Chicago Union Fall to New York Empire 31-18, Drop Sixth Straight
By Elise Gan
Photography by Daniel Cohen
CHICAGO — The Chicago Union were unable to reward a huge and boisterous fanbase at Lazier Field on Friday night, falling to the visiting New York Empire 31-18 in what marked the team's sixth consecutive loss.
Chicago opened the scoring on a connection from Jeff Weis to Dylan Nice, but New York answered immediately. Both offenses struggled with consistency early, trading turnovers, with the Union converting just one of four huck attempts in the opening stretch.
New York capitalized on a missed Chicago huck attempt, intercepting in the end zone to take their first lead. The Union responded quickly, as Joe Cercello found Jayden Feagans to level the score at 2-2 - the last time Chicago would draw even. New York closed out the first quarter on a 3-1 run to lead 5-3.
The Empire carried that momentum into the second quarter, scoring twice in the opening two minutes. Michael Finke briefly slowed New York's run with a Union goal, but the Empire quickly answered with two more scores. Chicago converted its first successful scoring huck of the night to cut the deficit to 9-5, though New York took a 14-8 lead into halftime, capping a first half that saw the Union commit 12 turnovers.
Chicago sought a cleaner start out of the break, but New York's defensive pressure forced a string of hurried decisions and additional turnovers. The Empire opened the third quarter on a 6-2 run to extend their lead to double digits at 20-10. The Union answered with back-to-back goals to briefly narrow the gap, but New York again closed the quarter with momentum, leading 23-14.
The fourth quarter followed a similar pattern, with New York extending its lead down the stretch to secure a 31-18 victory, Chicago's largest margin of defeat this season.
The Union have two games remaining on their schedule: Friday against the Madison Radicals, followed by their season finale on Saturday vs the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds. Tickets for Saturday's game are available at https://shop.gochicagounion.com/collections/tickets and can catch both broadcasts live on WatchUFA.TV.
