Philadelphia Union
Philadelphia Union U.S. Open Cup hopes slip away with semifinal loss to Nashville
It’s been a long week (already) for the Philadelphia Union.
Two days after suffering the club’s worst ever loss with a 7-0 thrashing in Vancouver, the Union were bounced out of the U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 loss in Nashville on Tuesday night. The loss was their third this season to a Nashville team coached by former Union assistant BJ Callaghan.
MLS Golden Boot leader Sam Surridge had a hat trick to lead Nashville to their first Open Cup final and slam the door on a Union squad that battled back in the second half with a lovely strike from Quinn Sullivan off the bench to cut a two-goal deficit in half. Inconsistent refereeing did the Union no favors but the three-time Open Cup finalists did dodge a red card on Bruno Damiani early on a crunching tackle and just after halftime when Damiani’s hand made contact with the ball on Surridge’s second goal. Andrew Rick put in a fine performance keeping them in the game.
Coming off an epic drubbing at the hands of Vancouver at perhaps the worst time of the season to travel nearly 3,000 miles, the Union didn’t look themselves for much of the first half. Whether that was tired legs from cross country travel or a dip in confidence, the game was firmly in Nashville (and the referee’s hands) before Sullivan’s momentum-shifting strike in the 70th minute. Moments before Sullivan’s goal Nashville nearly connected on a third goal but Jacob Shaffelburg was offside when he unknowingly deflected a ball into the goal.
Trailing by just a goal in the final 20 minutes the Union were able to find some cracks in the Nashville defense and looked like they were poised to tie the game when substitute Michael Uhre was played into a one v one with the Nashville keeper but his shot was a weak one. Another chance came when Danley Jean Jacques had a penalty shout that not only didn’t get a video review but preceded the counter attack that produced Surridge’s third and prettiest goal of the night.
That the dagger came on an assist from Wyndmoor, Pa. native Daniel Lovitz was another interesting footnote in a historic win for a Nashville team that owes a little bit of its success to former Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin, who took teams to three Open Cup finals with Callaghan as his assistant coach.
The loss for the Union ends a quest for a domestic treble and raises questions about the team’s form heading into the final stretch of the regular season with the Supporters’ Shield in reach followed by the MLS Cup playoffs, which very likely could include a fourth meeting with Nashville. The Union return home with a chance to get their season back on track (and celebrate Phang’s birthday) Saturday afternoon against the New England Revolution but they’ll also need to beware the new coach bump following the dismissal of Caleb Porter.
