A decade in the making, Union waste their finest hour
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CHESTER » Back in March, when the Union was off to an
0-1-1 start, the whole idea was an extension of an 11year fantasy.
Contention?
No. Through the earliest part of the summer, amid a pandemic and a league shutdown, it was a forgotten concept, little more than out-of-sight, out-of-consciousness sports background noise. Contention?
Who?
But by July, when the Union gathered in Florida for the “MLS is Back Tournament,” there was a global appetite for any professional sports, and for that, there was a hum. Not much more. Just a hum. Then there was a quick 1-0 victory over NYCFC and a 2-1 suppression of Inter Miami before a
1-1 draw with Orlando City. With that, Union is Real tour was on. In their first eight matches after the Orlando extravaganza, the Union lost once. Eventually, some fans were permitted in Subaru Park, and to the extent that was possible, some excitement grew.
Then came Tuesday, a home league quarterfinal playoff game and an opportunity.
Contention?
Why not?
By then, something was different. How different? That would be up to the Union to prove. All the large majority of Philadelphia sports fans really knew was that they didn’t have too much energy to wonder, and so would need to be shown. And all the Union knew was that as long as they continued to play good soccer, the point where they could be known for something more than their primary support group making a lot of noise in a perfect sports venue on the Delaware County waterfront could be reached.
All that was certain was that in a most difficult season, there was something deeply appealing about the way Jim Curtin’s team approached the sport.
“We don’t,” Curtin would say, after a late-season shutout over Cincinnati, “concede.”
The beat grew more
steady, and while a major component of Curtin’s plan was always to minimize opponents’ chances, the Union played with a certain ferocity in the most meaningful minutes. With that, they would lose just one of the final eight regular-season games and claim the Supporters’ Shield as the best regular-season MLS side. That made it real.
That made it all real.
“In Philadelphia, there is a term, ‘ Trust the Process,’” captain Alejandro Bedoya would announce. “Nah, nah, nah. Trust our process. Put some respect behind our name.”’
That was his demand, and it was not out of order. It would, though, be subject to the eternal sports bargain: While respect can be won, it could be lost, too. For that, the Union understood the stakes, all of the stakes, when they would engage the visiting New England Revolution in a win-orperish event.
“It is a new position for us,” Curtin said earlier in the week. “Our job now is
to play with the same fearlessness, the same intensity and the same emotion that we played with as the underdog all year. Games are going to be in our stadium which we’re very comfortable playing in.”
The Union hadn’t lost at 1 Stadium Drive all season. And maybe that’s why they played as they did Tuesday, falling 2-0, finishing the season with one fewer postseason victory than last year and failing to earn a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Maybe there was some confidence inflated during the regular season, when the Union dominated the Revs, winning three games, earning a draw in another.
It could have been that the Union was stale, having been seeded into the conference quarters while New England was made to work past Montreal, 2-1, in a playin round. And while no one begrudged the players’ joy for winning that Supporters’ Shield, the first trophy in Union history, it did not go unnoticed that the post
game celebrating was a hair over the top for a regularseason achievement.
Perhaps it was all of that in play Tuesday. But there was something wrong with Curtin’s team almost from the start. Early on, Brenden Aaronson put Jamiro Monteiro in business in front, leaving New England keeper Matt Turner helpless. Monteiro, however, kicked the ball so high it almost appeared he was aiming for Sebastien Le Toux’s ring of honor sign, not the net.
From there, it worsened for the Union, which spent the bulk of the first half in retreat, as if unprepared for an opportunity they had been awaiting for through the organization’s decadeplus of existence. Andre Blake, the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, wasn’t to blame, but wasn’t sharp, either. Kai Wagner, too often inconsistent in front of the net late in the season, spent much of the night being twisted in the wrong direction. The Revs collected almost every 50-50 ball. Turner was good when he had to be good.
“We win as a team and we lose as a team,” Curtin said. “It’s not any one person. We weren’t our sharpest tonight. And I think everybody knows that when we are not all on our game, our margins are very small. We have to perform well for us to have a chance.”
Just before the Union entered the field Tuesday, a long-ago popular Phil Collins tune was blaring from the sound system: “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.” The Union waited years to enter a postseason as a No. 1 seed, then was not ready when the moment arrived.
Back in March, before a whole lot of things, few really expected a contending team anyway. Then, a special season unfolded. But as time ran out Tuesday, much of the crowd rose as one for a heckling chant at the refs.
All those months later, some things had changed. Just not everything.