Goals by Real, Aaronson display Homegrowns’ impact
Matthew Real had two choices in the 78th minute Sunday night. As he marauded into the New York Red Bulls box, slotted into empty space by an Ilsinho pass, he could’ve teed up a shot on his left foot. Or he could’ve squared the ball toward the penalty spot, where Anthony Fontana floated free.
Real chose the shot, rifling his effort off the inside of the far post and in, his first MLS goal and the capper in a 3-0 trouncing at Red Bull Arena.
“I lot of guys told me that if I didn’t score, they would’ve given me some (crap) because Anthony was wide open to square across the box,” Real said. “I didn’t care because I was just happy that we got the goal and keep pushing for the win.”
That those were the choices speaks volumes of the Union’s ongoing rebuild from within. Combined with Brenden Aaronson’s first-half stunner, Sunday marked the first time the Union (5-2-3, 18 points) had two Homegrown
players score in the same game.
It may seem a somewhat arbitrary milestone, but the Union’s growth has been an evolution, slow and steady, and Aaronson and Real marked a noteworthy milepost on the road.
Since its early days, the Union have professed a desire to build around talent from a region that is one of the nation’s steadiest producers of high-level players. That endeavor got off to a rocky start. It took half of the club’s existence to lay the groundwork that is YSC Academy, which is now churning out talent at a reliable rate. From the faltering nascent days, the project reached a nadir in 2016 when the Union dispensed not one MLS minute to Homegrowns, before a revitalization under Earnie Stewart and a renewed organizational commitment by Ernst Tanner.
In season 11, the Union have signed 12 Homegrowns
(15 with pre-contracts for
2021). That group has accounted for 14 goals, led by Aaronson’s six. Real’s goal joins Zach Pfeffer (three goals), Fontana (two) and Auston Trusty (two) among the scorers. (Fontana and Derrick Jones scored in the U.S. Open Cup).
Goal production isn’t the truest measure; of the 12, three have been defenders, two holding mids and one goalie, plus whatever Cristhian Hernandez was. None has been an out-and-out forward.
Instead, consider time: Union Homegrowns logged 1,973 minutes from 2011-17. In 2018, they earned 5,408 minutes, then 4,905 last year. Sunday was one of nine games in club history where four Homegrowns (Real, Aaronson, Fontana and Mark McKenzie) played in the same game.
Sunday’s effort was comprehensive from the Homegrowns. McKenzie was outstanding again, helping the Union keep a fifth clean sheet in 13 games. That was achieved without surrendering a shot on target, albeit against a Red Bulls team with two goals in its last seven outings.
“For me, this was his best game,” manager Jim Curtin said. “When you really look at it and break it down at the center back position, Mark was absolutely a beast tonight.”
Fontana and Real teamed up on the third goal. Fontana had a chance to get his first two minutes later, firing a volley just over the bar. With Real, Curtin lavished praised on the Drexel Hill native’s mindset. The left back was disappointed not to get the start in either of the last two games with Kai Wagner out.
“For Matthew to go through the disappointment of not being picked as a starter the last two games, there’s two ways you can do it: You can sulk and you can cry and you can pout; or you can roll up your sleeves and when you’re called, step up and do your job,” Curtin said. “Matthew did that in the last game. Matthew did that tonight, and he scored a great goal.”
“When I’m angry, I play best,” Real said. “Obviously I was angry and I wanted to come on. I knew it was 2-0, but I said to myself, I’m going to score or I’m going to get an assist, I’m going to do something to open someone’s eyes.”
With all Homegrowns, Curtin has stressed improvement. For Real Sunday, that meant going from too passive and reactive to being more proactive and “defending forward.” Aaronson’s room for improvement has gotten more airtime as his name has circulated in the European rumor mill. His three goals in 13 games equals his output from 28 matches in 2019. After a midweek loss in Columbus where Curtin assessed him as too deferential outside the box, he called his own number decisively to open the scoring.
“I think just seeing it in film, last week against Columbus I had the same chance where maybe I could’ve shot that one a little bit earlier,” Aaronson said. “For me, it’s on the first touch and that sets up everything. I think in my head, when I saw that getting squared across, there was only one thing in my head, and that was to shoot it. And that’s what I want to keep doing and keep working on, because I think a great 10 has that goal-scoring capability, so I want to keep adding that to my game and keep shooting whenever I can.”
It’s of a piece with their work ethic. The Homegrown contingent has long carved a reputation for extra reps after practices, often the last group to leave the field. That time has been used cultivating higher-level skills, like distribution for defenders or finishing for midfielders.
It plays directly into the long-term plans. McKenzie and Aaronson aren’t long for MLS, with European teams circling. The first player sale is the next step on the path; then comes the moving the conveyor belt forward to have younger Homegrowns step up, from Jack de Vries to the 2021 arrivals.