Jim Curtin hits the gas pedal, and the Union charge into a playoff spot with a statement win

NEW YORK — There are a lot of ways to do a lot of things in soccer, which is part of the sport’s charm. But when it comes to protecting an early 1-0 lead, there usually are two ways to do it.

One is to sit back and defend. The other is to go forth and score more.

Given the Union’s reputation as a team that thinks about defense first, you might expect manager Jim Curtin to have picked the former after his team scored first against New York City FC on Wednesday. This time, he picked the latter, and it paid off in spades.

The Union didn’t just take a win home from Yankee Stadium, they laid down a 5-1 rout with goals from five scorers: Tai Baribo, Mikael Uhre, Dániel Gazdag, Jakob Glesnes, and Jesús Bueno. And, yes, for those who enjoy a good message-sending, this sure was one about the Union’s potential if they can keep this momentum all the way to the playoffs.

“You see the entire team kind of rallying together,” Uhre said. “I can’t remember the last time I played in a game where you had five goals and five different goal-scorers. So, yeah, it was a really good game from the guys.”

» READ MORE: Union’s attack and defense roar to life in 5-1 rout of New York City FC at Yankee Stadium

Nine years into NYCFC’s existence, there remains an emotional hook to playing soccer at Yankee Stadium, given the venue’s prestige. Queens-born Union midfielder Jack McGlynn’s attempt to explain the New York baseball scene to Baribo on the way out of the locker room testified to that.

(If he also explained the oddity of the Pigeons bouncing between Yankee Stadium and the Mets’ Citi Field, all the better.)

But the big ballpark in the Bronx remains an odd site for the world’s game with its pitch stretching across the outfield and temporary sod on the basepaths. In that regard, the 25,000-seat soccer stadium that NYCFC will open next to Citi Field in 2027 can’t come soon enough.

Curtin has coached at Yankee Stadium enough times to know its quirks, and he had his team well-drilled for them on Wednesday.

“On this field, if you leave things to chance, you see how quickly — two passes, and you’re already in the box,” Curtin said after the game. “So it’s dangerous. There is no safe lead here.”

It certainly felt that way at halftime, when New York’s Alonso Martínez had just scored with the last kick of the period. After Baribo, Uhre, and Gazdag’s goals came in the first 32 minutes, that old sense of trouble loomed over the Union’s locker room.

» READ MORE: Even if the Union keep playing this well, they still might run out of time to make the playoffs

Curtin reacted promptly.

“They got to see ‘Angry Jim’ because of that, and it wasn’t because of the fact that we conceded a goal,” he said. “It was because of the fact that the body language in the locker room was — guys were so upset. Which I get, because we conceded before half[time], which we don’t like to do. But we’re winning, 3-1, on the road, and I wanted to give them encouragement, say a few choice, hard words.”

The strategy worked, which serves as another timely reminder that Curtin knows what he’s doing out there.

Just when New York was starting to really throw the kitchen sink at young Union goalkeeper Andrew Rick, the visitors got out of a jam, won a corner kick at the other end, and Glesnes thundered it home with a header in the 74th minute. Bueno then delivered the final goal in the 85th on a break with fellow substitutes Sam Adeniran and Quinn Sullivan.

“We joked on the bench [and] said that’s actually the best defense in this building, because there’s so many chances, it could have been 8-4 tonight,” Curtin said. “On this field, the ideas, the subbing, the tactics change a bit. You have to be compact and organized, and you always know that the opponent is only two passes away from being in your 18, which is always dangerous.”

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan got to meet his ‘idol’ Lionel Messi, and got a photo with him to treasure

This win pushed the Union into ninth place, the last playoff spot, heading into home games against D.C. United on Sunday (6:15 p.m., FS1, free on Apple TV), then Atlanta United on Sept. 28. They are must-wins, and not just because they’re at home. The two games after that are at fourth-place Orlando City and the third-place-but-reigning-champion Columbus Crew, on Oct. 2 and 5, respectively.

“This win means nothing if we don’t go home and take care of business now in our next two big games,” Curtin said. “But certainly a big step forward and a really good win.”

While it’s increasingly common to see teenagers in outfield positions in soccer, it’s not the case with goalkeepers. For a long time, players at that position have developed and peaked later than their teammates in front of them, and their careers end later as a result.

This is part of why the Union didn’t want to turn to Rick as Andre Blake’s backup until Oliver Semmle’s poor form left no choice. At age 18, Rick still has quite a bit more physical development ahead, and that will bring athleticism he doesn’t fully have yet.

But the Union knew well before Rick got his first-team contract in May that he had huge potential, and on Wednesday, he showed it to fans with seven saves. Some of them were spectacular, such as a point-blank low dive to stop Keaton Parks in the first half and a leap backward to palm away a chip attempt by Monsef Bakrar in the second.

» READ MORE: Andre Blake is still sidelined due to a groin injury

“Sometimes it can be an overload of too much, too soon, and for us to demand and expect our two goalies to be Andre, that’s impossible,” Curtin said of Rick and Semmle, and it’s worth remembering that even many MLS starters can’t reach Blake’s level. “But we can expect that now, because we know that’s the standard that Andrew has. … That’s what Andrew has in his skill set, and he made some big saves tonight when we needed the most.”

Rick won’t play that well every game for a while, and the Union gladly will take Blake back as soon as he’s ready. Still, if there were any questions left about Rick’s future, he has answered them.

“He’s going to get better and better, but he is 18, and in goalkeeping, that is about as young as it gets,” Curtin said. “I think he’s only 165 pounds, so he’s got a frame to fill out — maybe [he] even grows height-wise, because he’s still only 18 years old — but a big step for him. I’m happy for him. He’s a quiet, shy, reserved kid, but that kind of performance will build some real confidence, and with goalkeeping, that is everything.”