transitioning from the defensive third of the pitch to the offensive one. Coach Richter seemed to be suggesting that they wanted Korzeniowski to leave that role to others and get himself forward to take advantage of the opportunities his teammates would generate.

Unlike at his earlier levels, at the Union II one Korzeniowski does not have superiority of pace. In the Cincinnati match his teammates could not play passes into green space behind the visitors’ defensive line onto which he could run. He must instead create momentary separations using his intelligence and obvious physical advantages, and then exploit the consequent shot opportunities.

Now that two soft-tissue knocks are behind him and he is adjusting to the differences between a three-month season and a ten-month one, the results his head coach cited above suggest the adjusted concept is beginning to make sense and he is beginning to produce commensurate results.

Kellan LeBlanc

LeBlanc attacking Cincinnati’s defensive third in 2025’s first playoff game

Many but not all soccer fans in the United States understand that young players are grouped by birthyear. Neil Pierre, who experienced his birthday Sunday the day Philadelphia Union II defeated FC Cincinnati 2 in round one of the MSNEXTPro playoffs, is a 2007. Cavan Sullivan is a 2009. Kellan LeBlanc is a 2008.

Knowledgeable sources have indicated to us that in the 2025 MLSNEXTPro season LeBlanc is one of the 2008’s who has played the most minutes of anyone. The key ccriterion is within his age cohort, the 2008’s. Overall among his Union II teammates for the regular season, LeBlanc’s minutes rank seventh at 1,417. His starts are tied for 6^th with Sal Olivas with 17.  From publicly available sources we cannot for ourselves sort all MLSNEXTPro players by birth year independently.

It is worth mentioning that in the official US Soccer announcement of LeBlanc’s, Cavan Sullivan’s, Jordan Griffin’s, and Jamir Johnson’s call-ups to the US U17 roster for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar, LeBLanc and Johnson are listed as forwards. We suspect that means wingers.

By listening around the edges over the years we think we have learned that a basic statistical threshold for the organization’s evaluation of a young player’s development is total minutes. We suspect but cannot confirm the criterion means both minutes played in practice and minutes played in games. We have no way to know how many minutes LeBlanc has played in practice.

Assuming that previous unofficial but trustworthy reporting about Cavan Sullivan’s future pathway into the City Group organization is correct, Philadelphia must already be planning to fill Sullivan’s slot once he departs. Assuming LeBlanc’s own development maintains its positive track, LeBlanc this season has made himself into a credible candidate post-Sullivan.

Cavan Sullivan

Sullivan on Decision Day against NYC FC II at Subaru Park.

The unsurprising news that Cavan Sullivan was selected to play for the U S of A’s U17 team at the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar made his longish substitute appearance for the Union’s first team in Charlotte last Saturday night close to inevitable. It was the last regular season game, and until Sullivan returns stateside in or after mid-November it was the last opportunity for the Union, City Group, and Sullivan himself to assess his progress towards increased play in Major League Soccer next year.

He should return in time for round two of the MLS playoffs after the FIFA November international break, and it seems reasonable to hope Philadelphia will survive round one to advance to round two.  But it will be a single elimination game. a win or go home situation, not one likely to provide an evaluation opportunity for an unproven youngster who might or might not contribute positively to winning.

The same parameters did not limit Sullivan in Charlotte, hence his half-an-hour plus of pitch time.

As it happens the sixteen-year-old did well. Most fundamentally, his physical conditioning “belonged.” He did not labor. His ground coverage was more than adequate both defensively and offensively in a match that was not “garbage time” in quality while he was on the pitch.

He was not a defensive liability in a system that demands everyone be equal in applying pressure. He was not the leak in the dike wall. For Philadelphia, it’s “defense-first” as they contemplate player roles 2026 that information is crucial.

Offensively he provided spark. His technical skill allowed him to advance and penetrate on the dribble. He was not perfect, but he succeeded several more times than he failed. He saw and executed creative passes. MLS statistics credit him with two so-called key passes during his time on the pitch, in addition to his two shots.

On the night Sullivan functioned effectively as a primary reserve at attacking midfield. Does the point predict next season?

Of course, one datum does not a thesis prove. Will he produce such levels of performance consistently game after game when called upon? The adrenaline rush that aided him in Charlotte may not repeat itself consistently, particularly in the midweek games that are already guaranteed to occur with much more frequency in 2026 than they did in 2025. (The World Cup’s and the Leagues Cup’s schedule crunching of MLS is not yet detailed, but five or six weeks removed from the summer is five or six weeks removed. Concacaf Champions’ Cup will also intensify the pace of the team’s overall schedule.)

The 2026 team will face an endurance challenge much greater than it faced this year. 2025’s two primary reserve attacking midfielders will not suffice. Doubling that number would seem wise.

Cavan Sullivan’s fundamental developmental challenge remains acquiring the professional-level soccer-playing “engine” of an adult. He has made clear progress doing so in 2025. But he does not yet proven that level of stamina and endurance over a sustained sequence of games. The proof will be a major storyline for the Union’s 2026 season.

Sullivan’s understanding, creativity, and mentality are there. But a mature adult’s sustained endurance over time is sill being grown. After all, the young man turned sixteen less than a month ago.