Andre Blake and Leon Flach grabbed the headlines after the Union’s 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati in the Conference Semifinals. The Union goalkeeper and MLS MVP candidate made several big saves in the second half to preserve the clean sheet after the Union midfielder scored his first goal in 45 games. But José Martinez is responsible for slowing down the explosive FC Cincinnati front-three, who had an equally impressive strike rate as the Union’s Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza, and Mikael Uhre.
In a game that featured several key matchups, including battles between Jack Elliott and Brandon Vazquez, Jakob Glesnes and Brenner, and Alvas Powell and Kai Wagner, Union coach Jim Curtin pointed to the battle between Cincinnati’s playmaker Lucho Acosta and the Union’s Jose Martinez.