Photo @PhilaUnionII

New York City FC II scored two goals in the final period, between the 88th and 90+2nd minutes, to defeat Philadelphia Union II 2-1 on the turf of Belson Field at St. Johns University, thus intensifying the battle for the play-offs in the Eastern Conference of MLS NEXT Pro.

Union II forward Eddy Davis III beat New York goalkeeper Alex Rando to the goal line in the 23rd minute to give Philly a first-half lead.

In a pattern all too familiar to Union fans, head coach Marlon LeBlanc’s replacements had little positive impact on the game offensively or defensively, while NYC FC II head coach Matt Pilkington’s replacements did. Center back Neil Pierre and attacking midfielders Cavan Sullivan and David Vazquez were unavailable for Union II, as was Giovanny Sequera, who is still injured.

Advance

For the first time ever, in 2024, MLS-affiliated farm teams will compete in the US Open Cup in place of their first-team brethren. New York City FC II did so, becoming the last team standing in Division III, earning $25,000 in prize money. Their cup run is below.

The Open Cup run postponed the MLS NEXT Pro regular season, so NYC FC II has between one and four games in hand against their Eastern Conference opponents. In most cases, they have three, as they did against Union II. If they were to win all three and add nine points to the standings, they would be in second place in the conference with 36, two behind Philly. In that sense, the match on Long Island was a battle of first and second place.

Like Union II, NYC FC II has several first-team signings who play extensively with the second team. In terms of age distribution, they are either slightly younger than Union II or slightly older, in one or two cases quite a bit older. Surprisingly, the average age of Philadelphia’s starters was just over 20. Pierre, Cavan Sullivan and Vazquez were unavailable, likely left behind in Chester as bench players against Nashville. Olwethu Makhanya, Jamir Berdecio, Sanders Ngabo and Andrew Rick were present.

First half

Union II kicked off with a healthy breeze on the field of St. Johns University. But the hosts had more possession and attacking pressure early on. In the ninth minute, in the first of their two best scoring chances of the half, a deflected pass bounced back off the near post.

Union II repeatedly tried to fastbreak directly, presumably to catch the New York midfielders in the field. At first they didn’t connect well, but as the half progressed they started to do so. It was clear that CJ Olney, playing the attacking midfielder of the narrow field, was tasked with pushing forward as much as possible.

The basic pattern of the half was back and forth, with Union using perhaps half the number of passes that New York used. Union II made no attempt to possess the ball and break down their hosts’ defence. New York also tried to attack quickly, but without using long, deep diagonal switches. When the young Cityzens switched fields, their deliveries were much closer to horizontal.

The decisive moment came when Frank Westfield suffered a head injury in the 30th minute. The vice-captain left back continued to play in the second half, but was forced to leave the field for the first time this season in the 63rd minute when Gavin Wetzel replaced him and Jamir Berdecio moved from right winger to left winger.

New York had another good chance to score in the first half when a confrontation in front of goal occurred in the 36th minute. Union II managed to block and clear the ball.

Second half

During the break, neither coach made any substitutions.

New York started with less urgency to attack, but quickly changed that and gained more possession as the half progressed.

Coach LeBlanc stayed true to his priority of player development and began to bring in young replacements in midfield and attack, substituting Kyle Tucker and Markus Anderson in the 75th minute and bringing in Leandro Soria up front and 16-year-old Jamir Johnson in right midfield. The change potentially saw a shift in formation to a 4-2-2-2 “empty bucket” with a double pivot in defensive midfield.

The development of the players was decisive again in the 81st minute when Randy Meneses replaced Ngabo as defensive midfielder and Kellen LeBlanc replaced Davis as striker, allowing Union II to take full advantage of the team’s substitution opportunities. The coach did not use Sal Olivas as he was still recovering from an injury.

It was towards the end of the game that Westfield’s absence was most keenly felt, as poor first throws were not followed by aggressive second ball handling. If Westfield is anything to go by, he never hesitates to commit himself fully to defence or attack. The absence of Neil Pierre did not help either, as Carlos Rojas was forced to play the full ninety for the first time in a long time and looked increasingly unassertive.

Jonathan Shore was named man of the match by the announcer for scoring the winning goal, but in the eyes of PSP, Piero Elias dominated central midfield towards the end of the game. He had made his MLS debut against Atlanta two days earlier and went the full 90 on Friday night. Unlike last season on Long Island, coach Pilkington did not make the mistake of taking him off.

next game

Union II will next play Columbus Crew 2 at historic Crew Stadium on the Ohio State Fairgrounds at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 28^e on Apple TV MLS Season Pass. They can’t be caught by anyone in the Eastern Conference this weekend, but a win for Cincinnati 2 in Columbus on Sunday would put them level with Union II on points.

Three points, plus two

1. Davis’ goal he is second in the league in terms of top scorers with 10.
2. Olney’s Dedication to Pressing NYC II’s central defenders and their goalkeeper reminded this observer of Daniel Gazdag in 2022, when he attempted to activate some beneficial automatic options in his contract.
3. Yellow cards total of 10 for the game, 6 for New York and 4 for Philly, as the referee tried to control the bad bloodline between the teams that had been close playoff rivals both previous years. Philly had beaten NYC both seasons for the final playoff spot.
4. Structural change of the academy teams: – The age categories of the youth academies will shift from U15 and U17 to U16 and U18 next season.
5. A detail about the suitability for amateurs: – A high school player who plays part of the year as an amateur for a professional team may continue to do so for the entire calendar year. While it is often customary for a high school senior to enter college immediately after graduation, this is not required. “Gap years” are possible. Eddy Davis III would therefore be able to finish the season at Union II without ruling out the possibility of joining an NCAA program next January. As a June 2024 graduate, his eligibility clock will start ticking in January 2025.

SCOREBOOK

Lineups

Union II: (4-1-2-1-2, LR) 1^st – 6, U II – 8, Am – 6.

Appetizer: Andrew Rick; Frank Westfield (Gavin Wetzel 63′), Carlos Rojas, Olwethu Makhanya, Jamir Berdecio; Sanders Ngabo (Randy Meneses 81′); Kyle Tucker (Jamir Johnson 75′), Nick Pariano; C.J. Olney; Markus Anderson (Leandro Soria 75′), Eddy Davis III (Kellen LeBlanc 81′). Average age of starters = 20.2.

Unused replacements: Mike Sheridan; Henry Bernstein, Sal Olivas, Gavin DeHart.

FC Utrecht II: (4-2-3-1, LR)

Appetizer: Alex Rando; Chris Tiao, Matthew Leong, Samuel Owusu, Steven Bednarsky (Jonathan Lopez 77′); Piero Elias, Jake Rozhansky (Jonathan Kust 60′); JJ Jimenez (Nicholas Kapanadze 90+3′), Maximo Carrizo (Camil Azzam Ruiz 77′), Ronald Arévalo (Julien Lacher 77′); Taylor Calheira.

Unused replacements: Willem Meijer; Kofi Hope-Gund, Klevis Haxhari.

Goals

Union II 23rd minute Eddy Davis III (NIck Pariano)

NYC FC II 88th minute Taylor Calheira

NYC FC II 90+2nd minute Jonathan Shore (Piero Elias)

Yellow cards

Union II 10th minute Olwethu Makhanya (dissenting opinion)

NYC FC II 33rd minute Samuel Owusu (foul)

NYC FC II 39th minute Jake Rozhansky (foul)

NYC FC II 44th minute Stevo Bednarsky (foul)

Union II 45+1st minute Jamir Berdecio (foul)

Union II 45+4th minute Andrew Rick (delay)

Union II 47th minute Markus Anderson (foul)

NYC FC II 77th minute Chris Tiao (foul)

NYC FC II 90+6th minute Jonathan Lopez (foul)

NYC FC II 90+6th minute Camil Azzam Ruiz (foul)

Statistics

Whistle & Flags

Ref: Kyle Averill, AR1: Eric Schreiber, AR2:Bryan Conetta, 4^E: Robert Cordrey.