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Four out of six points and we are still on top of the Eastern Conference, let's get into the week that was for the Union.
The Good: Squad Goals
Brian Carroll, Chris Pontius, Vincent Nogueira and Fabian Herbers all scored this week. The Union scored four goals this week. Given that we don't know how long CJ Sapong will be out for (if he'll miss any first team action at all) this is encouraging. It was especially nice to see Fabian Herbers get off the blocks for the first team, given that he's struggled at both MLS and USL levels recently. The amount of clutch goals we have been getting, especially from unlikely sources (Richie and Brian, looking at you) has been one of the best surprises this year.
Elsewhere, our defense has been consistently tough to score on and we're finally getting help from the referees and Conor Casey. Definitely not a red card for the former Union big man, but last year that would have resulted in a red card for Rosenberry and all the 15,000+ in attendance.
The Bad: Coping with the Copa
Matt Jones was fine. We're really spoiled with Andre Blake. The Jamaican International wasn't available for the Columbus match because Copa gonna Copa. Did he inspire a ton of confidence in me? Not really, but he made saves when he needed to, including a big one right at the death of the game on a dangerous Crew SC corner.
We have reason to be thankful for this enforced break however, as it looks like Josh Yaro won't miss any games apart from the one on Wednesday. Whatever happened to CJ Sapong might not be a whole lot of news depending on how much time he's expected to miss given that as long as it's ~2 weeks it shouldn't keep him out for too long.
The Ugly: Pump the Breaks?
I want to be wrong. I really hope when July hits this sounds like non-sense. The Union's next match should be a stomping of Harrisburg on the 15th, then a second look at on again off again NYCFC. That isn't the best two matches to try and keep form after an enforced break. Do I think we are going to trip up and lose to HCI? Doubt it. I actually think we might see a few call-ups from Bethlehem for that match (more on that later this week) but NYCFC might find some quality and cause us troubles.
Have a nice two weeks off, but hey, stay here for all your Copa America Centenario coverage and various other Union musings.