The Philadelphia Union made their annual trek to Reading to face off against Reading United AC earlier tonight. Reading alum John McCarthy got the clean sheet, and fellow alum Andrew Wenger got the lone goal as the Union defeated their USL PDL affiliate 1-0.
The Union started their regular eleven, save for giving John McCarthy the nod over on-loan goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre. The majority of the Union's starters were pulled in the 33rd minute, as CJ Sapong, Vincent Nogueira, Sebastien Le Toux, Maurice Edu, Fabinho, Cristian Maidana, and Brian Carroll made way for Eric Ayuk, Zach Pfeffer, Jimmy McLaughlin, Fred, Eric Bird, Raymond Lee and Ray Gaddis. The sides went into the half scoreless.
Steven Vitoria came on for Sheanon Williams after the half, and just four minutes later Andrew Wenger was able to pounce on the rebound of a Vitoria header off of a free kick and put it home, giving the Union the only goal of the match.
Antoine Hoppenot was a late sub, coming on in the 71st minute.
The Union's next match is next Tuesday, as they begin their quest for the U.S. Open Cup against the Rochester Rhinos. The last time those two clubs met was in 2012, with the Union winning 3-0.