CHESTER, Pa. -- Sunday night at PPL Park owned the potential to be a watershed moment of success in Union team history, as they hosted their first-ever MLS Cup Playoff game against the Houston Dynamo.
After the ugly 2-1 loss in the first of two games decided by aggregate scoring, what the contest became was a clear display of warts on the second-year clubs approach.
Conceding a pair of goals in the first 30 minutes to Andre Hainault and Calen Carr was a matter of failed game plan execution. After a week of stating that change is the enemy of progress for young players in the postseason and that the group needs to keep everything simple against the Dynamo, coach Peter Nowak went against his own rule and altered the defensive formation to a five-man back fieldsomething the team hadnt used all season.
Its all about who is smarter, more organized, more disciplined, said Nowak on Wednesday, prior to the opener. If you decided to change things right now and try to get players to understand what youre trying to do now, its not going to work.
And it didnt.
The plan to absorb body blows defensively in order to land counter jabs with speedy Danny Mwanga and Sebastien Le Toux pushed high backfired, as confusion reigned over the defense. Trying to limit the sizable Dynamos awesome power on set pieces was also a failure, when, in the fifth minute, set-piece coverage broke down and Brad Davis found the head of Hainault in the box for the easy goal.
We were going through a feeling-out process with the new formation, center back Danny Califf said after the game. Thats the first time we played that way so it took a few minutes to get sorted. We lost concentration on the set piece and werent on the same page during the second goal as well.
What also added to the chaos was the insertion of declining reserve back Stefani Migioranzi, who hadnt seen a start since Sept. 9, when the Union gave up four first-half goals to the New England Revolution before Miglioranzi was replaced at halftime. On top of the confusion and muffled backfield, Miglioranzis misplays led to a yellow card in the 17th minute.
In the 62nd minute, Miglioranzi was replaced by Jack McInerney, who nearly tied the game late with a shot that deflected off the cross bar. He and Freddy Adu, who replaced Mwanga, and Roger Torres, who spelled Justin Mapp, made an instant difference in the speed and competitive of the Union. With his team trailing from the 30th minute on, what took Nowak so long to make the move? Adu, considered one of the top playmakers on the Union, played just 14 minutes but clearly added a spark.
The substitutions brought us life, said Nowak, who didnt shut down the idea to start a more offensive lineup, including some of his first leg subs, in Houston. But you have to be ready to challenge the other team no matter what.
Yet, what stings the most for the Union, now trailing by one goal heading into Thursdays contest at Robertson Stadium for the second leg of the series, is that the draw and possible win was sitting in front of them. With 10 shots on frame and a whopping seven second-half corners, the Union were simply unable to finish.
And in the playoffs, the inability to complete chances almost always comes back to haunt.
We had a lot of chances and I thought that if we had finished our chances, we could have won this game, said Sheanon Williams. Its not what happened and its just unfortunate that some of those goals didnt fall in. We had to finish our chances, thats what the playoffs are all about.
Aside from finishing in the clutch, the playoffs are also about relying on what got you there. And failing to do both on Sunday, the Union are now working to dig out of a hole they created.
E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com