Ryan Richter and his Union II side were back in MLS Next Pro action this past Sunday as they went on their first road trip of the 2026 season, across state lines, to take on the team that knocked them out of last year’s postseason, Red Bull New York II.
Union II were looking to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat against league newcomers CT United and in search of that, Coach Richter handed first MLS Next Pro starts to both Mamoutou Berthe and Matheus De Paula, with Oscar Benitez out due to his red card from last weekend’s game we knew there would be a new holding midfielder in the lineup, but Coach Richter decided to start a new duo of holding midfielders.
Union II goalkeeper George Marks made big saves and scored the winning PK over Red Bulls II
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
Right off the starting kickoff, NYRB II instantly put Union II on the back foot and under pressure when a long ball over the top found its way through, but Finn Sundstrom made an excellent recovery block to stop a nightmare start for Philly. The opening 30 minutes of the game lacked quality, with NYRB II dominating possession but never really pressuring George Marks until a free kick the hosts earned on the half-hour mark.
After Giovanny Sequera received a booking for his foul on Dennis Nelich, Nate Worth stepped up to take the free kick, and it looked like it was going to break the deadlock as it travelled through the air, but instead it crashed off the crossbar, and Union II could breathe a sigh of relief.
10 minutes later, George Marks faced his first big test of the afternoon as he made a great save down to his left-hand side from an effort that looked like it would have broken the deadlock had he not got his hand to it. Both teams headed into halftime locked at 0-0, with Union II struggling to create anything and still looking for their first shot of the game.
The flow of the match stayed the same for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half: NYRB II dominated possession, Union II couldn’t keep the ball to save their lives, and yet NYRB II were struggling to create any high-quality chances. Coach Richter, sensing he needed to make a change before the hosts found a way past George Marks, made his first changes of the game.
Jordan Griffin and Lennon Harrington were the players coming onto the pitch and hoping to change the flow of the game for Ryan Richter’s men, with both Mamoutou Berthe and Giovanny Sequera the ones replaced. The changes instantly made an impact.
Five or six minutes after the substitutes were made, both men who were brought onto the field linked up for the opening goal of the game on Union II’s first shot of the entire match. Kellan LeBlanc quickly released Jordan Griffin down the wing, after the full back made a bursting overlapping run, and delivered a cross to Lennon Harrington, who nodded home his first goal for the club and Union II’s first goal of the game to give them the lead.
Sal Olivas tries to progress the ball for Union II vs CT United
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
After his initial double change made a huge impact on the game, Ryan Richter decided to make another double swap a little bit of time after the opening goal, this time seeing John Ruf and Nehan Hasan replace both Malik Jakupovic and Willyam Ferreira.
George Marks, who’s been phenomenal between the sticks for Union II so far this season, was called into action with around 15 minutes to go, and the keeper pulled off a fantastic diving save to stop Nate Worth from levelling the game. Just a couple of minutes later, Union II should have been 2-0 up, but Kellan LeBlanc, after some brilliant work from John Ruf, fired his shot from around the penalty spot over the bar.
With just over 5 minutes to go, Coach Richter opted to make his final change of the game, this time bringing on Timo Mendoza to secure up midfield, replacing Kellan LeBlanc. Unfortunately for Union II, late heartbreak awaited them.
In the final minute of the game, when it looked like Ryan Richter and his Union II side would be heading back to Philly with all three points, Paul Sokoloff popped up with an equalising goal that meant both teams were taking a point each and heading to the extra point penalty shootout.
Both goalkeepers were exceptional in the shootout. George Marks saved NYRB II’s first two penalties, and then Aidan Stokes, in goal for NYRB II, made brilliant saves from Union II’s 4th and 5th penalties to take it to sudden death.
George Marks would then go and do the unthinkable, first saving Aimar Modelo’s penalty, making his penalty save total up to 3, and then he had the audacity to not only step up to take the deciding penalty, but to also convert it and win the extra point for his team. It’s comfortably one of the most incredible and insane things I’ve ever seen in football in my 27 years of watching the sport.
Union II will now go on a 3-week break, with their next game on April 12th, when they host Carolina Core FC at Subaru Park, with kickoff currently scheduled for 3 pm ET.
