Bradley Carnell never doubted his untested lineup in the Union’s first game of the year

Whatever doubts Union fans had about the team’s starting lineup in Trinidad on Wednesday, it wasn’t surprising that manager Bradley Carnell had none.

“We knew that at some point, with the type of intensity we could play at, it could be too much for them,” he said a day after his team’s 5-0 rout of Defence Force FC. “And that did prove to be the truth.”

The biggest decisions were putting Stas Korzeniowski at striker in his first game with the Union’s first team, and attacking midfielder Jeremy Rafanello at right back. Both worked out fine, helped by their teammates’ cavalcade of goals.

“We’ve been training a couple weeks with Stas alongside Bruno [Damiani], alongside Ezekiel [Alladoh],” Carnell said. “So, I mean, for us, that was a no-brainer. It didn’t even come into thought that there’s anything doubtful or risky going on there.”

He praised Rafanello for being “always ready for a game, and he can always run for days, and he always puts his best effort forward.”

But while Carnell praised “a lot of good things” in Rafanello’s game, he also admitted that playing Rafanello in that position was in part “by necessity.”

“We’ve been challenged over the last couple of days with a couple of ... day-to-day type of scenarios,” he continued.

» READ MORE: Union open 2026 season with 5-0 rout of Trinidad’s Defence Force in the Champions Cup

Those “scenarios” included minor injuries to midfielders Ben Bender and Jovan Lukić along with forward Agustín Anello. Carnell also confirmed that new centerback Geiner Martínez is temporarily on a visa status that makes it difficult for him to leave the United States and promptly return.

But right back Olivier Mbaizo’s absence was Carnell’s choice, one he said he made “just basically through preseason performance. Nothing much to question there.”

That choice left the manager with no outside backs on his bench. Both players with experience there started, Frankie Westfield on the left and Nathan Harriel at centerback. Westfield grabbed at a hamstring midway through the second half, but Carnell said he “should be good.”

» READ MORE: The Union won their season opener in a blowout, but Bradley Carnell won a gamble in it

As debut goals go, Alladoh’s was pretty impressive. He watched teammates circulate the ball to Westfield, then charged up the middle, split two centerbacks, and slammed in a leaping header from close range.

“New environment, new teammates, he has to figure things out, wasn’t able to get on the score sheet in preseason, but he worked really hard,” Carnell said. “And then in the big games and in the games that matter most, he showed up. So I’m really happy for that, and hopefully he takes that energy and confidence into the next couple of games.”

That was the second of three goals the Union put on the board before Carnell started a raft of substitutions. Cavan Sullivan was one of the entrants, and immediately started shredding Defence Force’s back line.

The 16-year-old made multiple surging runs forward, including three that drew payoffs: a great assist to fellow substitute Bruno Damiani in the 69^th minute, a penalty kick in the 78th, and a red card to former Seattle Sounders defender Joevin Jones in the 92nd.

» READ MORE: An analysis of the Union’s roster at the start of the season, with several new players in the mix

“I’ve seen a lot more maturity from Cavan over the last couple of weeks, and he’s worked his way into being a contributor,” Carnell said. “I speak about the environment, just think about the young kid coming in there and running rings around Defence Force. So I was really happy with his performance.”

Sullivan had some longer runs as a starter last year in the U.S. Open Cup, but quality-wise this might have been his best outing in a Union jersey so far.

“It was a very mature performance, I would say,” Carnell said. “He kept it simple when he needed to, he accelerated and got on the dribble when he had to, and then he draws crucial moments and puts the opponents under pressure. … I thought that was his best performance over the last 12 months.”

The Union’s next game is their MLS season opener on Saturday at D.C. United (7:30 p.m., Apple TV), headlined by an early reunion with former leading striker Tai Baribo.

Then it’s back to Chester for the finale of the Defence Force series next Thursday (7 p.m., FS1), followed by a rematch of last year’s playoff loss to New York City FC on March 1.