Saturday afternoon brought along yet another MLS Next Pro Playoff game to Subaru Park, this time it was the biggest game in Union II history as they hosted Columbus Crew 2 in the MLS Next Pro Eastern Conference Final.
After beating Crown Legacy the previous weekend thanks to penalty heroics from Andrew Rick Jr, Marlon LeBlanc named an unchanged starting XI for the Eastern Conference Final.
Union II vs Crew II recap
Union II came out with intent from the first minute, closing down and pressing from the front, trying to stop Columbus from getting their possession-based system into a comfortable position. It looked like this pressing would pay off ten minutes into the game, but Eddy Davis just missed out on getting on the end of a ball into the box.
The visitors started to gain control in the game and seemed to be dealing with Philly’s pressing but in the 16th minute, Union forced a turnover and went on the counter-attack. David Vazquez fed CJ Olney down the wing and the young playmaker put a ball in the box, that found Markus Anderson, who blasted the ball past the Columbus goalkeeper to send Union II 1-0 up.
Like a lot of games in this incredible season, Union II didn’t lift their foot off the pedal and went at Columbus. It almost worked a few minutes after the goal but Cavan Sullivan’s effort in the box was well blocked. Sullivan went close with a long-range effort but it just went wide of the goal.
That long-range effort from Cavan Sullivan should have been a warning sign for Columbus to close him down, but they didn’t and they paid the ultimate price just before halftime. Nick Pariano won the ball back and laid it off to the 15-year-old, who hammered a shot at goal, which took a big deflection and went flying into the back of the net to double Philadelphia’s lead.
Columbus Crew 2 failed to register a shot on goal in the first half and, while they were looking to improve on that in the 2nd half, Union II were relentless from kickoff and almost got a 3rd goal through Neil Pierre, but his header smashed the woodwork and Columbus got away with one.
It wasn’t long until Marlon LeBlanc’s side found a third though as Cavan Sullivan and David Vazquez opened up some space for captain Frankie Westfield to get an opening and fire an unbelievable long-range effort that found the bottom corner and triple the lead.
Union II weren’t done there though and would not let Columbus have a single moment of peace. They found a 4th and final goal in the 74th minute. David Vazquez almost scored the goal of the season but had to settle for an assist as he set up Markus Anderson, for his brace goal, and Union II went 4-0 up and were safely on their way to the MLS Next Pro Cup Final.
The game finished up 4-0 for Marlon LeBlanc’s side, complete domination from start to finish over the 2 time Eastern Conference Champions and the inaugural MLS Next Pro Champions Columbus Crew 2, who failed to have more than 1 shot during the whole 90 minutes.
This incredible and historic Union II season continues to get better as they are now your MLS Next Pro Eastern Conference Champions and will now face North Texas SC in the MLS Next Pro Cup Final on Saturday, November 9th at 8:30pm ET. The game will be in Texas as North Texas SC holds the best record in all of MLS Next Pro.
Mandatory Credit: Caean Couto-Imagn Images
