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

A winless streak that has extended to 10 games following a 2-1 road loss to Toronto FC on Saturday was reminiscent of … the Union, circa pre-2018.

by Kerith Gabriel

Published July 14, 2024, 11:09 a.m. ET

It’s the kind of flashback Union supporters would prefer to forget.

The club’s most recent run of form, a winless streak that has extended to 10 games following a 2-1 road loss to Toronto FC on Saturday night, feels reminiscent of … the Union, circa any time before 2018.

Go-ahead goal, control most of the match only to lose on a fluke occurrence in the waning moments was modus operandi in what felt like game after game for a club that was still trying to find its groove in Major League Soccer. It even took manager Jim Curtin some time to right that ship after taking the reins in 2014, doing away with a carousel of short-lived talent and fighting for more than a shoestring budget to bring a team to the brink of an MLS title in 2022.

But this season, the regression is real, with results mimicking the past, forcing Curtin to come to a postgame news conference as a bit of an apologist for a team that outplayed its opponent for the bulk of a game only to find itself on the latter end of a final score.

“We’re tough to play against,” Curtin said following Saturday’s loss. “I think we gave up two shots on goal, zero corner kicks but still found a way to make some big mistakes and get punished for them. We just haven’t been able to make the little plays to get us over the hump.”

Against Toronto, the Union were the better team, creating more chances and outpacing the hosts in shots on goal by a 4-2 margin. They even got on the score sheet first following a well-timed Tai Baribo header off a Kai Wagner free kick in the 39th minute. It was a beatable Toronto team, one with a similar run of form to the Union entering the match with a win just one day before the Union’s last victory over a 10-man New England side on May 18.

But just like old times, there were untimely mistakes like an own goal from defender Jack Elliott that evened the score for Toronto and then it was Elliott again with a clearing ball down the middle of the field that was intercepted by Toronto. A quick counterattack and a diagonal run from Toronto forward DeAndre Kerr and it was Union deja vú.

Next up, a short week as New England heads to Subaru Park for a Wednesday game (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, MLS Season Pass).

“It’s unacceptable,” said Curtin. “How many games [has it been] and we haven’t been able to find a way to win? It has been really, really disappointing and we are very fragile, which is uncharacteristic of this group. So, again, it hurts [but we] have a quick turnaround to get ready for New England.”

Coming soon: Cavan Sullivan?

One of the highlights of Saturday night’s frustrating loss is that Curtin revealed that the club wanted to add homegrown phenom Cavan Sullivan to the 20-man traveling roster for the trip to Toronto.

However, Curtin said plans were derailed due to “paperwork” that would’ve allowed the 16-year-old to travel. Sullivan is coming off a week in which he scored his first goal for Union II in a 3-1 defeat of Chattanooga FC at Subaru Park.

It’s been rumored that Sullivan, whom the Union brokered to English Premier League giant Manchester City, would get his first senior team minutes during the Union’s Leagues Cup run, which opens on July 27 against Charlotte (8 p.m., Apple TV, MLS Season Pass).

However, Curtin noted that while the plans weren’t for Sullivan to play in the match against Toronto, the idea was to get him exposed to top competition — and being on the road.

“We wanted to bring him with the group, we wanted him to have him in the 20 [-man travel roster],” said Curtin. “But paperwork, league rules, child labor laws in Canada are different [and] I don’t tend or pretend to understand all, so that’s a league question. It was up to the moment literally as our bus was leaving the parking lot trying to get it done and it just didn’t work out.

“I thought it would have been good to at least bring him … get him used to what it’s like being on the road and be around a first-team environment.”

He paused and then joked:

“Hopefully, he can be part of the 20 back in the States. We’ll see what the rules are, though.”