Previewing the 2026 Philadelphia Union II season

Photo Matthew Ko

The Philadelphia Union front office conducted a new event during preseason this year. The Union Academy hosted a tournament called the Snow Bowl for U-15s, U-16s, and U18s.

An unintended but understandable consequence of the Snow Bowl has been that Philadelphia Union II’s preseason received no attention at all once the Snow Bowl began. Four preseason scrimmages, two in Chester and two in Florida, were announced, and we found some information about the first on January 30^th in Chester against Loudoun United. After that, there was no information, including on opposition web and social media sites.

PSP visited one practice before the team traveled to Clearwater and has visited one since their return. We had the privilege of chatting with head coach Ryan Richter after each. He answered the two most critical questions about any preseason during our second chat: there were no catastrophic injuries, and his conditioning goals had been achieved.

What follows is divided into four topics, only the last two of which deserve their own separate headings.

First, PSP plans to have two writers cover Philadelphia Union II this season. Tim Jones continues, and Alex Hayden will join him.

Second, although there has been no direct announcement in so many words, contract information published by other MLS Next Pro teams suggests that the professional youth player development league will undergo the same calendar transition in 2027 that MLS will undergo. A Spring-Summer-Fall calendar is to be superseded by a Fall-Winter-Spring one. There will be a short roughly four month season from late February or early March that ends in June. Then a new 10 month season will begin in late July or early August and last through to the following May.

The news is unsurprising, given the close integration many MLS second teams have with their first teams, for example, the Union and Union II. But these contract announcements provide the first concrete hints of MLS Next Pro’s intent.

2026 MLS Next Pro livestreams

Apple TV will no longer cover MLS Next Pro.

MLS Next Pro just announced a partnership with OneFootball, a global soccer streaming platform. The deal is the first major league partnership under new MLS Next Pro President Ali Curtis, who took the role in September 2025.

All 2026 MLS Next Pro matches will be available for free to stream worldwide both to viewers of the website mlsnextpro.com and to all OneFootball users. The partnership will make the league more accessible to fans around the world and will remove previous years’ issues with matches being streamed in different places across the season.

For the first time since MLS Next Pro’s inaugural season, all matches will be streamed on their website. Again, matches will be available on both MLS Next Pro and OneFootball’s sites.

2026 Union II roster news

Coach Richter has indicated these 2025 players will not be part of the squad in 2026.

Goalkeeper Mike Sheridan
Goalkeeper Lou Liedtka
Defensive midfielder Noah Probst
Attacker Leandro Soria
Striker Jose Riasco

Richter was unsure of Riasco’s exact contract status but was clear that he would not be part of Union II this season.

Before he went to Florida, Richter indicated that “everyone else” would be back, although he smiled that his certainty applied to 2025’s field players with much greater confidence than it did to goalkeepers. He leaves the exact eligibility details of contracts, visas, transfer certificates, and other such paperwork to others and focuses on teaching the young men on the pitch in front of him on the day.

The coach expects these 2025 players for his 2026 practices and games.

Center back Rafael Uzcategui (appeared as a first-team substitute in Clearwater against Montreal).
Outside back Gio Sequera sometimes (went to Spain with the first team, where he had two starts and a sub appearance totaling 157 game minutes).
Defensive midfielder Oscar Benitez.
Goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook (whose first full-go U II practice since his late August knee injury we saw before they left for Clearwater).
Striker Malik Jakupovic (won the golden boot at Concacaf U17s qualifiers for Qatar’s U17 World Cup next November).
Attacking midfielder Kellan LeBlanc (appeared as a first-team substitute in St. Petersburg against Tampa Bay Rowdies).
Defender Kaiden Moore (returned to Philadelphia on loan to the first team from Atlanta but is expected to play and practice with Union II).
Attacking midfielder Willyam Ferreira (had been called into U17 preparation camp as a practice player prior to Concacaf’s qualification tournament).

Striker Stas Korzeniowski is not mentioned because we conclude he has moved above and beyond a major 2026 Union II role. After coach Richter’s mid-January remarks, five days after the first team went to Spain, Korzeniowski was announced as signed by them and has appeared in every match they have played to date.

Based solely on our own observations of the January 16th and February 25th practices and the Snow Bowl finals, we also mention these academy amateur players.