Inside Cavan Sullivan’s biggest game yet for the Union, and not just because of his goals

If you wondered why this Union game, out of all of them, landed on a good TV channel, you weren’t alone.

The answer wasn’t just because FS1 had some time to spare at the hour when the Union’s second leg against Defence Force FC kicked off. Or just because Fox wanted to showcase the Concacaf Champions Cup, though that’s always welcome.

No, the appeal was in televising (there’s that word again) Cavan Sullivan. He’s on the list of MLS players whom people want to see, and on Thursday, they could see him on a channel that also shows the Phillies and Villanova.

The game was another blowout win, 7-0, to make a 12-0 aggregate score. But the audience, including a sparse crowd at Subaru Park, got what it came for.

Sullivan scored his first two goals for the Union’s first team, and delivered a pair of well-placed assists too. Even better, not only were his parents Brendan and Heike and brother Quinn in the stands, but so were his uncle Danny, cousin Jackson, grandmother Kathleen and grandfather Larry — the dean of Philadelphia soccer’s most famous family.

The goals will get the most attention, especially the first one. In the 76th minute, Sullivan teamed up with Ezekiel Alladoh to force a turnover off pressing, then ran into the open space with the ball and shot home. His second tally, in the 88th, was a close-range slide on the goal line to cap off a counterattack he led upfield.

» READ MORE: Historic night for Cavan Sullivan, who scores twice in the Union’s Champions Cup rout of Defence Force

But the assists bear highlighting, because those plays were part of why the goals could come later. The first assist was a back-heel in tight space to Stas Korzeniowski in the 12th minute, and his second was a floated pass to Ben Bender in the 53rd. They were good plays, but importantly, they were part of teamwide actions.

Last week, after Sullivan played very well in the first game of this series, Union manager Bradley Carnell said he had “seen a lot more maturity from Cavan over the last couple of weeks.” Thursday’s first hour or so was another example.

Sullivan mostly kept it simple with good passing and movement. He did the defensive work too, with a few tackles and the pressing that the Union demand from every player.

“I’m still very critical in certain moments,” Carnell said with a laugh, but he was definitely pleased. “You can see Cavan tries in the final third to make every moment a moment that counts, which is great, and we like that about Cav.”

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan looks ahead to what should be his biggest year yet with the Union

The second goal was also part of a teamwide move, and had Sullivan thinking about something he’d learned beyond the Union’s film room.

“It’s something I’m working on every day, just slowing the game down, learning when to drive and accelerate, and learning when to just find the safe space,” he said. “It’s something I work on with my dad a lot and with the coaches.”

Later in the play, the voice in his head became that of Lieutenant Larry, as generations of players from St. Joseph’s, Villanova, Father Judge, and Camden Catholic called him.

“Like my grandfather always says, ‘Get in the box,’” Cavan said, “and I was there to just tap it in.”

» READ MORE: Three generations of Northeast Philadelphia’s Sullivans have made soccer history in the U.S. Open Cup

Yes, sir, and Larry was there to see it. Cavan spoke about that too, with some emotion.

“I think it embodies what us Sullivans are about, in being there for each other,” he said. “Being there when we’re down, but also when we’re up. I’m thankful that they were all here to watch me play, and I dedicate this to them because without them I wouldn’t be here.”

Sullivan wasn’t the only big-time teen to play for the Union on Thursday. Striker Malik Jakupović made his first-team debut as a substitute in the 59th minute.

Though the 16-year-old is on a reserve team contract, Concacaf rules allow him to be on the Champions Cup roster. So, the Union added Jakupović and 20-year-old outside back Giovanny Sequera, with the latter starting at left back.

» READ MORE: Milan Iloski’s on-field role has changed. How much will it benefit him and the Union?

Jakupović has been in these pages a few times now, and continues to turn heads among scouts. His last game action before Thursday was with the U.S. under-17 national team earlier this month, where he scored eight goals in three games to lead the Americans through Concacaf’s World Cup qualifying tournament.

“We knew he was in a good way with us in preseason, and he goes and shows that with the national team,” Carnell said. “That’s what I said to him tonight: ‘I want to see a bit of what you showed with the national team for us as well.’ He came close once or twice , and he worked well to come back in the game and found a good relationship with Ezekiel [Alladoh].”

The next under-17 World Cup is in Qatar in November, and Jakupović could be on a first-team contract before then. He didn’t find the net in this game, but he showed his skill with a pretty cutback in the 69th for a shot that he put just over the bar.

“It’s good to be noticed really young, and now I’m just trying to fight every single day to get more and more, and try and to get better every single day. And at the end of the day be with the first team fully,” Jakupović said, “... It’s surreal — I mean, I’m a professional, but not professional, because I still have to do school and everything — but yeah, I’m really happy.”

» READ MORE: The injury bug has bitten the Union early in the season

Sullivan and Jakupović got the most attention Thursday, but Korzeniowski also deserves some. In his third game for the Union’s first team, he scored his first two top-flight goals.

Two years ago, he was playing college soccer for Penn on an artificial turf field tucked between Walnut Street and the Amtrak tracks. Now the 23-year-old is making it as a pro.

“For me to go from there to where I am now, it’s a position not many people get to be in, and I recognize that privilege,” he said. “But I’m so excited to be in those positions, and I’m really not afraid by it. If anything I’m very encouraged, because there’s really nothing to lose. It’s just more experience, more opportunity, and to grow from that is all I want to do.”

As for the sparse crowd? That won’t be the case for Sunday’s first MLS home game of the year, a rematch of last year’s playoff game against perennial rival New York City FC. Nor will it be the case when the Union play in the next round of the Champions Cup later in March, against Mexican juggernaut Club América.

» READ MORE: Ezekiel Alladoh’s red card overshadows Tai Baribo’s revenge goal against the Union in a loss to D.C. United

The first game of the series will be at Subaru Park on March 10, and the second will be in Mexico City on March 18.

As with the last time these teams met in the tournament, in 2021, the atmosphere should be vibrant and overwhelmingly pro-América. But that is for down the road. Thursday was about talented young players getting a shot, and they took it.