Happy traffic Friday! The cultural start of summer is upon us and the Philadelphia Union are in Charlotte looking to erase some demons and unlock a defense playing with the kind of confidence four straight clean sheets will give you (no idea if they get pizza and beer for shutout streaks like the Boys in Blue do). Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

1. 🧤New Deal for Dre

Philadelphia Union star goalkeeper Andre Blake has a new contract that will keep him with the club through the World Cup year of 2026 with a club option for 2027, the team announced on Thursday.

The announcement of his new deal puts to rest concerns the Jamaica international might be moving on after a cryptic social media post suggested he might be unhappy at the only professional club he’s ever played for. It also increases the chances of Blake representing Jamaica at the 2026 World Cup while still wearing a Union uniform.

“The best goalkeeper in all of MLS will continue to play here in Philadelphia where he’s won us a ton of games through the years,” Jim Curtin said at his Thursday press conference. “He’s an exemplary player who I think represents the badge as well as anybody has in the history of our club. The goalkeeper position for whatever reason continues to be very, very undervalued not only in MLS but in the world. I say it all the time to you guys it’s worth 12-15 points a year. We never talk about goalkeepers in the way that we do great attackers.”

Blake, unfortunately, isn’t likely to play in Charlotte as he’s still nursing a knee injury.

2. ♕ Charlotte Defense Full of Confidence

Jim Curtin is known for rewarding his team with pizza and beer when they pitch three straight shutouts, but they haven’t even recorded three clean sheets in league play total going into Saturday’s game against a Charlotte team that’s looking like the 2022 Union lately.

The 2022 Union outside of their 4-0 thrashing in Charlotte, of course, which ultimately cost them home field advantage in the MLS Cup final they lost on penalties in LA. Yeah, there’s lots of history there.

But even though clean sheets have been hard to come by this season for the Boys in Blue, they are coming off a clean sheet against the Revs and are still unbeaten not only in NFL stadiums this season but in all 7 of their road games.

It’s hard to say what’s more bizarre: the fact the Union have only 2 clean sheets through 13 games or the fact that they have three times as many road wins as home wins this season.

“It's not a group that has the big household names along that backline but they are really really good at what they do,” Curtin said Thursday. “They're hard to play through. They're getting clean sheets, which is hard to do in our league. And it speaks to the coaching regardless of who they've had on the field.”

Saturday’s game is slated for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass.

3. 💪 Tweet of the Day: Super Hero

4. 💧 Water Cooler: Gazdag & Carranza Nickname Results

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• West Chester United and Philadelphia Lone Star played to an entertaining 2-2 draw on Tuesday night in USL League Two play at YSC Sports with a number of Union Academy/YSC Academy grads suiting up on each side.

• FC Cincinnati announced a homegrown contract with Allentown native Stefan Chirila earlier this week. He’ll join the first team roster in 2025. Chirila joined FC Cincinnati’s academy in the fall and has been tearing things up in both MLS Next and has four goals in MLS Next Pro since making his debut.

• All 8 South Jersey teams competing in New Jersey Youth Soccer State Cup finals won last weekend.

• If you are interested in local lower level soccer and fan culture there’s a newsletter launching soon called For the Love. Subscribe at forthelove.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

Philadelphia Raccunion T-shirt available now at Teepublic.

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