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Jeremy Rafanello hat trick leads Union II to first home win of the season

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Photo by Jack Verdeur

Union II fell behind 2-0 inside the first half hour but the rest of the day belonged to Jeremy Rafanello, whose hat trick led the team to their first home win of the season in a 3-2 victory over reigning MLS Next Pro champions Columbus Crew 2.

Crew 2 opened the scoring in the 19th minute on an own goal by Anton Sorenson and then doubled their lead  five minutes later on a Gibran Rayo penalty after Sorenson was whistled for a foul and shown a yellow in the box.

A CJ Olney run into the box reversed fortunes for the hosts when he was taken down and Rafanello was able to convert from the spot for the first of his two goals over a two-minute span. Olney set up Rafanello for a well-taken strike in the 35th minute and to even the score at 2-2 going into the break.

Crew 2 saw a lot of the ball in the second half – the hosts content to concede possession – but it was Rafanello again with a big moment when he rocketed a shot from distance past the keeper to put the hosts up 3-2.

Union II finished the night with just 30 percent of the possession but had the 10-9 advantage on shots and scored on two of their three shots on target (all from Rafanello). The visitors had a couple chances late to tie things up again but Union II keeper Brooks Thompson stepped up to make a pair of saves to preserve the 3-2 win, the third of the season for Union II.

GOALS/ASSISTS
CLB – Anton Sorenson (OG) 19’
CLB – Gibran Rayo (PK) 24’
PHI – Jeremy Rafanello (PK) 33’
PHI – Jeremy Rafanello (Olney) 35’
PHI – Jeremy Rafanello (Castillo) 81’

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI – Anton Sorenson (caution) 23’
CLB – Abdi Mohamed (caution) 32’
CLB – Cole Mrowka (caution) 54’
PHI – Jeremy Rafanello (caution) 64’
CLB – Noah Fuson (caution) 67’
PHI – Boubacar Diallo (caution) 82’

LINEUP
Philadelphia Union II: Brooks Thompson, Juan Castillo, Gino Portella (Daniel Krueger 46’), Hugo Le Guennec, Anton Sorenson, Christopher Olney, Alex Perez (Maike Villero 75’), Francis Westfield, David Vazquez (Nelson Pierre 71’), Jeremy Rafanello (Luciano Sanchez 86’), Stefan Stojanovic (Boubacar Diallo 71’)

Substitutes not used: Anthony Ramirez, Andrew Rick, Luke Martelli, Carlos Rojas

Columbus Crew 2: Brady Scott, Stuart Ritchie (Jordan Knight 74’), Xavier Zengue, Jacob Erlandson, Abdi Mohamed, Cole Mrowka ( Brent Adu-Gyamfi 83’), Taha Habroune (Gio De Libera 65’), Marco Micaletto, Gibran Rayo, Thomas Roberts, Noah Fuson

Substitutes not used: Ty Nero, Stanislav Lapkes, Coleman Gannon, Nicolas Rincon, Clay Holstad, Mataeo Bunbury

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now / Brotherly Game. He's covered soccer at all levels for many years in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

Copyright © 2024 Philadelphia Soccer Now and Brotherly Game

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