⚽️ Union Face New England Again To Open Playoffs

_{LAST MATCH: Union 1 - New England Revolution 2}

_{NEXT MATCH: vs. New England Revolution, Saturday, October 28, 5 p.m. | Apple TV - MLS Season Pass}

Good morning. The 2023 MLS Season is finally over and while the Union ended it on a not so great note, that’s all behind us now. A new season starts Saturday with New England coming to town to open a best-of-three playoff series.

In the email today:

It may not be the best rivalry in MLS but it certainly feels like the most frequent one.

The Union have played the New England Revolution 13 times over the last four seasons. They own a 6-4-3 record in those games but of course one of those losses was a first round playoff loss the year they won the Supporters’ Shield in a 23-game regular season.

Should the best-of-3 series go to three games it will end up being 16 games in four seasons.

The two teams split the series this year with the Union winning 3-0 at home and New England winning 2-1 Saturday at home. The Union also won a preseason game over the Revs 2-0.

Our take: The Union have a chance to exorcise some of the demons of that 2020 playoff loss with a win at home on Saturday but will still need to get another result to advance.

2) 📈 2023 Union Statistical Leaders in MLS

⏱️ Minutes Played: Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes 2,790
⚽️ Goals: Julian Carranza and Daniel Gazdag 14
📐 Pass Completion: Jeremy Rafanello 100% (Jack McGlynn 85.8%)
✅ Assists: Daniel Gazdag 11
🚀 Shots/SOT: Julian Carranza 84/33
✨ Key Passes: Kai Wagner 63
🪨 Tackles: Kai Wagner 39
❌ Fouls Committed/Suffered: Julian Carranza 92/66
🏳️ Offsides: Julian Carranza 29
🟨 Yellow Cards: Jose Martinez 11
🟥 Red Cards: Jesus Bueno 2
🧤Saves: Andre Blake 73
🥾Passes Attempted/Completed: Jack Elliott 1,315/1,074
🎣 Accurate Long Balls: Jakob Glesnes 171
⁉️ Interceptions: Jack Elliott 46

3) ⬇️ Tweet of the Day: Union Dropped Points

4) 💧 Water Cooler [Poll Topic]

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

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Results from our last poll: Best Union Bargain, Jack McGlynn

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 🏆 US Open Cup qualifying continued over the weekend with Vereingung Erzgebirge advancing on penalties past United German Hungarians and Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals getting beat 6-0 by New Jersey Alliance.

• ⁉️ The first round of the USL Championship playoffs saw shield winners Pittsburgh Riverhounds knocked off at home by Detroit City and a few other surprising upsets.

• ⛪️ WHYY has a story on Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, a popular spot to park near Subaru Park.

The newsletter today was written by: Matt Ralph @MattRalph_

Thanks for reading!