Union’s longawaited reward seems close at hand

The vigil has lasted for nearly 11 full seasons, kept by the Union’s legendarily rambunctious supporters and curiously casual fans, by their coaches and managers, by the marketing department and by the decade-plus parade of players.

Just once, that’s all they all have asked. Just one time, end a soccer match and be handed a prize. Just once, engage in an on-field, celebratory pile-up. Just once, allow a game-winning goal scorer in a championshiplevel event to shed his shirt and go knee-surfing toward the midfield line.

Win something.

Win anything.

Just once.

Jim Curtin knows how that works, and always has, a Philadelphia sports fan born and raised. So he is embracing the possibility that, within two weeks, his team could possess the 2020 Supporters’ Shield,

awarded to the MLS team with the best regular-season record.

Two games remain. One franchise-redefining achievement awaits.

“Look, I am not going to give you a B.S. line and say, ‘We’re not thinking about the Supporters’ Shield,’” Curtain said after a tense 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire at Subaru Park. “I’d be lying if I said that. It’s on everybody’s mind. Every minute of the 90, and then after the game, everybody is scoreboard watching.

“It’s a challenging year. But the Supporters’ Shield is on our mind. “

Though occasionally untidy, even while benefiting from a man advantage for the final hour, the Union played Wednesday as if aware of the growing stakes.

If one of the players caused an unfortunate bounce, he would be quick to recover and minimize the mistake. If the game was testy, the Union would not lose control. And even if Chicago were to dominate the agonizingly long eight minutes of stoppage time, the Union would professionally preserve a 2-1 lead, won with a beautiful, bouncing Cory Burke header in the 65th minute.

Technically, no pro-sports outfit plays a season, even one of the modestly abbreviated variety that the MLS is about to successfully finish, just to be fulfilled by anything that happens before the playoffs. It’s why, just for clarity, there are playoffs at all. Soccer, though, must be viewed through its own colorful prism.

The way Soccer Society rolls, it is perfectly reasonable for players to be called to service for their national teams at the most inconvenient of times, and shame on anyone who argues against the process. The Union is almost certain to be so ravaged and soon. But Curtin’s team can minimize that jolt by winning one of the two MLS Eastern Conference first-round byes. That would mean it would open postseason play closer to the end of November, providing sufficient time for the players to both return from their international commitments and meet the 10-day MLS quarantine rule.

It is for those complications, then, that the standard rule that nothing matters except the playoffs doesn’t necessarily apply this year to the Union or any other MLS side. Rather it is plausible, and threatening to be likely, that the Supporters’ Shield will be as good a tool as any to reveal the league’s best team. And if that team is the Union, it will be through anything but some weird-season quirk.

While there will always be more than one way to approach a season, Curtin long has preferred the win-today approach. Appropriately disinterested in load management or in pacing his club for a later challenge that may or may not arrive, he has conditioned the Union to run hard at all times and to approach every game as if it was for something meaningful.

In previous years, Curtin didn’t have the depth to make that work through an entire season. Last year, the Union won just one of their last five regular-season games. In 2018, it was one of the last four challenges. Then there was 2016, which looked promising before the Union went winless in their last seven.

But with the triumph Wednesday, the Union had lost just once in the last 13 games, and had outscored their last five opponents, 16-5.

“We weren’t ourselves to start,” Curtin said. “But then we made some decent plays and created some chances.”

With that, the Union created the most significant chance of all: To win something of value. It has come close a few times in Open Cup play. Last year, it won a playoff game for the first time, if that counts. But unless there are some cardboard-cutout awards in it, the franchise’s trophy case is filled only with dust.

The time has arrived for that to end, and with a fourth consecutive victory Wednesday, the Union had 47 standings points and control of the Shield race. There is a difficult challenge at third-place Columbus Sunday, then a week off before a visit from eighth-place New England.

But there is no room, not this time, for another lateseason fade.

“If my math is correct, because I did about 400 calculations, if we win in Columbus, it’s pretty much ours,” Curtin said. “So we’ve set ourselves up in a good way. We have to take care of business. We still have work to do. We have two really tough games to play against two really good teams. Columbus is a great team. And obviously, New England gives us a lot of problems as well.

“It’s not easy to just continue to get three points against teams that are that good and competitive. So we’ll have our hands full. There is still work to do. But we are getting closer, which is important.”

It’s vital, actually, and it is right there to grab. A celebration.

A trophy presentation. And an end to a vigil that has gone on far too long.