Andre Blake is back from a concussion, should start for the Union in Atlanta

After missing the Union’s last game because of a concussion and its aftereffects, Andre Blake is in line to be back in net for the game Sunday at Atlanta United (2:30 p.m., Fox29, Fox Deportes, free on Apple TV).

Blake was involved in multiple major collisions during the March 30 game vs. Minnesota. The goalkeeper played through them for a while, but in the 70th minute, the effects proved too much to bear. After a visit from the medical staff, Blake was subbed out.

He cleared concussion protocols before last Saturday’s game at Nashville, but late in Friday’s practice, a shot by Quinn Sullivan hit him in the head. The Union decided to keep Blake home as a precaution, which is never a bad idea with anything concussion-related.

Oliver Semmle played instead and made four saves in the 2-1 win.

» READ MORE: Julián Carranza and Dániel Gazdag spark a 2-1 Union comeback win in Nashville

This week, Blake has been a full participant.

“I’ve been cleared since last week, but I had an incident over the weekend,” Blake artfully put it after practice Thursday.

The Union are the last unbeaten team in MLS this year (3-0-3, 12 points). It’s an impressive feat after they started the year with eight games in 24 days between the regular season and Concacaf Champions Cup. But while those three ties looked unsightly at the time, they look much better now.

“The guys have been working really hard, and they’re just being rewarded for it right now,” Blake said. “This is soccer; this is life. It’s about the moments, and we’re having a really good moment right now, and we’re just going to have to try to to push to keep going.”

» READ MORE: Bradford Jamieson IV was once a young phenom in Los Angeles. Now he’s a Union assistant coach.

The Union’s under-17 team won the prestigious Generation Adidas Cup for the second year in a row last weekend, capped off with a penalty shootout victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in the final.

There’s always attention on the team’s top prospects, and ever more attention on prospects across the league. This time, the attention was heightened, as Cavan Sullivan stood out for the Union’s squad. The 14-year-old with Manchester City in his sights scored a goal in the final and played every game except the semifinal vs. Brazil’s Flamengo, when he was suspended for a red card.

But Sullivan was far from the Union’s only big name. Diego Rocio was named player of the tournament for scoring five knockout-round goals. He and marquee centerback prospect Neil Pierre made the all-tournament team. Gavin Atkinson won the best goalkeeper award, and forwards Anisse Saidi and Jamir Johnson are other names to know.

» READ MORE: Top prospect Cavan Sullivan will turn pro with the Union before joining Man City in a few years

“Obviously, we have one player in particular that gets quite a bit of attention, and well-deserved attention,” said Union reserve team coach Marlon LeBlanc, who has had Sullivan, Pierre, and others from that group on his squad already this year.

“Well-deserved attention for all that Cavan and Neil both do, but certainly a number of players in that group that we’ve seen with us already as well, that also add to that element of that team being successful,” LeBlanc added. “Coaches, staff, they should all be congratulated for what they’ve done in again putting us out there as the standard-bearer for development.”

Unfortunately, the tournament was marred by incidents of racism toward the New York Red Bulls’ under-17 team, which caused the club to pull all its squads out. And a brawl nearly broke out following the Union-Flamengo game.

» READ MORE: How the Union can play in next year’s Club World Cup

The tournament issued suspensions to players from both teams but did not disclose names because the players are minors.

LeBlanc was asked whether, because he works with so many of the under-17s, he might do some extra coaching in the coming days on the off-field parts of life. He said he wanted to answer carefully.

“Our group of those kids, by the way, is one of the most diverse out there in the country at the U-17 [level],” he said. “The culture of our club is one that is, you look across our first team, our second team, and all the way through, we have diversity, and we have different ethnicities and minorities and religions all across this club. So I’ll leave it at that.”

The older players among LeBlanc’s charges — if not much older — took center stage in Thursday’s reserve team game against Orlando City’s reserves, a 1-1 tie at Subaru Park.

Sal Olivas scored for the Union, and first-team players Olwethu Makhanya, Sanders Ngabo, and Nick Pariano were among the starters. The reserves also are unbeaten this year, with a 2-0-2 record (9 points).

MLS Next Pro games that end tied go to penalty kick shootouts, and the winner gets a bonus point. This was the Union’s first shootout win of the year.

“The four games unbeaten makes you feel good,” LeBlanc said. “I think we were really good tonight, too — really close, one mistake and we got countered on. But all that said, the team’s improving as well, and that’s what makes me happy.”