The Philadelphia Union just keep finding ways to not lose and after a dramatic late Daniel Gazdag winner in Nashville they sit in second place in the Eastern Conference. The old adage about the future looking bright with an academy stocked with talent is also very much in play too with another strong showing and trophy-winning performance for the U-17s at the GA Cup in Florida.

In the email today:

1. 🎸 Union Look to Stay Unbeaten Against Banged Up Nashville

Left wide open on the back post, Daniel Gazdag fired home a corner kick from Jack McGlynn in the 90th minute to lead the Philadelphia Union to a thrilling second half comeback win over Nashville on Saturday night.

With the win, the Union are the last remaining unbeaten team in MLS and are on a three-game win streak after drawing their first three games. The 2-1 win over Nashville is their second road win of the season and their third comeback on the road.

The first half wasn’t pretty for the visitors to the Music City and Jacob Shaffelburg’s lovely cross to Sam Surridge in the 42nd minute had the Union down a goal at halftime.

But as they have shown through the early going head coach Jim Curtin and his staff tinkered with the lineup – bringing on Ale Bedoya and Olivier Mbaizo in the 59th minute – and worked their way back into the game with a classy finish from Julian Carranza in the 62nd minute. Quinn Sullivan earned the assist playing through contact and leaving the ball for Carranza, who fired in his fourth goal of the season and played a killer air guitar solo for his Nashville friends in yellow to celebrate.

Even at 1 with the game heading to stoppage time, a draw on the road would’ve been satisfactory but the fight that doesn’t seem to ever quit in a squad struck again. Proving the naysayers wrong in the past month, they went ahead and grabbed all three points to move into second place in the Eastern Conference.

Up next, the Union head to Mercedes Benz to take on Atlanta United next Sunday afternoon before returning home to face Real Salt Lake on April 27.

2. 🏆 Union U-17s Repeat as GA Cup Champs

Winning should never be the focus for a youth development team but it sure was fun watching the Philadelphia Union U-17s get to lift another trophy at the Generation adidas Cup in Florida yesterday.

SoCal native Diego Rocio continued his three-day tear opening the scoring for the U with his fifth goal in three days. But after LA Galaxy pulled an Austin FC and grabbed the lead after the break in a matter of minutes, Jamir Johnson and Cavan Sullivan linked up to even the score and send matters to penalties after a scoreless extra time period.

Unlike last year when many of the younger players on the team experienced heartbreak in the U-15 final, the Union came out victorious in the shootout to win the competition for the second straight time and third overall (shoutout to the 2012 champions!).

During the post-game celebrations the Union players got to celebrate former teammate and Allentown native Stefan Chirila, who won the Golden Boot playing for FC Cincinnati, and experience something that is rare in any level of the sport: winning back-to-back championships.

For all of the talk about the offensive stars of the team and a certain Man City-bound starlet, the Union showed again how critical the players whose names don’t get splashed all over prospect lists and social media posts are to winning in knockout competitions. It was a total team effort that had to make Jim Curtin and the entire organization proud.

3. 🎤 Tweet of the Day: Dave Leno Goal Calls

4. 💧 Water Cooler: MVP So Far Results

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Todd Lewis of The Free Kick somehow managed to not only go to Nashville for the weekend but to also still churn out a goal breakdown video. We’re not worthy.

• Unfortunately the bigger national and international story of the GA Cup this year was not the competition, but incidents of racial abuse and extra curricular nonsense.

• Region 1 Amateur Cup play kicked off yesterday and Vereinigung Erzgebirge was the lone local victor on the day. They beat Virginia Marauders at home 3-1. West Chester United fell 1-0 to Steel Pulse at home and Lancaster City FC was outmatched by Los Toros FC on the road.

• Another local club has rebranded with Reading Rage trading red for Surf Nation blue.

• Former Union player Fafa Picault is having himself a year. He’s now at 50 goals in 200 career MLS appearances.

• As a former Louisville resident I have to shout out Louisville City for their big day over the weekend hosting Indy Eleven in a game broadcast live on CBS. West Chester native Aiden McFadden made his Louisville debut off the bench in the match and Heather Mitts was part of the CBS broadcast team for the game.

April Member Giveaway! Toy Brick Chester Stadium. All monthly and annual Philadelphia Soccer Now members and annual subscribers to The River End will be entered into the drawing.

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