Photo Marjorie Elzey

As of Tuesday morning, August 18th, Philadelphia Union II have five games left in their regular season. They are below the playoff qualification line which we think is eighth place. They lie three places below it in 11th place on 33 points, but are only two points behind eighth place Orlando City B.

For ease of visual comparison with the larger chart that follows, we insert a one-line pre-chart visually summarizing the information given above. 

For comparison

Philadelphia Union II

11th on 33 pts

See below

Stretch run

First we provide th cogent details of the remaining Union II schedule.

Day, Date, Venue	Opponent	Current place in table	Earlier result(s)
Su, 23-Aug, HOME	CT United	6th on 37 pts	Su, 15-Mar,  H,  L   2-1 Su, 26-Apr,   A,  W 2-1
Su, 30-Aug, away	Cincinnati 2	15th on 16 pts	Su,  08-Mar,  H, W 1-0 Sa,  08-Aug,  H, W 2-1
Fr, 4-Sep, HOME	Columbus 2	4th on 42 pts	Su,  17-May,  H, D 1-1 Sa,  18-Jul,    A,  L  2-0
Su, 13-Sep, away	Chicago II	7th on 36 pts	None this season
Su, 20-Sep, HOME	NYC FC II	10th on 33 pts	Sa  01-Aug,   A,  D 1-1

 

Maximum possible points 

With five games left a maximum possible points chart becomes useful.

Here is a such a chart for MLS NEXT Pro’s 2026 eastern conference. Arithmetically, it provides the upper limit of what is possible were Union II to win out. It answers the question “What’s their ceiling?”. 

As a reminder all teams play their 28th and last regular season league game at 2:00 pm ET on the final day of the season, aka, “Decision Day,” Sunday, September 20th.

We chart MLS Next Pro’s eastern conference’s maximum possible points below.

Current situation				Maximum  Possible Points
Place in table	Team	Current points	Remaining Games
1st	Crown Legacy	48	Six	18+48=66
2nd	Chattanooga	44	Five	15+44=59
3rd	N Eng Revolutn II	42	Six	18+42=60
4th	Columbus Crew 2	42	Six	18+42=60
5th	Red Bull NY II	38	Five	15+38=53
6th	CT United	37	Six	18+37=55
7th	Chicago Fire II	36	Six	18+36=54
8th	Orlando City B	35	Five	15+35=50
9th	Atlanta Utd  2	34	Six	18+34=52
10th	NYC FC II	33	Seven	21+33=54
11th	Phila Union II	33	Five	15+33=48
12th	Huntsville	32	Five	15+32=47
13th	Toronto FC II	30	Six	18+30=48
14th	Carolina Core	26	Six	18+26=44
15th	FC Cincinnati 2 – e	16	Six	18+16=34
16th	Inter Miami II – e	8	Seven	21+8=29

Philadelphia would have to make up 11 points to host a home playoff game. That assumes the teams above them all lost every remaining game, an unlikely prospect. 

Playoff chances

Making the playoffs  as an away team requires table climbing but it seems possible. For both the playoff-seeking professional teams fielded by Keystone Sports and Entertainment, a crucial challenge in 2026 has been scoring goals.

For Union II a great deal will depend on how much scoring help the first team provides. 

• • Malik Jakupovic remains in a scoring slump.
  • There have been suggestions from sideline observers that Stas Korzeniowski wants, strongly, to have decent chances with the first team.  

Korzeniowski’s presence would noticeably enhance the second team’s chances of scoring and climbing the table.  

Were he given the assignment overtly to carry Union II on his back into the playoffs, whether he would be satisfied to accept it cannot be forecast. Should he so choose he could do it.

• • Korzeniowski has played in only seven of Union II’s 23 second-team games, starting all seven and scoring eight times. 
  • He has been shutout only once, during his initial return from injury against NYC FC II on Long Island on August 1st. 
  • He has produced two braces in his other six games for his total of eight.

The U Penn man won the match last Sunday night against third-place New England in the 84th minute. He hit his initial shot so hard that New England II’s goalkeeper, the experienced Max Weinstein, could not hold it. Weinstein’s rebound deflected straight back to the Union II shooter, and Korzeniowski buried it for the win.

Korzeniowski deserves chances with the first team, and Ryan Richter has promised to reward performance. Richter proved it by starting the big man against Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup August 13th immediately after he had bagged a Union II brace while further rehabbing his knee against Cincinnati 2 five days before. 

The confident, articulate, assertive, intelligent Pennington Prep alumnus needs to prove he is worth bringing back for 2027. By contract he is not guaranteed for 2027 but available only if the club chooses to exercise his option. He needs chances to prove himself and knows it. Carrying Union II into the playoffs might make a solid case to continue his professional soccer opportunity with Philadelphia.

He will be playing soccer somewhere in North America in 2027 but needs to prove it should be in Philadelphia in MLS.