10 Reasons why the Philadelphia Union won the 2025 Supporters’ Shield
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Union
“For the second time in club history, the Union win the Supporters’ Shield. Polish up the hardware; the trophy is coming back to Chester.”
Those were the emphatic words from Dave Leno, the Union’s radio play-by-play voice, after the final whistle of the Union’s Supporters’ Shield-winning match against NYCFC.
Many will place an asterisk beside the club’s first Supporters’ Shield, given that it was won in the shortened 2020 Covid season, with games played in almost empty stadiums. The Union lifted its first major trophy in front of less than 3,000 people at Subaru Park. The trophy also happened to be a Captain America shield made to look like the authentic trophy.
This year was much different. The Union celebrated the Supporters’ Shield win in front of a capacity crowd at Subaru Park. The postgame festivities were nothing like Subaru Park had ever seen before. Winning the Eastern Conference Final would be a close second to what was witnessed in Chester on Oct. 4.
From when the season kicked off in Orlando in February to when captain Alejandro Bedoya and Andre Blake lifted the real Supporters’ Shield in October, a lot of magical moments were created. Whether it was games, goals, roster moves, or players stepping up, the 2025 Union regular season had it all.
Here are 10 of the biggest moments from the Union’s Supporters’ Shield-winning campaign.
Baribo’s on fire, your defense is terrified
Coming into the 2025 season, all eyes were on club-record signing Bruno Damiani. With a $3.4 million price tag, the young striker was expected to bag goals early and often. While Damiani found his scoring touch later on in the season, it would be his strike partner, Tai Baribo, who would be in the spotlight early on.
Gone were the days when Baribo was banished to the bench for most of former boss Jim Curtin’s final two seasons in charge. When Curtin gave him a chance midway through last season, Baribo did not disappoint. He scored 16 goals in 26 games across all competitions and won the Leagues Cup Golden Boot with seven goals. The 27-year-old picked up right where he left off to begin 2025. Baribo scored six goals in the Union’s opening three matches, including a brace against Orlando City and a hat trick against FC Cincinnati. Baribo’s early-season scoring streak won multiple games for the Union and put Baribo in the historic books more than once.
Baribo became the fourth player in MLS history to score five goals in the first two games of a season, joining Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández (2021), Ayo Akinola (2020), and Brian Ching (2006). With a goal in the Union’s third game of the season, Baribo tied Ante Razov (Six in 1999) for the most goals scored through the first three games of a season in league history. After scoring a brace in a 3-3 home draw against Inter Miami, Baribo (13 goals) became the fourth player in MLS history to score at least 13 goals in his team’s first 15 games of a season, joining Carlos Vela (15 in 2019), Chicho Arango (13 in 2024), and Josef Martínez (13 in 2018). He also became the fastest player in Union history to reach 10 goals, surpassing the previous record of 14 games by Jack McInerney in 2013. Baribo was named MLS Player of the Month for February/March and won the MLS All-Star Game MVP.
Sweeping Cincinnati
A favorite by many to collect silverware this season, FC Cincinnati came into 2025 with one of the league’s best rosters. The Union hadn’t beaten former assistant coach Pat Noonan’s side in MLS play since the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Union would welcome FC Cincinnati for the home opener on the first of March. Expectations weren’t very high, but after a shock 4-2 win in Orlando on the opening weekend, the boys in blue were confident heading back to Subaru Park.
The Union attack left off right where it started on the opening weekend. Two first-half goals from Baribo put the Union up 2-0 at halftime. Baribo made it a hat trick less than 10 minutes into the second half, with Damiani putting the finishing touches on a 4-1 win by scoring his first Union goal in second-half stoppage time. The Union dominated the match, finishing with a 3.20 expected goals and limiting the visitors to just two shots on target. However, this early-season win wouldn’t be the biggest three points the Union would steal off FC Cincinnati in 2025.
Heading to Cincinnati with five games to go, the Aug. 30 matchup between the two all but decided who would lift the Supporters’ Shield come season’s end. The Union had a two-point advantage over FC Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference standings. After a scoreless first half that should have seen the Union go ahead, it wouldn’t be long before they got the opening goal. Damiani’s acrobatic header at the near post off a chipped cross from Iloski put the Union ahead in the 49th minute. Holding on to a slim lead, Olwethu Makhanya was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. The Union would dig deep, defending a 1-0 lead down a man for the final 30 minutes of the match. Composed saves from Andrew Rick in goal and strong defending from Jakob Glesnes and Nathan Harriel saw the Union survive for a massive three points. The win also helped the club clinch a spot in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs and go five points clear of the hosts.
11 Games Unbeaten
The Union produced a club-record 11-game unbeaten run in MLS play from April 10 to June 25. Counting a draw and a win in the U.S. Open Cup, the unbeaten streak lasted 13 games across all competitions. The club-record run was paramount to the club lifting the Supporters’ Shield against NYCFC during the final home game of the season.
The Union’s unbeaten run started following a loss to the same team they beat to clinch the Shield. After a lackadaisical 1-0 loss to NYCFC, manager Bradley Carnell’s side stringed together three consecutive league wins starting on April 19. The Union beat Atlanta United and DC United at home with back-to-back 3-0 wins, followed by a 2-1 win in Montreal. After a 2-2 draw at home to Columbus, the Union would collect three points in a comeback home victory over the Galaxy and a slim 1-0 win in Atlanta. May ended with a 2-1 win at Toronto, sandwiched between a home draw with Miami and a road draw with FC Dallas. Following an international break in early June, the boys in blue continued their momentum with a 2-1 home win over Charlotte and a 1-0 road win against Chicago. The streak came to an end in Columbus on June 29 when the Union used a heavily rotated squad in a 1-0 loss.
The Union won eight games and drew three, collecting 27 points throughout the 11-game unbeaten run. The Union outscored its opponents 22-10 across those 11 games, posting five clean sheets. Carnell’s side split their success evenly at home and away, winning four games at Subaru Park and four on the road. It wasn’t an easy process for the Union to set this club record. With the Gold Cup and other international fixtures being played throughout June, the Union was shorthanded for a portion of its games. Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya had to play out of position at right back in a 1-0 win in Chicago. Young players like Andrew Rick, Markus Anderson, Jeremy Rafanello, Ben Bender, Chris Donovan, and Cavan Sullivan had to play crucial minutes to keep the streak afloat.
The Youth Movement
Three young players on this Union team played major roles in winning the Supporters’ Shield: Andrew Rick, Olwethu Makhanya, and Frankie Westfield. The Union boasts one of the best youth academies in all of soccer, with players contributing to the first team and moving abroad. There was a notable youth movement within the squad this season, with nine players on the roster being 21 years old or younger.
Union fans got a taste of Rick last season when he played in six MLS games, often replacing an injured Andre Blake. This year, Rick’s role was elevated. With multiple international breaks and a slew of injuries to Blake, Rick found himself in goal 14 times in MLS play. With one game left, Rick has made 23 saves in 13 starts, collecting six clean sheets. Rick had to replace Blake mid-game in a 1-0 loss against the New York Red Bulls. The Union lost just two of Rick’s starts this season. The 19-year-old was in goal for road shutouts against Atlanta, Chicago, and Cincinnati.
After an early, season-ending injury to new center back Ian Glavinovich, Makhanya was inserted into the starting lineup 22 times and did not disappoint. The 21-year-old spent his first two seasons at the club playing for Union II in 2023 and 2024. Makhanya played 2,055 minutes in 28 MLS appearances. His calmness on the ball, impressive passing, and man-on-man defending all stood out. The partnership between the young Makhanya and the veteran Jakob Glesnes has led a defense that has conceded 33 times this season, the lowest of any team in MLS in 2025. The South African also scored two big goals for the Union. He netted the game-winning goal in the second half of a 2-1 home win against Montreal, and scored a late winner to send the Union to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals. Makhanya was recently ranked 13th in the MLS 22 Under 22 player list.
Another young defender who proved his worth was Frankie Westfield. The U.S. Youth International was a massive piece to Union II’s run to the MLS Next Pro Final last season. He got his chance with the first team right away, starting the first game of the season in Orlando, picking up an assist in the win. The 19-year-old right back made 18 starts and played 24 games. While solid as a defender, Westfield made a strong impression in attack, registering three assists and creating 20 chances. His lone goal was a thunderous hit into the top corner in a 2-2 draw against Columbus. Like Makhanya, Westfield was also named to the league’s 22 Under 22 list, being ranked 18th.
“It’s 3-2 Union”
The first of many late second-half comebacks happened on a dreary Wednesday in mid-May when the defending MLS Cup champions, LA Galaxy, made the cross-country trip to Chester. Coming off the back of conceding a late equalizer at home to Columbus just days before, the Union looked to bounce back against a struggling Galaxy side. The reigning champs came into the match having failed to win any of their first 12 MLS games of the 2025 season.
However, the Galaxy didn’t look like a team without a win three months into the campaign. The visitors scored two goals in six minutes in the first half to take a shock lead in front of a frustrated crowd at Subaru Park. The goals from Mauricio Cuevas and Diego Fagundez were the Galaxy’s only two shots on target all night.
Something changed at halftime. The Union came out the much better side, quickly equalizing with two goals in two minutes. In the 48th minute, a Jakob Glesnes header ricocheted off Nathan Harriel and in. Moments later, Tai Baribo would level the match at two with a near-post header off a cross from DanleyJean Jacques. Despite all the pressure the Union put on in the second half, finding a winning goal seemed impossible. Eventually, they found a winner thanks to its early-season hero. In the sixth minute of eight additional minutes in stoppage time, Baribo would leap the highest to nod home a Mikael Uhre chipped cross in the center of the goal. The Union made it difficult in a game they probably should have won handily, but they got all three points in the end.
Two late goals in Toronto
With so many late winning goals scored at Subaru Park this season, the Union’s comeback win in Toronto can be lost in the shuffle. Perhaps it’s because it was a Wednesday night game in late May or because it was on the road, but neither of those factors mattered after Nathan Harriel and Kai Wagner produced magic for the Union.
Down 1-0 in the 87th minute to a Toronto FC side that had just three wins in its first 15 games, the Union would pull off one of its most impressive comebacks of the season. A towering header from Harriel, who started at center back, off a driven Wagner corner kick leveled the match at one. Five minutes later, Wagner would find the back of the net himself, with his long-range effort deflecting off a defender and past a flat-footed Sean Johnson.
After blowing a two-goal lead late in their match against Inter Miami just days before, Bradley Carnell’s side rallied to put those demons behind them and create some late magic of their own. The win helped extend the Union’s unbeaten streak to eight at the time.
Markus’ Magic
It is doubtful that anyone had Markus Anderson scoring a winner with the last kick of a game on their Union bingo card to start the season. It was one of many magical moments that made up a storybook season for the Union.
It’s been an interesting tenure at the Union for Anderson. The American winger joined in 2024 after spending the early parts of his career in the lower divisions of Spanish football. The 21-year-old spent the majority of his first season at the club playing for Union II, where he scored seven goals in 16 games. He made eight appearances for the first team, four in MLS and four in Leagues Cup. Anderson started 2025 with Union II and didn’t get a chance with the first team until the summer. In his first MLS action of the season, Anderson would write his name into the Union history books.
With a rotated squad due to players on international duty, Anderson was named to the bench for the June 14 home match against Charlotte FC. Anderson would be subbed on in the 57th minute, replacing midfielder Jesus Bueno, who scored the game’s only goal to that point. A 78th-minute goal from Wilfred Zaha leveled the match at one. Anderson was quiet until the final moments of the game. A headed cross from Frankie Westfield found Anderson on the penalty spot, whose one-time finish off the bounce trickled past the outstretched arms of the keeper and in. The roof immediately blew off Subaru Park thanks to another late Union winner. In a stretch where the Union needed its depth to come through, Anderson answered the call, providing one of the most memorable moments of the season.
Uhre’s Heroics
In an up-and-down year for the DP striker, Mikael Uhre sure had his fair share of big moments. With one match left in the 2025 MLS season, Uhre will likely finish with his lowest goal output since joining the Union in 2022. He would need five goals against Charlotte to match the 11 goals he scored in 2023. Uhre made up for the downtick in goals with an uptick in assists. The 31-year-old became a prominent playmaker for the team, collecting a career-high six assists. His biggest assist came when he set up Tai Baribo for his late winner against the Galaxy. Despite the lack of scoring, almost every goal Uhre scored has been crucial.
Uhre scored the game-winning goal in a 4-2 opening match win in Orlando and scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute of a 2-1 road win against CF Montreal. While many will point to his first-half strike in the Supporters’ Shield clincher as his biggest goal, Uhre came up clutch in a 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids on July 26.
Despite dominating the first half, the Union found themselves down 1-0 at halftime. A Baribo goal in the 64th minute leveled the match, leaving all to play for in the final 25-plus minutes. Needing a jolt in attack, Bradley Carnell threw on Uhre in the 73rd minute. The Dane hadn’t scored since May 3 against Montreal, a streak that lasted over 10 games across all competitions. Uhre would end his scoring drought in style, lashing a low drive off the far post and in from the edge of the box, giving the Union a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute. Five minutes into stoppage time, Uhre would find space down the right flank thanks to a through ball from Alejandro Bedoya. The striker would take it all the way and beat Zack Steffen at his near post to seal all three points. This marked another second-half comeback by the Union, a constant theme that led them to winning the Shield.
Mid-season Milan
Out in sunny San Diego, a player was making a name for himself with the league’s newest expansion side - his name was Milan Iloski. The American forward scored 10 goals in 14 MLS matches with San Diego FC, including a four-goal frenzy in a win against the Vancouver Whitecaps. There was one problem for Iloski and San Diego - the player was on loan. Iloski joined San Diego from FC Nordsjælland in the Danish Superliga. All parties were working to make the 26-year-old’s move to the expansion club permanent. Surprisingly, an agreement couldn’t be reached, and Iloski returned to Denmark.
That’s when Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner swooped in. On Aug. 5, the Union acquired Iloski on a permanent transfer, signing him to a contract through the 2027 season with an option for 2028. Despite his track record in MLS, it’s not often that Tanner pulls the trigger on a former college and USL standout. Iloski scored 23 goals in 46 games for UCLA before joining Real Salt Lake as a Homegrown Player. Iloski starred with Orange County SC in the USL Championship, winning the league’s Golden Boot in 2022, scoring 22 goals in 31 games.
Since joining the Union, Iloski has been nothing short of a bright spot. In 10 appearances, Iloski has three goals and four assists, showing not just his scoring ability but also his playmaking skills. The forward scored his first Union goal in the Open Cup Quarterfinals, netting the tying goal in a 3-2 home win against the New York Red Bulls. Iloski has registered a goal and an assist in two games for the Union. He was the Man of the Match in a 4-0 win over Chicago and was a big part of the 6-0 thumping in DC. During that same game, Quinn Sullivan tore his ACL, ruling him out for the season. Iloski’s versatility will allow the Union to play him in Sullivan’s spot without the team missing much of a beat.
The Clincher
Two Philadelphia teams were vying for the City of Brotherly Love’s attention on Saturday, Oct. 4. The Phillies began their MLB postseason run with a game at home against the Dodgers, but more importantly, a trophy was on the line for the Union against NYCFC.
With a win, the Union would win the second Supporters’ Shield in club history, having also won in 2020. However, a draw or loss would see their odds drop, and their fate would be decided on Decision Day on the turf in Charlotte. There were some jitters amongst the team in the opening minutes, but those quickly went away, and the Union played its high-pressing style. The press would pay dividends when the midfield duo of Jovan Lukic and Danley Jean Jacques created a turnover off a Matt Freese throw. Lukic would find Mikael Uhre in the box, and his deflected shot caught Freese flat-footed, giving the Union a massive 1-0 lead.
The Union would bunker down in the second half, taking more of a defensive approach. Carnell would bring on two midfielders and an extra defender to see out the final minutes. The crowd fell silent when NYCFC’s Maximo Carrizo had the ball in the back of the net. The fans were quickly rejuvenated with energy as the assistant referee immediately raised his offside flag, nullifying the equalizing goal. Andre Blake would seal the win by catching NYCFC’s final corner kick in the last minute. The ball was never put back in play as the full-time whistle sounded, and the Union faithful got to see their team lift a trophy in a sold-out stadium.
*Article also seen on Philadelphiasoccernow.com
