The Union reserve team opened up their season yesterday morning against the New England Revolution's reserve squad with a 4-2 victory. With the sun beating down on the Chester Field pitch and the wind gusting, the Union reserves played a strong 90 minutes. Due to the Union's bye week, some players who may not have normally played with the reserve team, like Josue Martinez and Roger Torres, got a chance to get some good minutes in during the match. Torres unfortunately picked up a knee injury after a vicious tackle from behind. Details of the extent of Roger's injury have yet to be released.
New England opened up the scoring with a penalty shot after Union backup keeper Chase Harrison picked up a yellow card. Though Harrison clearly made contact with the ball first after charging forward for it, the collision that ensued afterwards with Revolution forward Blake Brettschneider was enough for the the referee to award the penalty. This would not end up hurting the Union however as they would go on to score four goals in the match, more than enough to pick up the win. Josue Martinez scored first for the Union, knocking in a rebound off a shot from one of the shinning stars of the game, 21 year-old Antoine Hoppenot. Hoppenot, a player who's name has come up to possibly make an appearance this Saturday when the senior squad take on the Crew, would get his goal not much later after a perfectly placed through pass from home grown player Zach Pfeffer.
The Union reserves continued applying the pressure in the second half, notching two more goals. Union first round SuperDraft pick Chandler Hoffman, who came in for Roger Torres, almost made it a 3-1 game after taking a shot that required Revolution defender Darrius Barnes to clear the ball right on the goal line. Christian Hernandez, who scored the game winning goal against Everton last year, scored his first goal of the Reserve League season. Josue Martinez picked up his second of the match in the 65th minute after making an interception in the back, taking the ball all the way up field for the goal. New England would get a goal back in the 90th minute, with the referee blowing the final whistle shortly after the kick-off.
There has yet to be a date released for the next Union Reserve League match, but make sure to tune in this Saturday as the senior squad take on Columbus at 3:30 p.m. ET. Also stay tuned to Brotherly Game as more details on Roger Torres' injury become available.