Tai Baribo’s hat trick, Cavan Sullivan’s record debut highlight Union’s win over New England

The Union won a match at Subaru Park for the first time in 109 days on Wednesday night, cruising to a 5-1 victory over the New England Revolution thanks to a hat trick from Tai Baribo.

A record debut in the 85th minute by wunderkind Cavan Sullivan, the 14-year-old midfielder, was made possible by the Union’s fast start that featured three first-half goals. Baribo had two of them, on either side of a 39th-minute corner goal by Jakob Glesnes, before completing his hat trick early in the second period.

“We know that it’s only one game, but it’s a big game for us in a lot of ways,” Jim Curtin said postgame. “Building confidence, the intensity that we played with after mistakes.”

The victory is the first for the Union (5-9-10) in 10 games — their last win was also against the Revolution (7-1-14) back in May — and snaps a nine-game skid without a three-point haul at Subaru Park. The Revs were massively plagued by injuries, but the Union looked like they would have beaten any version of New England.

» READ MORE: Andre Blake returns, Cavan Sullivan enters for the Union ahead of a battle with New England

As the goals piled up for the Union on Wednesday night — to the tune of a 4-1 lead inside 60 minutes — pressure grew on Curtin to introduce his teenage sensation. Sullivan warmed up with the rest of the substitutes at the start of the second half, but Curtin’s first two substitutions were Quinn Sullivan, Cavan’s brother, and Jesús Bueno in the 71st minute.

When the teams stopped for a hydration break, “We want Cavan!” chants broke out. Eight minutes later, Quinn Sullivan stole the spotlight for a few seconds and placed a long-range curler into the side netting for a fifth Union goal.

Cavan ran over to celebrate with his brother, but had to leave the pile early when he was asked to take off his warmup shirt and sub in for his debut. As Sullivan took Baribo’s place in the 85th minute and became the youngest MLS player ever to appear in a game, Subaru Park was the loudest it had been all night.

“I think that combo of [Quinn’s] goal and then me coming in for the sub was complete anarchy,” Cavan Sullivan said. “One of the loudest things I’ve ever heard — the stadium was electric.”

Sullivan looked like a fit in the big leagues. He showed poise on the ball, beating his man once and later working space for a shot from outside the box, which landed on target but fell calmly into the hands of New England goalie Aljaž Ivačič.

“Cavan deserved to be in the group and did a great job,” Curtin said. “Even his touches in the game, you see his fearlessness. It was fun to watch.”

Curtin’s team looked up for the task from the outset. After Jack Elliott rattled the crossbar from a free kick in the second minute, Baribo took over.

A Kai Wagner free-kick found the right foot of Elliott at the back post, and the center back kept the ball in play with a swift pass across the goal, which landed on the head of Baribo inside the six-yard box and was calmly tapped home. It marked the fourth consecutive game the Union have opened the scoring.

Baribo was on the scoresheet again before the first-half whistle sounded. Following Glesnes’ well-taken header from a Wagner corner, the Union were on for a third goal as Mikael Uhre scampered down the right wing with Baribo following him centrally. Baribo separated from his defender and Uhre laid a rolling pass onto his feet with space to shoot, and the striker dispatched his effort far post to kill the game and give the Union their first three-goal first half of 2024.

And still, his night wasn’t done. The Revs struck back with a curling long-range effort from midfielder Ian Harkes in the 50th minute to cut the Union’s lead to 3-1, but Baribo answered immediately. Wagner cruised down the left wing and hit Baribo in stride at the top of the box. He only needed one touch down to settle himself before belting a shot past the outstretched arms of Revolution goalkeeper Ivačič.

Baribo is the eighth player in Union history to net a hat trick and the first since former striker Julián Carranza did so against Deportivo Saprissa in February.

“[Baribo’s] work rate in tonight’s game — not just the goals, but his work rate defensively — was incredible,” Curtin said. “Really proud of him.”

» READ MORE: The regression of the Union offers an all-too-real reminder of the team’s formative years

On the other end, New England’s lack of firepower in attack was evident. With the Revs down 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil, top scorer Giacomo Vrioni, and several other key players to injury, the visitors caused little trouble for the Union’s backline aside from Harkes’ moment of magic.

Andre Blake returned to action after missing 14 games with a knee injury, and he wasn’t asked to do very much. New England placed just four shots on target in 90 minutes, with Blake making three straightforward saves.

He showed rust with a giveaway inside the Union’s defensive box late in the game, but he recovered to stop the shot, though the Revs were caught offside anyway. Blake said on Tuesday afternoon that he wanted to ease himself back in, and a game that provided little action between the posts certainly helped him do that.

“[Blake] is a superstar,” Curtin said. “To have him back after missing him for so long … our point total will only go up when he’s on the field.”

The Union are in action again on Saturday as they host Nashville SC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, MLS Season Pass). They will be in search of back-to-back wins at Subaru Park for the first time since September 2023.