Saturday afternoon brings another MLS Next Pro Playoff game to Subaru Park, this time around it’s the Eastern Conference Finals between the Philadelphia Union II and the 7th seeded Columbus Crew 2.
Union II vs Crew II: Preview
Union II have had an eventful MLS Next Pro playoffs so far, with them narrowly beating rivals NYCFC II 1-0 thanks to a late CJ Olney goal, and then, just last weekend, Olwethu Makhanya’s goal was canceled out by a late Crown Legacy goal, taking the tie to penalties. Andrew Rick saved 2 penalties in the shootout win, with CJ Olney stepping up and slotting home the game-winning spotkick.
This time around, Marlon LeBlanc’s side will be up against their biggest challenge yet, as they face the 7th seed Columbus Crew 2. Now being the 7th seed, you’d think Union II will have an easy matchup given they finished as the 2nd seed, however, Columbus are the defending Eastern Conference Champions, and they’ve actually won the conference back to back and even won the entire league back in 2022, the inaugural season of the league, when they beat St Louis City SC 2 4-1. They lost the 2023 final to Austin FC II 3-1.
Columbus Crew 2 are on a fantastic run of form in the postseason for the 3rd year running, their experience in these one-off games is second to none and they’ve proved it again this year, beating Inter Miami CF II 6-2 away from home and then going into Chicago and beating Fire II 3-2 last weekend.
It’ll be the 4th time this season that Union II and Columbus Crew 2 have met eachother. The first meeting was back in June at Subaru Park, with Marlon LeBlanc’s men coming out as 3-1 winners thanks to a first half brace from Sal Olivas and another first half goal from CJ Olney. The 2nd time the two sides met was back in late July, with Union II traveling to Ohio and coming away with nothing as they lost 3-2.
Union II thought they’d grabbed a late point when Gavin Wetzel equalised in the 93rd minute, but Gibran Rayo scored a 97th minute penalty that claimed all 3 points for the Ohio side. Their latest meeting was back in August with the teams playing at Subaru Park again, the score after 90 minutes was 1-1, Cavan Sullivan the goalscorer, and Union II came away with a 2nd point thanks to a 5-4 extra point shootout win.
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6pm ET at Subaru Park, tickets are available online. If you can’t make it down to the ground, the game will be streamed live on Apple TV via an active MLS Season Pass subscription.
Image Credit: Philadelphia Union II
