Homegrown Cavan Sullivan scored his first MLS goal but Philadelphia Union saw their comeback end with a 4-3 loss to Orlando City SC on Wednesday night.
Orlando grabbed an early two-goal advantage before Milan Iloski sparked the Union comeback with a goal in the 54th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1. The hosts answered again to restore a two-goal cushion, but the Boys in Blue continued to battle back. Homegrown midfielder Cavan Sullivan scored his first MLS goal to make it 3-2 before Ben Bender found the equalizer to cap a dramatic Union rally.
With momentum shifting toward Philadelphia after erasing two separate two-goal deficits, Orlando found the decisive late goal to secure the result in Florida.
Philadelphia Union wraps up its busy week in front of the Union faithful as they welcome the Columbus Crew to Subaru Park on Saturday night for Unity Night presented by Penn Medicine. Kick off is set for 7:30PM with tickets for the match available by clicking here.
How The Match Unfolded
LINEUP NOTES
With injuries to four consistent starters, the Philadelphia Union sent out yet another unique lineup for Wednesday’s midweek match against Orlando City in the Sunshine State.Â
Andrew Rick made his first MLS start of the season, replacing an injured Andre Blake. He opened the match protected by a backline featuring Nathan Harriel, Geiner Martinez, Olwethu Makhanya, and Ben Bender.
Jovan Lukic was paired with Jeremy Rafanello at the 6, starting in the midfield with Indiana Vassilev and Danley Jean Jacques, who moved up to the number 10 spot. Milan Iloski returned to his natural striker position, paired with Bruno Damiani as the chosen attacking duo.Â
4’, Union find first chance | Iloski found Danley in the Union's near the right sideline for cross in toward Damiani, who got a shot off from center of box but missed right.
10’, Lukic shot | Playing at the 10, Danley fed the ball into the box again for the team’s second shot of the night, this time to Lukic, who took a powerful shot but was blocked by Orlando’s Braian Ojeda.
11’, Close call from the hosts | Orlando City’s leading goalscorer MartÃn Ojeda showed his attacking prowess early, breaking away for a run up the field, but as Lukic caught up to him his shot toward Rick missed right.
12’, Pair of Philly chances | Bender and Rafanello each found chances in the opening 15, but both were saved by Maxime Crépeau.
17’, Costly yellow card | In an attempt to stifle a third 1v1 run, Rick fouled Ojeda, and was shown a gamechanging yellow that earned the Argentine #10 a shot from the spot.
19’, Orlando goal | The hosts took the lead when Rick guessed left and Ojeda placed his penalty kick right, to making the match 1-0 and scoring his 8th goal of 2026.
27’, Orlando goal | The hosts doubled their lead less than 10 minutes later when Griffin Dorsey took advantage of a battle between Makhanya and Ojeda in front of Orlando’s supporters, taking the ball for himself and booting it up toward the top of the net. The goal marked his first in purple and gold since making the move from Houston, where he spent the past four seasons.
43’, Injury sub | Just before the end of the first half, Philly was forced to make their first change of the night due to an injury to Lukic. Carnell opted to send on Cavan Sullivan to replace the Serbian defensive midfielder.
44', Crossbar | Philly nearly got one back in the 44th when Iloski played a short corner to Sullivan who dribbled toward Justin Ellis then chipped the ball into the box, where Martinez darted toward it for a header chance that was saved by the crossbar.Â
45+, Iloski chances | Iloski got two more shots off before the halftime whistle, first making a move left past Braian Ojeda then blasting it near post where  Crépeau made the save. His second chance
Halftime | As the second half began, so did the rain as light weather rolled into Inter&Co stadium.Â
50', Orlando maintain control | Two Orlando free kicks and a shot from  Justin Ellis opened the latter 45'.Â
51', Yellow card | Orlando City was shown their first yellow of the night from a foul on Danley by Tiago Souza, giving the Union their 8th corner of the night.Â
51', Union goal! | Philly got one back early in the second half with a full team effort, starting with a transition moment from Ben Bender. After regaining possesion for Philly, Vassilev passed to Rafanello, who found Sullivan running up the right sideline. He passed to Harriel who pushed ahead of him, then sent it into the box toward an open Iloski who placed the shot to make it 2-1.
57’, Makhanya denied the equalizer | With momentum on their side, the Boys in Blue had a golden opportunity to level the game at 2-2 with Ilsoki floating in a perfectly weighted corner kick into the box for a Makhanya header that was denied by Crépeau.
65’, Union sub | Philly's second change of the evening saw AgustÃn Anello replace Indiana Vassilev as an attacking midfielder in the Union's 4-2-2-2 formation.
72’, Orlando goal | The hosts restablished their two-goal lead shortly after an offensive substitution with Duncan McGuire finishing off a counter attack two minutes into his apperance.
75’, Cavan gets his first MLS goal! | The Boys in Blue didn't back down from the conference clash and immediately cut the lead back to a single goal with Cavan Sullivan delivering his first MLS goal to become the eighth youngest goalscorer in league history.
79’, Union find the equalizer! | Philly continued to roll with the momentum with Ben Bender adding a goal to his impressive statline to make it 3-3 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
90’, Orlando retakes the lead | Just like how the match started it was Ojeda finding the back of the net in the waning moments of the match as the hosts scored the seventh and final goal of the clash.
