Photo Philadelphia Union II Communications

A pair of first professional goals from two Union Academy Players, Matheus De Paula and Theo Reed, saw Philadelphia Union II achieve a comeback victory over Atlanta United 2 on a windy, rainy Saturday at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex.

In advance

 This week Union II played the day before the first team played in Miami. Furthermore, they played the night before the Academy U-18s began MLS NEXT Cup play in Salt Lake City, Utah. These other fixtures took players away from Union II, leaving Head Coach Ryan Richter with only thirteen field players to use.

Union II’s game day roster possibilities were circumscribed thus.

• Unless a Sunday plane flight was used, the game sequence negated double duty by first team reserves at a time when the first team was beset by multiple short-term injuries.
• In his Friday pre-Miami press conference, Bradley Carnell said he was “likely “ to take Kellan LeBlanc to Florida. We assume LeBlanc’s trip would reflect the Indiana Vassilev head injury this week in practice that Carnell mentioned.
• The U-18s have often provided elements of Union II’s bench, but they begin play Sunday in Utah, May 24^th at 5 PM ET. So, double duty from Saturday afternoon in Chester to playing in Utah 28 hours later would require a cross-country flight.
• Stas Korzeniowski suffered a posterior cruciate ligament strain while playing for Union II against Columbus 2 last Sunday, so fellow first-team striker Malik Jakupovic needed to join the flight to Miami.
• Even though Carnell sounded optimistic about Frank Westfield, we doubt that he will play in Miami. Doing so would be of high risk to an injury notoriously vulnerable to recurrence, at least in American football.
• Sal Olivas’s possibility of extra suspension was not announced, but Head Coach Ryan Richter confirmed to the media after the match that the league issued him an additional two-match suspension. He missed this match against Atlanta and will miss next week’s trip to Toronto.

Union II’s opponent, Atlanta 2, lay in fourth place in the Eastern Conference table on 19 points from 10 games, five places above Philadelphia. Philadelphia was in ninth place on 15 points from its 10 games. Atlanta had scored 20 goals and given up 13, compared to Union II’s 12 and 10.

First half

Atlanta opened the scoring early after a restart in their defensive half saw Atlanta forward Arif Kovac running with the Union center backs toward a ball heading right for George Marks. Marks missed what should have been an easy claim in his area, and let Kovac tap it in unopposed.

Eddy Davis, in his first match back from his second extended injury of the season, did not look comfortable. He pressed on occasion but rarely reached full speed.

Marks had two saves in quick succession following an Atlanta corner kick later in the half. Immediately after, Willyam Ferreira took the ball down the left sideline and had a decent scoring chance. Despite being down, the match began to swing in the Union’s favor during the final minutes of the half.

Second half

John Ruf entered for Eddy Davis at the break. Coach Richter confirmed after the match that Davis was on a minutes restriction and was only able to play 45.

Union II started to attack down the right sideline through Nehan Hasan, who drew a yellow card foul 25 yards out. Willyam Ferreira’s delivery found the head of Matheus De Paula, who put away his own rebound to equalize the match and score his first professional goal.

Mamoutou Berthe and Giovanny Sequera entered for Nehan Hasan and Matheus De Paula in the 61st minute. The substitutions meant that Philadelphia played in a 4-3-3 for the final 30 minutes.

Berthe received a yellow card in the 64th minute.

Kaiden Moore appeared to feel something in his lower body, but had to play through it because the only substitutes left were goalkeepers.

Theo Reed scored his first professional goal in the 83rd minute to pull the Boys in Blue ahead. Oliver Pratt started the play with a long throw and found John Ruf, who played it across to Jordan Griffin on the wing, who centered it perfectly for the forward.

John Ruf received a yellow card in the 89th minute. Oliver Pratt got one in stoppage time for a sliding challenge outside the box.

Next match

Union II will next play on the sixth day in York, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, the 29^th of May at 7 PM. The match will likely begin the Union II’s summertime transition from its recently graduated amateur academy seniors towards its new rising ones, Abdoulaye Diop featuring prominently among them.

Three points, plus two

1. Theo Reed made his first professional start, scored his first professional goal, and played his first full 90 at the NEXT Pro level.
2. Matheus De Paula scored his first professional goal.
3. George Marks, despite his mistake on Atlanta’s goal, still had a solid performance with six saves.
4. In his latest press conference, Carnell indicated there would probably be announcements coming on or about June 1^st. The indication came in a conversation about personnel, so the implication may be that the announcements will pertain to personnel.
5. Also, in the presser, he indicated that training activities can resume on June 15^th by league mandate, and that there will be some scrimmages. At first they will be intrasquad, followed by intersquad. Some will involve the Union travelling away to opponents, and some opponents will come to the Union. Details were highly generalized, and quantities were vague. He did not comment on any type of access by the public.

 B O X S C O R E

Lineups

Union II (4-2-2-2, L-R). Head coach Ryan Richter. 1^st – 2+0; U II – 6+2; AA – 3+3. Starters Ave Age = 19.9.

Starters: George Marks; Jordan Griffin, Kaiden Moore, Rafael Uzcategui, Oliver Pratt; Matheus De Paula (Giovanny Sequera— 61′), Oscar Benitez; Willyam Ferreira, Nehan Hasan (Mamoutou Berthe— 61′); Theo Reed, Eddy Davis III (John Ruf— 46′)

Marks	Griffin	Moore	Uzcategui	Pratt	DePaula
1st	U II	U II	U II	U II	AA
26.5	17.6	18.5	21.6	22.6	17.5
Benitez	Ferreira	Hasan	Reed	Davis
U II	U II	AA	AA	1st
22.0	17.3	17.9	17.5	19.9

Substitutes: Pierce Holbrook, Charli Lorenz; Gio Sequera, Mamoutou Berthe, John Ruf.

Holbrook	Lorenz	Sequera	Berthe	Ruf
UII	AA	U II	AA	AA
23.1	17?	20.3	17.5	17.9

 

Atlanta 2 (4-2-3-1). Head coach Jose Silva. Full squad’s average age as per Transfermarkt = 20.6

Starters: Jonathan Ransom; Mohamed Cisset, Matthew Senanou, Adrian Gill (Andrew Jardines— 76′), Adyn Torres, Ignacio Suarez-Couri, Arif Kovac, Daniel Chica, Dominik Chong Qui, Enzo Dovlo (Moises Tablante— 64′), Cameron Dunbar (Liam Butts— 70′)

Substitutes: Miguel Pineda; Patrick Weah, Ilan Ettinger, DD Sibrian

Goals

ATL: Kovac— 5′

UII: De Paula— 48′

UII: Reed— 82′

Yellow Cards

ATL: Chong Qui— 47′

UII: Berthe— 64′

UII: Ruf— 89′

UII: Pratt— 90+’

Whistle & Flags

REF: Jorge Escobar, AR¹: Nicholas Seymour, AR²: Achal Awasthi, 4^TH: Pavel Georgiev.

Stats

U II	Statistic	A 2	U II	Statistic	A 2
13	Shots	15	3	Offsides	3
8	Shots on goal	7	6	Goalkeeper Saves	6
3	Blocked shots	4	10	Clearances	9
277	Total Passes	337
67.2	PassAccuracy %	69.7	23	Fouls	14
4	Corners	10	3	Yellow Cards	4
3	Total Crosses	6	0	Red Cards	0