Photo courtesy Kevin Barrett
The Philadelphia Union II began its 2026 preseason campaign at the WSFS Sportsplex indoor field against Loudoun United FC of the USL Championship in a closed-door friendly scrimmage on Friday, January 30th. We were able to follow the match somewhat thanks to live updates from both sides’ social media accounts.
The match was both teams’ first competitive game minutes of the year. We assume neither team’s roster is finalized at this juncture.
Union II players from last season who are on first-team contracts, Stas Korzeniowski, Sal Olivas, CJ Olney, Eddy Davis, and Markus Anderson, were all travelling back from Marbella, Spain, on the day of this fixture. Union II forward Malik Jakupovic and assumed but unannounced first-team trialist RB Giovanny Sequera were also in Spain.
Judging by Union II’s lineup, the roster for 2026 is far from complete, and we speculate that some of the aforementioned first-team deep reserves may participate in MLS NEXT Pro to begin the season, especially if the first team signs more attackers.
Head Coach Ryan Richter’s first lineup of the season featured seven Union Academy U-18 players. The other four were Jordan Griffin, who cemented himself in the left back position in 2025, Kaiden Moore on loan from Atlanta United, Kellan LeBlanc, and a defender we suspect may be a senior at the University of Pennsylvania.
This group played the first 45 minutes and bested a second division opponent 2-0. We know Kellan LeBlanc scored the opening goal in the 8th minute. Union II scored again on a corner in the 12th minute, but social media did not name the scorer. That might be if it were either a trialist or an academy player.
Union II’s only confirmed changes at the break were academy amateur Andrew Craig, the younger brother of Brandan Craig, at left center back for Moore, and the substitution of a trialist goalkeeper for Alex Smith.
Loudoun United got one back in the 63rd minute through an academy player of their own, and equalized through former Bethlehem Steel FC stalwart Bolu Akinyode two minutes later.
Union Academy midfielder Tyler Gladstone entered for Nehan Hasan in the 75th minute.
The match finished 2-2.
Union II Lineups:
Starters:
GK: Alex Smith AA LB: Jordan Griffin AA, LCB: Kaiden Moore 1st, RCB: Lennon Harrington AA, RB: Trialist, CDM: Nehan Hasan AA, CDM: Matheus De Paula AA, AM: Isaiah Mendoza AA, AM: Kellan LeBlanc UII, ST: Theo Reed AA, ST: John Ruf AA
Second Half:
GK: Trialist; LB: Jordan Griffin AA, LCB: Andrew Craig AA, RCB: Lennon Harrington AA, RB: Trialist, CDM: Nehan Hasan AA (Tyler Gladstone AA—75’), CDM: Matheus De Paula AA, AM: Isaiah Mendoza AA, AM: Kellan LeBlanc UII, ST: Theo Reed AA, ST: John Ruf AA
Goals:
UII: LeBlanc— 8’
UII: Unknown (corner)— 14’
LD: Unknown— 63’
LD: Akinyode—65’
