Union fans voted against the Leagues Cup again, so Tai Baribo brought his own energy to score

This time, the sparse crowd at Subaru Park wasn’t another indictment of the Union’s marketing efforts, the lack of games on traditional TV, or anything else that would provoke claims that the team doesn’t matter in town.

No, in fact, it was a compliment to the fan base that it mostly didn’t bother showing up for Friday’s 2-0 win over CF Montréal in the Leagues Cup round of 32.

The wide swaths of empty seats all over the stadium sent a clear message: this tournament concocted to spin up profits from games between Mexican and MLS teams simply doesn’t matter around here as much as a weekend at the Shore, a Phillies game at the same hour, an Eagles preseason game where Jalen Hurts didn’t play, or simply staying out of the rain.

Does it matter as much as the U.S. Open Cup, the century-old national championship for teams of every level whose history books are filled with Philadelphia legends? We can’t answer that, because it’s just a pure coincidence that MLS tried to claim a too-crowded calendar — where the Leagues Cup just happens to take up five weeks in late summer — is why it couldn’t have all its teams in the Open Cup this year.

But we can confirm that both teams knew how empty Subaru Park was on Friday and how quiet it was at a place that can get superbly loud when it wants to.

» READ MORE: MLS says it has global ambition, but too often acts like it doesn’t. That needs to change. | Jonathan Tannenwald

“We talked about it before the game,” Union manager Jim Curtin said. “Obviously, with the rain, with the August Friday night, a lot of people down the Shore … [I] told the guys, ‘Yeah, it’s not going to be the same atmosphere, but we have to kind of manufacture that intensity and recognize it’s an elimination game ourselves, and we’re in control of that.’”

Jakob Glesnes was just as forthright, as he often is.

“We should be honest and say we’d much rather have a full stadium and the atmosphere that we know there can be here,” he said. “Of course us players like to play when we have a full stadium and the atmosphere is like we know how it can be and they are the extra guy on the field to help us. The people that were there today were doing an amazing job, but, again, we really like when we have them behind us and we have the full stadium.”

Even Montréal and Canadian national team stalwart midfielder Samuel Piette noticed. He’s been to Chester many times over the years, and his home stadium also is renowned for its atmosphere: loud, diverse, and knowledgeable in what has long been one of North America’s elite soccer cities.

“It’s a bit weird, obviously,” he said. “It’s a factor when you play away and you see a lot of fans — it’s tough, it’s intimidating, it’s always tougher to play. And then when you see not as many fans as usual, and a crowd like today, you’re like, ‘OK, could it be good for us?’”

» READ MORE: Tai Baribo’s goals give the Union a 2-0 win over CF Montréal in the Leagues Cup

It turned out to not be good for Montréal, and at least on that count Friday was a success for the Union. Tai Baribo scored both of the game’s goals, one in first-half stoppage time and one in second-half stoppage time, advancing the Union to a round-of-16 game at FC Cincinnati on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

If the crowd wasn’t going to provide too much energy, Baribo made up for it by providing his own. On his first goal, he was just about in Montréal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois’ face when he pounced on a rebound; on the second, he broke away to finish a pretty outside-of-the-foot setup pass from Jack McGlynn.

“You know, when we grew up and we played soccer as kids, we didn’t have fans,” Baribo said. “So I think if you have passion for the game, it doesn’t matter if the stadium is full or not. You have to show what you have.”

So he did, taking his tally for the season to nine goals in 14 appearances.

» READ MORE: The truth about the Leagues Cup was on full display at Subaru Park when Cruz Azul came to town last weekend

“A goal is a goal — it doesn’t matter, you know,” he said, invoking a classic striker’s cliché. “On the first goal, I had some luck, but it’s OK. You have to work for your own luck, and little bit of luck from God is good. But also, the second one closed the game. So both of them felt very good.”

That was a nice dose of common sense. Piette offered another as he prepared to head home to a city that got slammed by the northern end of Hurricane Debby’s remnants, while the southern end was more polite to Chester.

“It was a weird atmosphere tonight, but I understand the circumstances,” Piette said. “It was a pretty [ugly weather] night, a Friday night as well. I understand that people have better things to do.”

Though there weren’t many people around to agree with him, he definitely was far from alone.