Photo Kevin Barrett

The Philadelphia Union II beat FC Cincinnati 2 at Subaru Park on a warm March afternoon. The lone goal came from the head of Finn Sundstrom on a corner kick in the 37th minute.

In advance

As they did last weekend, both the Philadelphia Union and Philadelphia Union II played at home, but unlike last weekend the first team played first not second. However, the first team also will play three days later the following Tuesday against Club America in Chester in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16’s first leg.

Union II outside back Gio Sequera was signed to a short-term agreement before the first team’s San Jose match and started at right back. The move meant center back Finn Sundstrom was available to the second team, in addition to goal keeper George Marks.

We anticipated that few if any other first team reserves might be made available to the second team, especially since a CCCup game day roster can include as many as 23 and often includes three goalkeepers. (Remember that under the MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement players receive bonuses for making game day rosters, so filling 23 roster slots may be likely.)

At the other end of the second team’s gameday roster, the Union Academy U18s had home league matches both Friday morning and early Saturday afternoon. But Union II came out with a nearly full bench on the matchday roster.

Cincy 2 lost its opener at home to MLS Next Pro expansion side CT United (from Bridgeport, Connecticut, hence the CT). The visitors scored first, Cincinnati tied it, and then the visitors from southern New England won it with two goals in the last eleven minutes. We suspect player development may have overridden winning in making late-game Cincinnati substitutions, given the identity of the Cincinnati organization’s general manager.

Also, Cincinnati 2 has a new coach, Sammy Castellanos, who came from the Chicago Fire’s U18s after previous academy experience with both NY Red Bull’s and Orlando City’s academies. Their previous coach, Tyrone Marshall, has been promoted to be a Cincinnati first team assistant.

FC Cincinatti first-teamer Matt Miazga made the trip to Chester to captain the second team. He was reported to have been dealing with a leg injury during preseason, but has been left off of Cincinnati’s availability reports in MLS play, and has not played a competitive match since September 2025.

First half

Union II’s first attacking chance of the match resulted in a yellow card foul on Sal Olivas. Willyam Ferreira delivered a ball into the box on the ensuing free kick, but the header from Rafael Uzcategui hit the crossbar and was cleared away. Olivas was fouled again three minutes later, this time by Matt Miazga, who also received a caution.

The Boys in Blue grew into the game and held attacking pressure on the visitors as the match progressed.

Kellan LeBlanc won a free kick on the edge of the box in the 24th minute. Ferreira’s delivery went just over the corner of the net.

Cincinnati’s attacks primarily came down their right sideline, in front of Union Academy amateur Timo Mendoza, who handled the situations with confidence. Behind him, Rafael Uzcategui had two important defensive actions to keep Cincinnati at bay around the 30-minute mark.

Finn Sundstrom scored his first goal for the Union organization on a 36th-minute corner delivered by Willyam Ferreira. Having flashed in front of obvious target man Malik Jakupovic probably by design, the 19-year-old leapt above his mark to put a powerful header into the net.

Second half

FC Cincinnati 2 made three changes at the break. Miazga’s exit was the most notable.

Jordan Griffin went down with an apparent injury in the 55th and could not continue. Union II had to wait and play down a man for about a minute before Kaiden Moore could come on and replace him. Moore entered as the left back, which he played twice for Union II in 2025, most notably in the Eastern Conference final.

The visitors used their final two substitutions in the 61st minute.

Ryan Richter looked to his bench in the 69th minute. Academy amateurs Matheus De Paula and Nehan Hassan entered for Timo Medoza and Willyam Ferreira. The latter went down for apparent cramps and required treatment a few minutes before his exit.

Sal Olivas and Oscar Benitez collided heads while trying to get to the end of the same ball delivered by Kaiden Moore in the 73rd minute. Olivas required on-field treatment after a stoppage in play, but was fit to continue.

Union II started to dominate possession as Cincinnati’s team got younger and more tired.

John Ruf entered for Kellan LeBlanc in the 80th minute, using Union II’s third and final substitution window. The move slid Olivas to the right attacking mid to finish out the match.

Cincinnati moved into a low block for the final ten minutes and stoppage time.

Next match

In its third straight home game, playing again on a full week’s practice, Philadelphia Union II will host CT United at Subaru Park at 3:00 PM Sunday, March 15^th.

Three points

1. George Marks, while relatively untested, remained a vocal, confident force at the back to keep Union II together.
2. Sal Olivas looked the part of the more experienced forward in the pairing up top. He was not afraid to get physical with center backs and drew two early yellows to boot.
3. Willyam Ferreira‘s set-piece delivery was superb.

 B O X S C O R E

Lineups

 Union II (4-2-2-2, L-R) 1^st -3 + 0; U II – 7 + 1; AA – 1 + 7. Starter’s Average Age = 19.7

Starters: George Marks; Jordan Griffin (Kaiden Moore- 55′), Rafael Uzcategui ©, Finn Sundstrom, Oliver Pratt; Oscar Benitez, Timo Mendoza (Mattheus De Paula- 69′); Willyam Ferreira (Nehan Hassan- 69′), Kellan LeBlanc; Malik Jakupovic, Sal Olivas.

Marks	Griffin	Uzcategui	Sundstrom	Pratt	Benitez
AA	U II	U II	1st	U II	U II
26.3	17.4	21.4	19.3	22.4	21.8
Mendoza	Ferreira	LeBlanc	Olivas	Jakupovic
AA	U II	U II	1st	U II
16.7	17.1	18.0	19.7	16.7

Unused substitutes: Alex Smith;  Kaiden Moore, Andrew Craig, Mattheus De Paula,  Lennon Harrington, Nehan Hasan, Theo Reed, John Ruf.

Smith	Moore	Craig	Harrington	De Paula
AA	U II	AA	AA	AA
17.9	18.8	18.5	17.8	17.3
Hasan	Reed	Ruf
AA	AA	AA
17.7	17.3	17.2

 

Cincinnati 2 (3-5-2)

Starters: Bryan Dowd; Matt Miazga (William Kuisel- 45′), Michael Sullivan, Andrei Chirila, Nathan Gray (Santiago Sanchez- 45′), Jack Mize (Charles Holmes- 61′), Noah Gassan, Stefan Chirila, Ademar Chavez (Leonardo Orejarena- 61′), Deiver Mosquera (Dilan Hurtado- 45′), Ayoub Lajhar

Unused Substitutes: Luke Broz; Mathias Vasquez, Yair Ramos

 Goals

UII: Sundstrom- 37′ (from Ferreira)

Yellow Cards

FCC: Gray- 3′

FCC: Miazga- 6′

FCC: Lajhar- 45′

Whistle & Flags

REF: Rodrigo Albuquerque, AR¹: Jeremy Smith, AR²: Andrew Stefanick, 4^TH: Marie Durr.

Stats

UII	Statistic	FCC	UII	Statistic	FCC
13	Shots	3	0	Offsides	3
3	Shots on goal	1	1	Goalkeeper Saves	2
1	Blocked shots	1	11	Clearances	10
376	Total Passes	338
83.8	PassAccuracy %	75.2	15	Fouls	11
7	Corners	2	0	Yellow Cards	3
7	Total Crosses	2	0	Red Cards	0