Philadelphia Union II extended its unbeaten road form with a 3-1 comeback win at Columbus Crew 2 on Saturday afternoon.
The Boys in Blue pushed their June winning streak to three with gritty goals from Leandro Soria, Giovanny Sequera and homegrown forward Eddy Davis III to overcome a first-half deficit and nab all three points.
Aftera quick road trip to Ohio, Union II returns to Subaru Park to begin a four-game homestand that kicks off against New England Revolution II on Thursday, June 26th. Kick off is set for 7PM with tickets to see the next generation of Union talent available for purchase by clicking here.
With Gavin Wetzel having departed for his collegiate opportunities, Head Coach Ryan Richter made one change from their last match with Giovanny Sequera stepping into the midfield while captain Nick Pariano returned to right back. Goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook fresh off his first start which ended in a shutout continued between the posts with the backline in front of him comprised of Pariano, Neil Pierre, Rafael Uzcategui and Isaiah LeFlore. The midfield saw David Vazquez and Sequera as the defensive mids while CJ Olney and Leandro Soria provided attacking wide to feed the front line of Eddy Davis III and Sal Olivas.
7’, Davis III nearly scores | The Boys in Blue didn't need long to put the Ohio side under pressure with Sal Olivas finding space on the right flank and running toward goal. The homegrown cut a centering pass to Olney who quicked pass it into the path of Davis III for a one-timer that forced a reaction stop by the keeper.
22’, Columbus strikes first | After Union II saw chances from CJ Olney via a free kick and Neil Pierre not yield a goal, it was the home team that opened the scoring with a Owen Presthus off a centering pass from Anthony Alaouieh.
24’, Crew 2 ruled offside | The Ohio side nearly doubled its lead in quick succession with a darting run from Cristian Ortiz to get 1v1 against Holbrook. The Union II keeper made the intial stop from close range but the rebound went right into Ortiz for the follow up finish but the assistant referee quickly raised their flag to disallow the goal.
30’, Soria nets the equalizer | With the momentum well in favor of the homeside, the Boys in Blue battled back with Nick Pariano sending in a pin perfect volley into the box for Olivas. The forward hit a smashing header that went past the keeper but crashed off the post. The ball trickled back into play where Leandro Soria was rewarded for his back post run to make it 1-1 at the half hour mark.
42’, Union II push for a second before halftime | With the game level at a 1-1, Philly had back to back chances to grab the lead heading into the locker room. Playing their direct attacking style with a long ball over the top, Olney gained possession and raced to the edge of the box before cutting to his right to line up a shot. Crew. keeper Luke Pruter came off his line to cut down on the angle and saw the shot kicked right into his position. The follow up chance came from LeFlore with the outside back forcing the keeper to again make another save.
48’, Sequera gives Union II the lead | Refreshed and recharged after halftime, Union II used that extra energy to continue to put Crew 2 under pressure and got some deja vu as they took the lead. Like their opening goal of the match, the strike came through on a second effort with CJ Olney seeing a shot from close change turned aside. The ball flew into the air where Giovanny Sequera flicked it into the back of the net with a headed effort for his third goal of 2025.
57’, Union II makes its first substitution | With limited options to select due to internation call-ups, MLS NEXT Cup and the first team preparing for another grueling stretch of games, Union II's only defensive minded substitution came just before the hour mark as Oscar Benitez earned his seventh appearance for Union II as he took over for Rafael Uzcategui who was on a yellow card.
62’, More changes for Union II | After making their first change, the final two field player options were called upon in the 62nd minute as Stas Korzeniowski and Henry Bernstein entered in place of Olivas and the goalscoring Soria.
72’, Davis III makes it three straight goals| The change up front produced dividends quickly as Korzeniowski collected possession near the center stripe and teed up a perfectly weighted volley for Eddy Davis III to spring in behind the Crew defense. With just the keeper to beat, the homegrown cut the ball back and regained possession quickly as Columbus tracked back before hitting it under the keeper for the 3-1 advantage.
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