Despite being handed a 2-1 loss on the road against New England on Decision Day, Philadelphia Union did enough to secure the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs and will have home-field advantage in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. It’s the 6th straight season the Union have qualified for the Playoffs, with the 2022 run ending in heartbreak instead of their first MLS Cup.
With hopes of getting back to MLS Cup, Union’s first roadblock in the 2023 Playoffs will be a best-of-3 series against New England Revolution, the same team Union saw on Decision Day.
Best-of-3 Series Schedule
New to MLS this season is the Best-of-3 1st round series in MLS Cup Playoffs. The team with the higher seed in the standings is awarded home-field advantage and will play 2 of the 3 games(if necessary) at home. Because Union did enough to stay inside the top 4 in the Eastern Conference, 2 of the 3 games against New England will be played at Subaru Park, a venue in which Union have lost just 3 games since September of 2021. Here’s the dates and times for all 3 games in Union’s first round against New England:
GAME 1: Saturday, October 28th @ 5pm EST – Subaru Park – Chester, PA(MLS Season Pass)
GAME 2: Wednesday, November 8th @ 7pm EST – Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, MA(MLS Season Pass, FS1, FOX Deportes, TSN, RDS)
GAME 3(If Necessary): Sunday, November 12th @ 3pm EST – Subaru Park – Chester, PA(MLS Season Pass)
Just one win could kickstart it all
It’s been a rough couple of weeks(months???) for Union fans. There’s been a number of contract disputes going on behind the scenes and there’s no hiding the distraction it’s caused both within and around this club right now. Fans might be able to put all of that to the side if their team was getting positive results, but Union have just 2 wins in their previous 10 games, adding to the frustration and lack of confidence fans have heading towards playoffs.
But at the same time they’ve only lost 2 games in that span, and we all know how good this team can be when they get clicking. One thing’s for certain, I know Subaru Park is going to be packed to the brim and rocking on Saturday night, the way a Philadelphia playoff crowd always is. The energy in this city with the Eagles going to 6-1 and the Phillies one win away from back-to-back World Series appearances is incredible – I can’t help but feel that a Game 1 win at Subaru Park could completely flip the script for this Union team and it’s fans right now.
We’ll get to Series previews and such later this week, but here’s my early prediction – Union win both at home to advance to a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against Supporters Shield winners, FC Cincinnati. See you at Subaru Park on Saturday night – who knows, maybe we’ll have a World Series game in South Philly to go watch in celebration of a Game 1 Union win.
Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union
