Tight battle sees Philadelphia Union II win marathon PK shootout
Visitors claimed the bonus point with a 9-8 shootout win
This was predicted as a tight game and so it turned out to be. The league’s top placed side versus its only remaining unbeaten one. The oldest side in the league versus the youngest. By the end of 90 minutes, nothing could separate them.
The match kicked off an hour late due to torrential rain and thunderstorms that had battered the Scenic City for the previous 24 hours. With cloud-to-ground lightning in the area, crowds were initially kept inside the stadium concourse for their safety before the skies finally cleared.
The game eventually kicked off amid moody, grey skies but dry conditions. Chattanooga Head Coach Chris Nugent surprised many by opting for a new 3-4-3 formation, starting all three of his center forwards, Markus Naglestad, Keegan Ancelin, and Peter Plougmand together up-front. After last weekend’s loss at Columbus Crew, this was a statement selection as Nugent sought to apply more pressure on opposing defenses.
The visitors laid out a predicted 4-4-2 formation with much the same personnel that Head Coach Ryan Richter had seen defeat Atlanta United 2 and NYCFC II. Playing on the same day as the Philadelphia Union first team, the squad was still full of first team prospects. One notable absence was that of exciting 15-year-old Cavan Sullivan, who scored against CFC last year. He was on the bench this evening with the first team away at CF Montreal.
The first half was fairly lackluster as both sides poked and prodded one another’s width and shape, each rifling off a small number of chances. Tate Robertson for Chattanooga and his opposite number Isaiah LeFlore were engaged in an entertaining contest on the wing, while Plougmand and Ancelin caused some trouble for the Union 2 defense. At the other end, Christopher Olney Jr forced two saves from Eldin Jakupović. CFC finished the stronger in the half as Plougmand and Daniel Mangarov forced saves from Andrew Rick and Nick Mendonca went close.
The second half initially saw Philadelphia creating the better chances and forcing saves from Jakupović. His opposite number, Rick, denied Mangarov again with a point blank save on 80 minutes, a fifth save of the night for the 19-year-old. He’d only been beaten once, by a Plougmand strike which was chalked off due to the Dane starting his run from an offside position. Ancelin too was caught out by the linesman’s flag when he was one-on-one with Rick.
An immensely tight contest saw Chattanooga end the game with 49% possession to Union’s 51%. Both sides had 14 shots, with CFC hitting more on target and having the lion’s share of big chances, they also hit the woodwork once. To the visitor’s credit, their high press made CFC look uncomfortable playing the ball from the back and often limit themselves to longer balls.
Tate Robertson had an excellent game for Chattanooga. The right-back created six chances for his side, feeding 11 passes into the final third of the field. He also won 100% of his tackles and was the winner in six of his seven ground duels. Had CFC managed to score, Robertson would surely have been the creator.
But the night belonged to Philadelphia’s goalkeeper Andrew Rick. The 19-year-old made five saves and nine recoveries in the 90 minutes and kept his side in the game before saving three penalties in the shootout, even netting his own. After the game his performance was noted by both Chris Nugent and Eldin Jakupović, a testament to how well he played.
The final contest for the bonus point would be between Robertson and Rick, the two best players on the field. It was Robertson’s second penalty in the shootout and 24th of the session. While he managed to score his first, his second was stopped by Rick, sending the visitors home the happier.
Box Score
Chattanooga FC - Philadelphia Union II
MLS Next Pro
Venue: Finley Stadium | Chattanooga, TN
Final Score: Chattanooga 0-0 Philadelphia (Philadelphia won the penalty shootout 9-8)
Referee: Kaitlyn Trowbridge
Shootout summary:
✓: N. Pariano (PHI)
✓: T. Robertson (CFC)
✓: S. Korzeniowski (PHI)
X: M. Kwak (CFC)
X: I. LeFlore (PHI)
X: N. Mendonca (CFC)
X: R. Uzcátegui (PHI)
✓: P. Plougmand (CFC)
✓: L. Soria (PHI)
✓: C. Watson (CFC)
✓: G. Sequera (PHI)
✓: D. Mangarov (CFC)
✓: H. Bernstein (PHI)
✓: L. Brown (CFC)
✓: E. Davis III (PHI)
✓: F. Sar-Sar (CFC)
X: G. Wetzel (PHI)
X: K. Ancelin (CFC)
✓: Ó. Benítez (PHI)
✓: N. Koehler (CFC)
✓: A. Rick (PHI)
✓: E. Jakupović (CFC)
✓: N. Pariano (PHI)
X: T. Robertson (CFC)
Discipline:
3': T. Robertson (CFC) - dissent, yellow card
Man of the Match: Andrew Rick (PHI)
Line-ups:
Chattanooga FC (3-4-3): Eldin Jakupović; Ethan Dudley (83’ Logan Brown), Nathan Koehler, Farid Sar-Sar (C); Tate Robertson, Callum Watson, Nick Mendonca, Keegan Ancelin, Daniel Mangarov; Markus Naglestad (45’ Minjae Kwak), Peter Plougmand
Subs not used: Michael Barrueta, JP Philpot, Robert Screen, Mike Bleeker, Darwin Ortiz, Colin Thomas, Steeve Louis Jean
Head Coach: Chris Nugent
Philadelphia Union II (4-4-2): Andrew Rick; Isaiah LeFlore, Rafael Uzcátegui, Neil Pierre (85’ Óscar Benítez), Gavin Wetzel; CJ Olney (45’ Henry Bernstein), David Vazquez (85’ Giovanny Sequera), Nick Pariano (C), Kellan LeBlanc (75’ Leandro Soria); Eddy Davis III, Sal Olivas (68’ Stas Korzeniowski)
Subs not used: Mike Sheridan, Ramzi Qawasmy
Head Coach: Ryan Richter
Next Games
• May 9th, 19:00 (ET): Toronto FC II v Chattanooga FC, York Lions Stadium, Toronto, ON (MLS Next Pro)
• May 11th, 15:00 (ET): Philadelphia Union II v Columbus Crew 2, Subaru Park, Chester, PA (MLS Next Pro)