(Photo courtesy of Concacaf)
The Cavan Sullivan Experience has arrived.
Though the First Round Concacaf Champions Cup matchup between the Philadelphia Union and Defense Force FC was over before it started, Union starlet Sullivan and Stas Korzeniowski, former Ivy League Player of the Year, made the most of their minutes in a 7-0 win at Subaru Park Thursday night. The 16-year-old Sullivan scored his first two goals as a Union player and set up Korzeniowski’s first senior goal as the Union dominated a beaten down Defense Force side already down 5-0 after the first leg.
Coming off a season-opening day loss to D.C. United over the weekend while prepping for a revenge game against New York City FC this Sunday, Union coach Bradley Carnell opted for a youthful lineup, handing lengthy playing time to important reserves as he builds a squad capable of competing in multiple fronts as the early season games ramp up. Captain Alejandro Bedoya, Geiner Martínez, Jeremy Rafanello, Olivio Mbaizo, and Giovanny Segura, just signed to the first team earlier in the day, all logged major minutes along with Ezekiel Alladoh, whose red card over the weekend could likely see him out of action for at least the next two games.
The win puts the Union on a collision course with Mexican giants Club América, who defeated the Union in the Concacaf semifinals in 2021. The Round of 16 home and way tie will begin on March 10th with the Union hosting the first leg.
Martínez, the newly-acquired central defender playing right back, got the Union rolling when he pounced on a deflected shot by Jovan Lukic after a Union corner. The Colombian buried his shot like a seasoned striker, leaving Defense FC keeper Isiah Williams no chance to react. Less than two minutes later, Rafanello was chopped down in the box, leading to an easy PK call for referee Julio Luna. Lukic stepped up to take the penalty, and though it wasn’t the cleanest strike, it was enough to cross the line.
Then Sullivan started to warm up.
In the blink of an eye, the Union were on the board again, this time from a beautiful team combination that started with Rafanello and cycled through Bedoya to Korzeniowski and a delicate layoff from Sullivan that Korzeniowski met in stride to side foot into the far corner.
Korzenioski makes it 3-0. 1st career goal for the senior squad. Beautiful layoff from Sullivan. #DOOP
— Backyard Pitches (@BackyardPitches) February 27, 2026
pic.twitter.com/QUFpuOXfpX
“You can see he’s very mobile,” Carnell said about Korzeniowski. “He shifts between the lines very well, and he picks up and works off Ezekiel really well. Some little quick creativity between the two of them, or even the tens wrapping underneath, and I really appreciate that.”
With the departures of Mikael Uhre and Chris Donovan, Korzeniowski slots into the Union’s third striker position, which should provide plenty of opportunities to prove himself at the MLS level. Scoring a brace certainly improves his standing in Carnell’s plans. “You work really hard, you get rewarded, and he did,” Carnell said.
“It’s always big to score goals,” Korzeniowski said after the game, “that’s a feeling I live and crave for, and my job at the end of the day. But I’m more happy about the win.”
Korzeniowski added his second on a cutback from Alladoh, finding the ball in stride again to tuck it home to extend the Union lead to four. The 2024 draft pick out of UPenn scored 12 goals for Union II last season, taking the club to the brink of an MLS Next Pro Championship. With Carnell mixing his strike partnerships each game, Korzeniowski has had plenty of time to work with Alladoh, the Union’s club-record signing.
“I’ve worked a lot with him during the preseason. I was even his roommate, which helped for the chemistry bit. It’s fun to play alongside him because he’s very tenacious and passionate, and I feel that way about myself.”
The Sullivan Main Event was just getting started.
Ben Bender, who came on for Olewethu Makhanya at halftime, benefited from another Union combination that led to Sullivan pulling more of his strings, leading Bender with a delicate chip that the Union midfielder could control to the inside an deposit into the back of the net for a 5-0 lead.
Then in the 76th minute, Sullivan’s moment arrived.
After Alladoh forced a turnover on a recovery challenge, the ball fell to Sullivan on the right side of the box. Sullivan dribbled inside, dipped a shoulder, and curled a shot into the far corner for his first-ever Union goal. Sullivan became the youngest American to score a goal in the Concacaf Champions Cup and the third-youngest all-time.the de
Cavan Sullivan delivers a brace and earns Player of the Match honors ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/62KL4t0vFM
— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) February 27, 2026
“I’m thankful for the opportunity,” Sullivan said after the game, “happy to score my first goal. It was pretty special.”
But Sullivan wasn’t done. With two minutes remaining, he started a break with an outside of the foot pass from right to left across the field toward Jesus Bueno, who fed an overlapping Sal Olivas. Sullivan met Olivas’s cross on the goalmouth for his second.
“I took my time, worked on the tempo,” Sullivan said about the build-up to the second goal, which he created from midfield. “It’s something I’m working on every day, just slowing the game down, when to drive and accelerate and when to find the safe space.”
“You can see Cavan tries in the final third to make every moment a moment that counts, which is great,” Carnell said. “Then I always challenge him to find the right balance of when to choose the right moment. It’s like a contractor with a toolbox. Which tool do I use when? So we’re just trying to make sure he has different tools in different moments to deal with different situations.”
Sullivan also made an impact in the first leg when he forced a penalty to set up the Union’s fifth goal, which Bruno Damiani converted to give the Union and even bigger cushion. Though he’s sure to see an increased load this season, Sullivan will likely remain a key role player off the bench, which is something the Union need as they juggle a heavy fixture of games and while his brother Quinn continues to recover from an torn ACL suffered last season.
“At this level, things get faster, things get harder. You can’t always dribble three guys. I understand that. We watch video all the time. We talk about it. We work on two v ones, three v twos, just going to keep learning and moving forward.”
Sullivan’s progress took a big step forward Thursday night, which should certainly open the door for more quality opportunities in the future as the Manchester City-bound youth national team player makes his push for a bigger impact on the Union’s 2026 season.
