Sunday evening brings along another MLS Next Pro matchday for Ryan Richter’s Union II side and tonight they head out on the road for their 3rd meeting against FC Cincinnati 2, in search of a strong ending to August, which has been a tough month for the team.
Last time out, Union II faced New England Revolution II at Subaru Park but it was a match to forget for the young Union II side as they fell to a 3-1 defeat, which kept their points tally to just 4 points from the last 6 games (a possible 18 points). August has been a tough month for the team as they entered it tied for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference but now find themselves in a tie for the 2nd seed, with 3 teams below them just 2 points behind and looking for a home playoff game.
The past month or two has been a difficult time off the pitch too for Union II and especially Ryan Richter as he has seen his squad massively depleted for the remainder of the season with multiple star players departing the club. CJ Olney, David Vazquez, Oliver Semmle, and most recently Isaiah LeFlore has all left on loan deals for the remainder of the season.
Coach Richter has relied on academy prospects to try and fill in the gaps left behind by the departing players, and some have worked out like Malik Jakupovic, but the newcomers aren’t up to the standard that the likes of Olney and Vazquez are. Kaiden Moore has recently been picked for the U19’s US National Team Domestic Identity Camp, and fellow Union II teammates Kellan LeBlanc and Malik Jakupovic have been picked for the U17’s US National Team Domestic Identity Camp.
FC Cincinnati come into tonight’s game in a very similar lack of form as Union II, as the hosts have also only won once this calendar month. Their most recent game was a 3-2 road defeat to Carolina Core, but the hosts of tonight’s game will be looking to bounce back and grab 3 crucial points as they look to leapfrog other teams and grab that final playoff spot.
Sunday evening’s game will be the 3rd time these two teams have met this season, with Ryan Richter’s Union II side looking to complete the season sweep over the Ohio based team. The first meeting of the season between these two was back in June, when Union II came to Cincinnati and smashed them 4-1, the most recent meeting was at Subaru Park and Union II’s last win, when they won 1-0 to kickoff August.
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30pm ET and if you haven’t travelled to watch the team tonight, the game will be streamed live on Apple TV via an active MLS Season Pass subscription.
