Connect with us

Amateur

Union Development Squad overcomes two-goal deficit, beats First State FC 4-3

Published

on

Photo by Matthew Ralph

WILMINGTON, Del. – Philadelphia Union Development Squad came back twice to tie things up and found a late winner from Luke Zielinski to top First State FC in an entertaining seven-goal NPSL Keystone West game Sunday afternoon at Abessinio Stadium.

Winless in their first two games, First State FC took a 2-0 lead on goals from Hakim Williams and Alexis Garcia. Williams opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a burst of speed down the left flank and a rocketed finish to the near post. Williams was on the ball again in the final third, playing the ball wide to Yohan Kim for a cross across the face of goal in the build-up to second goal just before halftime off a put back from Garcia.

UDS head coach Fred Da Silva made some adjustments at halftime with his squad down a pair of goals, inserting Francis Castillo for Sandu Zama and switching to a 4-3-3. Castillo had instant impact, assisting on Noe Uwimana’s goal in the 49th minute to make it 2-1. The Union attack created a couple more chances and had the momentum in their favor when a quickly taken throw-in led to a curling Devon Stopek cross that Jackson Gilman headed past the keeper to tie the game.

“I told them to play a little faster because they are more physical than us and older than us and I think that made a difference,” Da Silva said after the match. “The effort they put on to come back was excellent.”

The visitors continued to control the tempo and had the bulk of possession but First State was finally able to mount a response and retook the lead on a flicked header from distance by Yohan Kim. One of the shortest players on the field, Kim was able to rise up uncontested to get to a ball from Stelios Melekos and flick it up over the head of the UDS keeper for the 3-2 lead.

Yet again the visitors were able to pull level through Stefan Chirila and a lovely goal from the left flank in the 80th minute.

“Great team effort overall,” Chirila said. “The tactical changes changed the game for us. We had most of the ball and dominated but didn’t have the ball in the box much in the first half and that changed in the second half.”

Chirila, one of three 2007-born players on the field for UDS, played a role in the game winner in the 89th minute when he played a ball to the left flank to Stopek. Stopek’s cross to Marcello Mazzola led to a shot that was deflected right into the path of Zielinski near the goal mouth for the toe poke.

The 4-3 win is the second straight win by the same score for the UDS, which improved to 2-1-0 on the season. First State FC fell to 0-3-0 to start the campaign.

“I thought the level of play was outstanding,” said First State FC head coach Dan Frick. “Seven goals is a bit much – as a former goalkeeper I do like to see less – but we’ve made a huge emphasis on what we want to do in front of goal and that’s something we’ve lacked in the first two games. To go out and have a two goal lead against a quality opponent like that we were very excited; we just didn’t put a full 90 minutes together.”

Photo by Matthew Ralph

Kim, a Seoul, South Korea native who plays at nearby Wilmington University, put in a strong shift and had the goal with his family watching in the stands.

“He hasn’t seen a lot of his family since before the pandemic so that was great to see,” Frick said. “He’s got such a motor that he’s really tough to deal with for the opponent and he’s always going to be someone who can control the ball. He’s quite a dynamic player; we’re excited he’s on our team.”

The Union Development Squad is playing in their first season in NPSL and it’s given them a chance to bring back academy grads to play with the team, which competed last fall in the UPSL. Ian Abbey (Rutgers), Jackson Gilman (Pitt) and Owen Moore (Liberty), all 2022 YSC Academy grads, provided a strong core and leadership to the team with players ranging from ages 16-18.

“You can see the difference they make with the communication, the physicality and the experience,” Da Silva said.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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

Be the First to Know When Philadelphia Soccer News Happens!

Sign-up now to get all of our stories sent directly to your inbox, as soon as they're published.

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.