CHESTER, Pa. – With the ball coming toward him and the clock winding down, Zach Pfeffer knew exactly what to do.
The harder part was figuring out how to react after he collected the ball in the box and scored a dramatic stoppage-time goal to lift the Philadelphia Union to a thrilling 1-0 victory over first-place D.C. United on Sunday night at PPL Park.
“I didn’t know where I was going,” Pfeffer said. “I went one way and then went the other way. I was very excited, very happy and relieved. It was a great moment.”
Eventually, longtime teammate Sheanon Williams grabbed him by the neck and wrestled him to the ground, setting off a big dog pile in the middle of the field featuring a bunch players starved for something to celebrate.
Pfeffer’s goal provided the Union with just their second win of the season – and, making it even sweeter, it came against one of their biggest rivals and a team that sits in first place in the Eastern Conference.
“I thought about hitting him a little harder, but I didn’t want to hurt him,” Williams said with a smile. “I just wanted to get him down so we could just kind of sit there and finish out the game, to be honest with you. It was good to see him get that moment here in this stadium.”
The moment was certainly an important one for a Union team in the midst of their worst start in club history. It was also a huge one for Pfeffer, who only days earlier learned that he had missed out on making the United States roster for the U-20 World Cup.
Making that snub even tougher to swallow was the fact that Pfeffer knew he was literally the last cut because U-20 head coach Tab Ramos publicly said the Union midfielder would be on the team had Gedion Zelalem’s paperwork not cleared in time.
“I was definitely disappointed not to have made the final roster, but that’s going to happen in this profession,” Pfeffer said. “There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs. I have to use moments like this as momentum. I did that tonight and want to keep moving forward. It’s a bump in the road, but I believe I’m in a pretty good spot with the team here. At the end of the day, your first priority is your club team.”
Even though he won’t travel to New Zealand for the U-20 World Cup later this month, Pfeffer will certainly see plenty of important minutes this summer as he’s emerged as a regular for the first time in his MLS career.
And on Sunday the 20-year-old Homegrown signing showed why, coming into the contest in the 71st minute and scoring his second goal of the season – both of which came in Philly’s only two wins – when Fabinho’s cross found his foot in the box after a clever dummy from Sebastien Le Toux.
“I was just talking to [Le Toux] about it,” Pfeffer said. “I thanked him, first of all, because it was a great dummy. I kind of anticipated it, which was good. I thought I got myself in a good spot, and I was hoping he would let it go, which he did. It was good recognition from Seba. I took a touch and put it away.”
And then he ran around the field like crazy, a huge weight having been lifted in the midst of a difficult week.
“That’s a great goal to score and could propel him to bigger and better things,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “But he’s doing a lot more little things off the ball. I know he can score. I’ve seen that. It’s the other things that I’m happier with that he’s improved on as a player and a man.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
