Photo courtesy of Kevin Barrett

With Philadelphia Union II’s 2026 season at its conclusion, it is once again time to begin PSP’s annual end-of-season roster review.  

We expect that Union II’s end-of-season roster decisions will not be announced in the near future. We will combine PSP’s inaccurate, cloudy, cracked crystal ball with our end-of-season roster analysis and include our guesses about 2027’s sprint season within it.

We will present the work in three parts based on positions: ten goalkeepers and defenders, seven defending and attacking midfielders, and four strikers. 

All data provided for each player in their respective chart is strictly from MLS NEXT Pro appearances. 

We exclude players who are loaned away from the organization, as we guess that none of them are likely to return and secure playing time. We can think of none from the past who have done so, even if they were still officially carried on the Union organization’s books. The loan-aways are CJ Olney, Stas Korzeniowski, Eddy Davis, Markus Anderson, and Jose Riasco. 

Keepers

Union II finished 2026 with significantly fewer goalkeepers on its books and with playing time than it did at the end of 2025. We know from observation over time that the Union organization prefers to practice with four goalkeepers. This year, many more training and matchday bench opportunities came for Union Academy goalkeepers Alex Smith, Matthew White, Charli Lorenz, and Abram Judy; none of whom played a competitive match for Union II. Smith has since graduated and begun a promising collegiate career at St. Joseph’s University. 

This suggests a growing quality and quantity of Academy goalkeepers under head of academy goalkeeping Chad Balback. It also suggests the possibility of Union II soon following the example of MLS NEXT Pro clubs in giving second-team match opportunities to these young goalkeepers. 

Ages in this segment are as of October 6, 2026. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Andrew Rick	20.7	1st Team	USA	26, 27, 28, O 29
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Goalkeeper	450	5	5	5

Andrew Rick’s 2026 was highlighted by a nod to participate in the US Men’s National Team’s World Cup camp as a training player. He started for the first team in CONCACAF and Leagues Cup play, and filled in for Andre Blake when necessary. 

Rick got opportunities with Union II when he needed game minutes to stay sharp before first team duty. He, in those opportunities, proved why he is where he is on the organization’s depth chart. He possesses excellent abilities in his distribution and penalty-saving. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
George Marks	26.9	1st Team	USA	26, O 27, O 27-28
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Goalkeeper	630	7	7	7

Marks exemplified a sporting professional and lent his goalkeeping services to a young 2026 Union II team this year. He appeared on the bench behind first-team backup keeper Andrew Rick in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, and MLS matches while either Rick or Andre Blake was away on international duty. 

Marks is now at an age where he may want to explore other options to get more playing time. He will not pass Blake or Rick in the goalkeeping depth chart in Philadelphia. He has the skill level to be a good starting keeper in the USL Championship, should he decide to go there, but Philadelphia holds options for him in the coming sprint season and the 2027-28 season.

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Pierce Holbrook	23.5	2nd team	USA	26
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Goalkeeper	1440	16	16	16

Holbrook was the lone Union II-contracted goalkeeper for 2026. After spending the beginning of the season finalizing his rehab from his knee injury last year, Holbrook became the mainstay for Union II. He registered just one clean sheet in sixteen MLS NEXT Pro matches. Per FOTMOB, Holbrook led MLS NEXT Pro in saves per 90 with 4.8. 

He will likely return to his position for the sprint season to provide his services in net and continue to mentor the growing crop of Academy keepers behind him. If George Marks were to leave the organization, Holbrook might be promoted to the first team’s books.

Defenders

2026 was a year of trial and error for the Union II defenders, and it ended far from last year’s defensive prowess. As a team, Union II had 5 clean sheets and 40 goals against in 28 matches. 

2025 MLS NEXT Pro Defender of the Year Neil Pierre’s loan to Lyngby and subsequent promotion to the first team left big shoes to fill in the back line next to captain Rafael Uzcategui, and none of the available Union II center backs fully stepped up to the task as they gained experience at the position. 

Ages in this segment are also as of October 6, 2026. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Jordan Griffin	17.9	2nd team	USA	26
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Left Back	1989	25	24	14

Griffin signed a Union II contract in February 2026. He was the only natural left back in the squad and cemented himself as the starter in the role. He also took some huge strides in his development and his engine building, but still has room to grow in both regards. He scored twice and assisted four times in MLS NEXT Pro play and remained a reliable defensive contributor in the 

Griffin was rewarded for his NEXT Pro performances this year by Ryan Richter, who gave him his first-team debut against Orlando City SC on September 26.

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Rafael Uzcategui	22.0	2nd team	Venezuela	26, O 27
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Center Back	2002	24	23	22

Rafael Uzcategui was this year’s Union II captain and played every minute of every match for Union II in 2026 from February 28 to June 28th against Red Bull New York II, where he exited the match in the 62nd minute because he was given an opportunity in a first-team scrimmage the day prior, and Union II went on to concede 4 goals in 20 minutes without him on the pitch to ultimately fall 5-0, Union II’s worst defeat in the NEXT Pro era. 

Kaidan Moore entered for Uzcategui in that June 28th match and would ultimately take his starting spot for the rest of the season after a leg injury the Venezuelan suffered on August 16th. 

Uzcategui, when fit, was the keystone of Union II’s defensive line. His future with Philadelphia will likely depend on how the club handles loanee Kaidan Moore. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Kaidan Moore	19.4	2nd team	USA	2026 on loan w/ PO
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Center Back	1037	19	10	6

Kaidan Moore was given the freedom to develop in his natural center-back position in his first full season with Philadelphia. He only had 3 appearances with Union II in 2025, and all 3 came at left back. It was established then that he lacked the makings of an outside back. 

Moore did not fully slot into Union II until the tail end of the season under interim head coach Chris Harmon, who expressed that part of his reasoning for playing Moore was his desire to have a left-footed center back on the field. 

Harmon chose to use the last matches of the season to evaluate Moore rather than let Uzcategui play. Moore did adequately, but could not replicate Uzcategui’s knack for singlehandedly extinguishing defensive fires.

If Philadelphia takes Moore’s purchase option, he will likely need another season with Union II to fully mature his game. If with Union II, Uzcategui would block that development opportunity. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Finn Sundstrom	19.9	1st team	USA	26, 27, 28, O 29, O 30
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Center Back	1869	24	23	16

Sundstrom took Neil Pierre’s physical place in the Union II back line. That proved to be a tall task for a player who, according to a relative in a reply to a post about his signing in December 2025, “grew up playing as attacking center mid, sometimes playing striker”, made his pro debut with North Carolina FC as a striker in 2024, and then was asked by that club to be a defender for all of 2025.

Sundstrom is still learning the position. He will need another year with Union II to keep learning it. The Union has taken a greater commitment with Sundstrom than the other two previously mentioned center backs because he takes up a first-team supplemental roster spot. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Matheus De Paula	17.9	Academy	USA, Brazil	Amateur
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Right back	2033	26	22	19

De Paula started the season at defensive midfielder, but was slid to right back by Chris Harmon in July and remained there primarily for the rest of the season. He is impressively athletic for an academy player and possesses strong defensive abilities. 

He is currently committed to play for Penn State after graduating from YSC Academy in Spring 2027. It would not be a surprise if he, like Frankie Westfield two years ago, ends up signing a professional contract and staying in Philadelphia instead. 

De Paula had 3 goals and 4 assists on the year. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Oliver Pratt	22.9	2nd team	USA, England, Mexico	26
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Right back	657	11	7	4

Oliver Pratt spent most of the year as a training player and came off the bench as needed to support Matheus De Paula and Giovanny Sequera ahead of him in the depth chart. He was a solid defensive option when called upon. 

When Chris Harmon took over in early June, Pratt slowly disappeared from matchday squads altogether. When asked about it by PSP in late July, Harmon responded with the Curtin-era classic line, “Those opportunities are earned in training”. 

With the breakout of De Paula at the position this year, it is likely that Pratt will not return in 2027. 

Player	Age	“Source”	Citizenship(s)	Contract
Giovanny Sequera	20.6	2nd team	Venezuela	26
Position	Total Mins	Apps	Starts	Full 90s
Right back	1641	23	18	13

Gio Sequera became Union II’s Swiss Army knife in 2026. He began the season at right back, where Ryan Richter developed him in 2025, but finished the season with minutes at defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder, positions he’d played previously in Philadelphia, under Chris Harmon. He has previous experience at those positions and could realistically play at right back, left back, defensive midfield, and both sides of the attacking midfield without issue at the MLS NEXT Pro level. 

Sequera travelled with the first team to preseason in Marbella, Spain and participated in the exhibition matches that took place there. Visa restrictions prevented him from going directly to Clearwater for the second half of preseason because he needed to go through Venezuela first. 

He is a sure candidate for promotion to the first team at some point in 2027 if an international roster spot opens. Promoting him to the first team would allow him to obtain a P1 visa and be able to travel directly between the United States and other nations for international play.