Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union II
Philadelphia Union II’s record-breaking season came to an end at Sports Illustrated Stadium at the hands of the New York Red Bulls II. Stas Korzeniowski opened the scoring in the first half, but a quality brace from New York’s Roald Mitchell in the second half sealed the game for the home side.
In advance
Red Bull II’s first team is already in off-season mode, their first team’s coach having been dismissed, and a successor to the chief soccer officer having stepped into place.
Union II’s first team plays away to Chicago Saturday, November 1st, the same day as the MLSNEXTPro’s Eastern Conference Final. Cavan Sullivan went to Chicago, as did Andrew Rick. George Marks, Neil Pierre, Nick Pariano, CJ Olney, Markus Anderson, Eddy Davis, and Sal Olivas traveled to North Jersey.
The scores of both the conference semifinal matches last weekend contrast Union II’s defense against Red Bull II’s offense. Philadelphia advanced 1-0 on a penalty kick in regulation. New York advanced 5-3 on two goals in extra time. In regular-season play, Philly had allowed the fewest goals. New York had scored the most.
The match was played at Sports Illustrated Stadium, a playing surface superior to Montclair State University’s soccer park. It is also the venue for which — probably — Red Bull II is less likely to have paid a hefty rental fee, since it is owned by Red Bull GmbH, the owner of the Red Bull and Red Bull II teams. It will have been a bookkeeping entry rather than an actual cash outflow.
The teams played twice in the regular season. On March 17th in Chester, after a 1-1 draw in regulation, Philadelphia won the penalty kick shootout 3-1. On August 11 at Montclair, NJ, Red Bull II won 2-0, the first half of Philly’s only two-game losing streak of the year.
Because of the three absences for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar and the first and second teams having same-day away matches roughly 900 miles apart, the majority of Union II’s starting lineup will NOT be teenagers, a rare occurrence.
Union Academy center back Mattego Gallegos, 16, made his first matchday roster with Union II.
First half
Neil Pierre, wearing the armband for the evening, nearly scored on Philadelphia’s second corner of the match, but the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and was cleared away. They had multiple other corners in the opening minutes, but could not find the head of Neil Pierre.
Red Bulls’ first proper attack was a break, where Roald Mitchell managed to beat Rafael Uzcategui, but his ball towards the net was parried out by George Marks and went wide for a corner.
Kaiden Moore comitted three fouls in the first eleven minutes and received a verbal warning from head official JC Griggs.
Oscar Benitez put in a sliding challenge on New York’s Nate Worth and got the ball, but Worth was not expecting the contact and went airborne, then hit his head on the turf. After a brief stoppage in play, he was cleared to continue.
Stas Korzeniowski found the opening goal in the 38th minute, after some technical dribbling into the box by Eddy Davis.
Union II led the match 1-0 going into the break.
Second half
Neither team made changes at the half.
Eddy Davis found himself through on goal in the 57th minute, with only the keeper to beat, but his shot was just wide of the net.
Kaiden Moore went into the book in the 60th minute for persistent infringement. Soon after the restart, Moore put in an unnecessary challenge on a Red Bulls player and ended up injured. Moore came off and was replaced by Sal Olivas. The change saw CJ Olney slide all the way to left back in Moore’s place. Moore was unable to adjust to the level of the game at his required position and nearly had himself sent off in the process.
Red Bull II immediately took advantage of the situation and broke down that sideline. George Marks made the save to deny the chance.
Union II sat back and allowed the hosts to attack, which eventually cost them in the 71st minute. Roald Mitchell went around his defender and scored from inside the six after the Union were unable to connect passes in the midfield.
Malik Jakupovic entered for Eddy Davis after the goal.
Sal Olivas drew a foul in the final third, and his header off of Olney’s delivery bounced off the post in the 80th minute.
Red Bull II found the back of the net after the goal kick, but one of their attackers was offside before making the would-be assisting cross.
Play went back the other end, and Stas Korzeniowski made contact with Austin Causey, the Red Bulls keeper. The head official waited until play had moved away before calling the foul. Causey was cleared to continue after some on-field treatment.
On the ensuing free kick, Adri Mehmeti found Roald Mitchell on the run, and Mitchell’s shot went straight into the back of the net to give the hosts the lead.
Willyam Ferreira entered for Noah Probst soon after the goal, the Union’s final substitution window of the match.
The fourth official indicated 7 minutes of stoppage time. After a final attempt with a Union II free kick at the death, the final whistle blew, and the Philadelphia Union II season came to a close.
“It remains win or go home.”
Because they lost, Union II’s 2025 season is over, and they will next play an official game in early March, or possibly late February, of 2026.
Three points
- Nick Pariano dressed for the match, but stayed on the bench. Head coach Ryan Richter confirmed in postgame media availability that Pariano was suffering from a hamstring injury.
- Neil Pierre wore the armband for Union II for the first time this season.
- Stas Korzeniowski‘s goal was his 9th in his last 7 matches.
B O X S C O R E
Lineups
Union II (4-2-2-2). Head coach Ryan Richter. 1st – 5+2; UII – 6+5; A– 0+1. Starters’ Ave Age = 20.7
Starters: George Marks1st; Kaiden MooreUII(Sal Olivas1st – 63′), Rafael UzcateguiUII, Neil Pierre1st, Gio SequeraUII; Noah ProbstUII(Willyam FerreiraUII– 86′), Oscar BenitezUII, CJ Olney1st, Markus Anderson1st; Stas KorzeniowskiUII, Eddy Davis1st(Malik JakupovicUII– 74′)
| GK | LB | LCB | RCB | RB | DM |
| Marks | Moore | Uzcategui | Pierre | Sequera | Probst |
| 26.0 | 18.5 | 21.1 | 18.0 | 19.7 | 21.2 |
| DM | AM | AM | S | S | |
| Benitez | Anderson | Olney | Davis | Korzeniowski | |
| 20.7 | 21.9 | 18.9 | 19.4 | 22.7 |
Unused substitutes: Mike SheridanUII, Lou LiedtkaUII; Leandro SoriaUII, Mateo GallegosAA, Nick Pariano1st.
Red Bull II (4-3-3). Head coach Michael Bradley.
Starters: Austin Causey; Matthew Dos Santos (Curtis Ofori- 88′), Jair Collahuazo, Juan Gutierrez, Juan Mina, Nehuen Benedetti, Adri Mehmeti, Nate Worth, Andy Rojas (Tanner Rosborough- 90+), Roald Mitchell (Miajar Jimenez- 88′), Rafael Mosquera
Unused substitutes: Tobias Szewczyk; Benny Rodriguez, Ryan Scuro, Aimar Modelo, Brooklyn Schwarz, Dennis Nelich.
Goals
UII: Korzeniowski- 38′ (Davis)
RBII: Mitchell- 71′ (Dos Santos)
RBII: Mitchell- 83′ (Mehmeti)
Yellow cards
UII: Moore- 60′
RBII: Dos Santos- 64′
UII: Sequera- 86′
Stats
| RBII | Statistic | UII | RBII | Statistic | UII |
| 12 | Shots | 14 | 2 | Offsides | 1 |
| 4 | Shots on goal | 3 | 2 | Goalkeeper Saves | 2 |
| 2 | Blocked shots | 5 | 7 | Clearances | 11 |
| 520 | Total Passes | 219 | |||
| 83.5 | Pass Accuracy % | 60.7 | 15 | Fouls | 19 |
| 11 | Corners | 5 | 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 6 | Total Crosses | 5 | 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
Whistle & Flags
REF: JC Griggs; AR1: Jeremy Smith; AR2: Nicholas Seymour; 4TH: Eric Burton.
The record should note that Alex Hayden traveled to Harrison, NJ to cover the conference final from the SI Stadium press box.
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Having neither Olney nor Pariano at defensive mid meant there was much less offense generated in the central third of the field. The point is reflected in the passing statistics, both the total cases and the percentage of success. The long ball delivered directly formed a greater proportion of Union II’s offense than usual.
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Union II defended successfully as long as there were four usual defenders playing the four defensive positions. Unfortunately, Kaiden Moore was not 90 minutes match fit. AS he wore out, he became late and then unable to continue. It was at that point that Red Bull II’s offensive dominance became complete.
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As far as I know, Saturday night was the first time CJ Olney ever played left back in a game. He did a credible job, but his absence from the attacking mids reduced UnionII’s capacity to generate offense even more. Sal Olivas is not widely experiences as an attacking mid. He did his best, but was a striker playing out of position.
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Missing three players from the attacking mid cohort hurt. Next man up out of position is different from next man up.