New York City FC registered the lone goal of the match in the 27th minute with a tally from midfielder Maxi Moralez, bringing the 2025 Supporters Shield winners’ season to a sudden halt. Let’s wrap:
Freese Em’ Out
For many, New York City FC keeper Matt Freese is one of the league’s best between the sticks and on Sunday, the Union saw why. The former Philadelphia homegrown talent made five saves in the win for New York, with virtually all of them coming at keys times in the match. Most notably was Freese’s stop on Frankie Westfield, who had two golden opportunities to score in the game but just couldn’t find a way.
“We worked our way into the game,” Bradley Carnell said. “I thought, we could have, should have got something out of the Game. It’s just, unfortunate we didn’t. It just wasn’t our night.”
The Union fired 20 shots towards Freese in the game. Nine of them were off target, but the club did hold a total team expected goals number of 2.5 so perhaps the Union did deserve a better fate. However, on this night, all they could do is tip their hat to the USMNT’s starting keeper.
“We had so many moments in the second half,” Carnell said. “Credit to Matt Freese, currently the best goalkeeper for the U.S. I would say.”
Long Layoff No Excuse
Much has been made of the wonky playoff format deployed by the MLS and the long layoff between games. It’s definitely worth a discussion since sweeping the Chicago Fire in a best-of-3 in round one, sat around waiting to resume play for 22 days. As you could imagine, the Union weren’t keen on using that excuse as a crutch after being the number one seed in the conference.
“We were very prepared,” Milan IIoski said postgame. “I think we just didn’t play up to our standards. It’s not ideal to sweep a team in the first round and feel like you are being punished. At the end of the day, we have to take responsibility. It’s on the players to perform better.”
A loss like this should sit with the club throughout the winter. IIoski hopes that it does.
“Of course it’s going to sting for a little bit,” he said. “Next season, it’ll be a fresh season and it’ll be time to get back to work. I’ll let this sit for a couple days, a week, however long it takes. Then, we’ll go back to work, and try to improve in the short time I have.”
They Said It
Bradley Carnell on the 2025 season: “We zoom out and think, ‘wow’, all the memories that we’ve created here, all the history, we’ve created as well. I’m really proud of this group. I think we got up to 80% of the development really quickly and we got ourselves a shield. On another night night, maybe it goes our way, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Millain IIoski on the fan support throughout the season: “They’re fantastic. Since I arrived, it’s been unbelievable. You can feel the buzz throughout the whole city. it’s always lively and rowdy and they back us the whole way. We really appreciate that as a whole organization.”
Mikael Uhre on being a free agent this winter: “Yeah, obviously, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Let’s just say, I am keeping my options open. I’m not saying I would never come back. I love it here, the people here and my teammates. But you know, that’s not up to me.”
Did You Know?
According to the club, with the loss, the Union are now 1-3 all-time in the MLS Cup Playoffs against New York City FC.
