Fontana spices dream debut with goal in win over Revs
CHESTER » It was nearly 10 years ago, while Jim Curtin was a newly retired player carving a new path as a coach, that he first saw Auston Trusty and Anthony Fontana. They were two precocious kids, playing in Union Juniors, a precursor of the Union Academy that would grow into such a well-defined conveyer belt of talent for the club.
Not long after, Trusty was a middle-schooler in the Rose Tree Media district, buying tickets to Union games at PPL Park, rooting on his favorite player — another defender in Ray Gaddis.
A decade on, Curtin is a first-team coach, Gaddis is a teammate and Trusty and Fontana looked the part of promising prospects. If you were writing the script for the Union’s opener, you couldn’t have penned a better opening act Saturday. A Fontana goal, Trusty’s stellar defensive effort and a pair of New England red cards sent the Union flying toward a 2-0 win in the season opener for both teams.
Fontana coolly volleyed home in the 43rd, cashing in spells of one-way traffic for the man-advantaged Union. Fabian Herbers played Alejandro Bedoya in down the left wing, and CJ Sapong bodied off a defender to direct the ball toward Fontana. The 18-yearold Homegrown player did the rest, confidently firing home from the edge of the six-yard box.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play here at this club so doing it with someone else that is similar to me is amazing,” Fontana said, referencing Trusty. “And like I said, to be able to actually help the team today feels good.”
“It’s a special moment for the kid,” Curtin said. “Scoring your first goal is amazing, playing in your first professional match is amazing. … To see them now take this step in Talen Energy Stadium, under the bright lights, is something that’s special. it.”
Fontana, one of four players to make Union debuts and three taking MLS bows, is the first Union Homegrown to score in MLS since Zach Pfeffer on May 17, 2015.
“I’m so happy for him,” Bedoya said. “We roomed together the whole preseason and great for him to get his confidence. He’s a great player so I hope he really takes a big step this season. Not a bad way to start for his debut to score a goal. He definitely wanted the ball, and at times maybe he dropped a little bit too deep to get the ball, but that’s good for him. We want him to want the ball and have no fear and he definitely tries to take some risks.”
Trusty’s debut litmus test came in the 26th minute. The Media native used all 6-4 of his frame to gallop back on a Juan Agudelo counterattack and tackle the ball away from him in They deserved the area, a do-or-die challenge that Trusty measured perfectly.
“It’s just communication from me and Jacko (Elliott),” Trusty said. “Agudelo, he likes to peel off behind you without you seeing, but I should’ve checked over my shoulder and he was there and just a little slip ball. And after that, it’s a footrace. I guess I just won.”
Sapong weathered a misfiring first half to find the back of the net for the Union, who start 2018 continuing the fine home form of 2017 against a Revs side beset by travel delays and playing its first game under first-time head coach Brad Friedel.
Antonio Delamea saw red in the 24th minute after Sapong gained a step on him and the defender had no recourse but to twirl him to the ground. Referee Rubiel Vazquez swiftly dispersed the crowd around him and resolutely went to his back pocket to brandish a red. Claude Dielna made it a clean sweep of red-carded center backs when he hauled down Corey Burke in the 86th minute, his second yellow.
Burke made his debut memorable as well, assisting on Sapong’s goal in the 69th after getting space down the left flank. Burke and Jay Simpson entered in the 65th, Curtin not content with nursing the 1-0 lead and wanting more cushion. Burke, who Curtin called “a man possessed,” instantly repaid the confidence, his nearpost cross clipped in by Sapong while warding off a marker.
Delamea’s dismissal opened the floodgates for shots against debut goalkeeper Matt Turner, though not yet goals. Turner saw 17 shots in the first half and 21 for the game, making four saves.
Andre Blake was called into action in the 56th minute when Gabriel Somi dispossessed Herbers and head-manned a 2-on-1. Teal Bunbury cut in and shot against the grain, but Blake got his right hand down to deny Bunbury’s roller.
It fit the pattern of an authoritative opener for the Union that hit most of the offseason talking points — on aggressiveness at home, on getting youth involved and on an impact performance from new signee David Accam, who didn’t factor in the scoring but was the most dangerous player on the field. And it justified Curtin’s faith this week, in knowing his young players were ready for the spotlight and seeing them deliver.
“It means a lot to me as a person and also teamwise to just get wins,” Trusty said. “And the more wins, the more chemistry we have, it’s all the better. Starting the season off right is what we want to do, and end the season, we want to end it off right. It’s a nice building point.”