Jack McGlynn has hit the heights he and the Union hoped for, and now can rise even higher

Toward the end of each of the Union’s last few practices, Jack McGlynn and a cast of teammates assembled near a goal on one of the team’s training fields next to Subaru Park, a pile of balls on hand.

McGlynn walked to that pile, assembled near one of the corner flags, while his colleagues surveyed the 18-yard box with a goalkeeper in front of them.

» READ MORE: Union’s Kai Wagner suspended 3 games for using racist language in a game

With places taken, the drill began, McGlynn serving those balls to various heads and feet.

Ping. Ping. Ping. Again and again, and again.

A casual observer passing by might have thought it was just another day of work. But to a soccer connoisseur, it was joyous to watch McGlynn produce so much magic from his left foot.

“I practice it every day,” McGlynn told The Inquirer following Tuesday’s practice, after which the Union headed off to Wednesday’s Game 2 of their playoff series at the New England Revolution (7:25 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV).

» READ MORE: Ten days between Union playoff games is a long time, but players say they’re handling it fine

“Growing up, too, with my dad and my brother, I would practice every day working on crossing, finishing, all that kind of stuff,” he continued, “because that’s what I have going for me as a pro soccer player. So it’s every day I work on it.”

McGlynn produced some magic in the first game of the series, too. On the Union’s second goal, he played a give-and-go with Kai Wagner in which he sprang Wagner down the left flank with a superb first-touch chip.

“It was a good run from [Wagner], and I saw a lot of space because our No. 9 [Mikael Uhre] kind of dragged their centerback out,” McGlynn said. “Kai was sprinting forward, so it was a really easy ball for me to play, and it led to a good goal.”

Easy? Easy for him to say.

» READ MORE: Union kick off playoff series vs. New England with a 3-1 win at home

Even better, when asked how much he thought about the play in the moment, he answered: “I don’t really think. I kind of just see it and hope it works.”

Ignore the fact that McGlynn has just one assist in the regular season this year. In soccer, assists only go to the player who passed the ball to the scorer. (MLS likes to count hockey-style secondary assists, too, and McGlynn has one of those this year.)

McGlynn’s work often comes with the pass before the assist, or even the secondary assist: the ball that sets free an outside back to tee up a cross or a forward to square to another forward.

You know it when you see it. And when you do, you stop in your tracks and admire it, or at least go rewind the tape to admire it later.

» READ MORE: Jack McGlynn signed a new multi-year contract with the Union in February

McGlynn hasn’t just elevated the attacking side of his game this year. He’s made huge strides with the defensive side, too. Leon Flach’s absence because of injury forced it somewhat, but McGlynn answered the call. That earned him starts in 10 of the Union’s 12 games since the end of the Leagues Cup, a stretch from late August until now, with 90-minute runs in seven games and 75-plus minutes in three more.

“Talking, going through film with all my coaches, and knowing the people around me and how they want me to press, I think that’s helped,” McGlynn said. “Getting more familiar with the players around me. But I think, yeah, it’s been a big step this year defensively, and I know there’s a lot more to go.”

Union manager Jim Curtin later added his view: “He’s had a great season for us, and he’s taken a big step forward. … He’s really worked to improve his defending — he’s done a great job of that, and gets better each game.”

McGlynn’s importance rises even more now that Wagner is suspended for using racist language toward New England’s Bobby Wood in Game 1. The 20-year-old New Yorker will take over as the Union’s lead corner kick and free kick taker, with Dániel Gazdag potentially deputizing when a right-footed service is more helpful.

“I know my quality on set pieces — all my teammates and the coaches trust me to hit them,” McGlynn said. “I know I can hit good ones. So hopefully we get a goal off one tomorrow.”

Curtin told the tale of a moment in Monday’s practice when McGlynn was teeing up Nathan Harriel, who wanted a ball served farther away from the back post — closer to 12 yards off the goal line instead of six.

“And I think he put it exactly on the 12,” Curtin said. “He has that ability to adapt, to adjust.”

Now go back further, to before this year started. In February, McGlynn sat down for a long preseason interview with The Inquirer, a spotlight he had earned as the latest crown-jewel product of the Union’s academy.

Brenden and Paxten Aaronson moved on to Europe before local fans could watch them enough. At the time, it looked like McGlynn would be here all year instead of an early sale to Europe in the summer. That has proven to be the case.

He won’t be here forever, of course. The line of suitors will keep growing as he keeps starring for the Union, and with a potential U.S. Olympic team selection next summer on the horizon. That is no secret in Chester and beyond.

But for now, there’s joy in watching McGlynn and that left foot, from clutch plays in games to those many practice passes.

“In the biggest games, regardless of your age, these are the games to step up [in],” Curtin said. “Good careers can become great careers, and great careers can become European careers. … This is what people remember, this part of the season.”

» READ MORE: The Union have rarely had must-watch players. Jack McGlynn is one right now.