CHESTER, Pa. — The 2018 Philadelphia Union is much different than any other team that’s donned blue and gold in the franchise’s nine-year history.
Unlike two years ago when they backed into the postseason through a brutal second-half stretch, the Union barnstormed into the MLS Cup playoffs this season with a 5-1 win over Minnesota United during the weekend.
“It’s great. The last two, three months have been really good for us,” Union goalkeeper Andre Blake said. “In 2016, the first two, three months were very good, and come August,we hit a roadblock. This year, we have the momentum, we hit strides later on in the season. It’s good that we were able to clinch with games in hand. We’re looking to see how high up the table we can get and try to host a home game and keep momentum going into the postseason.”
In many ways, the performance Saturday night at Talen Energy Stadium represented the step up in success the club’s achieved throughout the 2018 campaign.
“This feels a lot better (than 2016),” Union captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “We’re playing well. We’ve been playing well the past couple months. I hope we can keep it going. Now being clinched, I hope we don’t take our foot off the gas and we keep playing the way we have the last couple months. I’m hopeful we get a home game. At home we’ve been pretty good lately. If we play like tonight with everyone moving off the ball really well and playing quick, we’re a dangerous team.”
Most important among all of those factors is the Union’s ability to respond to big defeats.
In the past, the Union wouldn’t have had the mental fortitude to recover from a disappointing performance like the one they had in the U.S. Open Cup final.
Union 2.0 played to a hard-fought draw with the Columbus Crew three days after that deflating loss in Houston, and then completely put the Open Cup demons in the grave with an emphatic offensive showing Saturday that featured four first-half goals.
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In the process, Borek Dockal, the No. 10 the Union longed for, broke the single-season club record for assists. He provided two helpers to move his season total to 17, past Cristian Maidana’s previous mark of 15 from 2015.
Dockal’s achievement adds to the single-season wins and points record broken by the team, and Andre Blake’s record single-season winning percentage, wins and saves. The Union goalkeeper is close to the shutouts and save percentage records as well.
The differences continue to pop up off the field — barely any alcoholic beverages were touched in the club’s locker room following the clinching of a playoff berth Saturday night.
Instead of basking in the celebration of securing a postseason spot before the October international break, the Union treated Saturday as just another win.
That’s because the “hungry, but humble” message preached from the top down, starting with manager Jim Curtin, resonates throughout the locker room.
With two games remaining, the Union sit three points back of third-place New York City FC and possess a one-point lead over the Columbus Crew for fourth place.
A home playoff game is the bare minimum goal for the Union, who face the New York Red Bulls and NYCFC on the final two Sundays of October.
“I’ve been preaching home-field advantage all year,” Bedoya said. “We had to take care of business here, and that’s what we were able to do. We were fortunate to see the result earlier, with Montreal beating Columbus, so that gave us more motivation to climb up the standings and clinch that playoff spot tonight.”
Two victories to end the regular season would mean the Union clinch the No. 3 seed, an unfathomable goal after earning five points from the first six games.
The Union still have a ways to go to shred the stigma of disappointment that surrounds the club, but the aura around the team is unquestionably different.
That’s why there’s plenty of belief the Union can play with anyone in the postseason and make 2018 the most memorable season in club history.
“I’ve been here for awhile, I’ve seen it all,” Blake said. “I’ve seen this team grow a lot. We’ve learned to close games out, we’ve learned to dominate when we need to. We built character from earlier in the season when we had tough times. Tough times can make you or break you and it’s been making us.”