Philadelphia Union II, the club’s MLS NEXT Pro side, faces North Texas SC this Saturday in the cup final, hoping to carry on their momentum from clinching the Eastern Conference title for the first time ever last weekend.
The Union II, the club’s reserve team to develop young players, has fared far better this year than the senior team, which missed out on the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and parted ways with head coach Jim Curtin on Thursday.
The side clinched the Eastern Conference by beating Columbus Crew 2 emphatically, 4-0, on Saturday, with 15-year-old Cavan Sullivan’s goal making him the youngest-ever scorer in league playoff history.
Sullivan, who signed with the Union on the league’s biggest homegrown contract ever and was briefly the youngest-ever player to debut in the continent’s top professional sports leagues (Gotham City youngster Mckenna “Mak” Whitham broke the latter record a couple weeks later in the NWSL), isn’t the only promising youngster who could be a staple on the senior side. The overall age of the current roster is 18, which is the second youngest in the league, according to the Inquirer.
Before the conference final, the team beat New York City FC II, then Crown Legacy FC from North Carolina in a penalty shootout.
Head coach Marlon LeBlanc described the victory against Columbus as “about as close to a perfect game as you can ask for as a coach.”
“I thought they were outstanding and deserved the result,” he said on Wednesday. “It was more than a result, it was an actual proper performance. The guys put on a proper Union performance.”
If the Union II want to take the mantle of Philly’s latest professional national championship team, they have to take down the best team in the league this year.
“Obviously, they were the best team in the league over the course of the first 28 games this season,” LeBlanc said of North Texas. “[Interim head coach Michel Garbini’s] done a fantastic job coaching that team. They don’t concede many goals and they score a lot. That’s probably as good of a recipe as you can ask for for success for any team.”
Union II forward Eddy Davis, the team’s top scorer with 13 goals this season, said that North Texas’ record is not intimidating on the team.
“I think our unity that we have is super strong,” he said. “I think that we believe that we have every chance of winning the game and we’re not going in as the underdogs. We’re going as the team that should win this game.”
North Texas are unbeaten at home this season, but the game will be at FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, rather than the side’s regular home ground at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
LeBlanc said that the approach for a final remains the same as any other game this season. What’s more important for the squad is focussing on keeping up its consistency.
“The only thing different is that there’s a lot more cameras on the field watching us do it, we’re maybe leaving an extra day early,” he said. “But the idea is that if we can remain true to our identity, not just on game day but in terms of what we do heading into the game, we think that the magnitude itself just becomes a regular football match and that’s the way we want our young group to approach it. Nothing’s ever too big or nothing’s ever too little. You’ve got to give it the same professional approach that you do any other time.”
The game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. and will air on Apple TV with an MLS Season Pass subscription. Tickets are still available if you happen to be in Frisco, Texas.
For those who want to show their support in Philly, the Union is hosting a local watch party for the game, with giveaway prizes, next to Subaru Park at the Dogfish Head Bar at Union Yards. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for that.
