Then, hosts Greg Orlandini of KYW and Dan Walsh of PSP talk a little Union before PSP contributors Mike Servedio and Adam Cann join Greg in previewing the English Premier League season, which kicks off this weekend.

Listen to the podcast here.

The Philadelphia Union affiliate went into the second half having played a scoreless first, but Portland’s Paul Ogunyemi netted three minutes into the second half to put his team ahead. Reading’s Aquilas Levi Houapeu equalized in the 73rd minute, but Portland put in the winning goal just a minute later when Freddie Braun scored to make it 2-1.

Portland then defeated Thunder Bay 4-1 in the final to become PDL champs for the year.

Reading got this far by having won its division and the Eastern Conference in a hugely successful campaign.

The club was then forced to play early the next afternoon in the consolation match against Baton Rouge, where they lost on penalty kicks.

(Photo: USL)

Reading plays Portland tonight at 10:30 p.m., with the match streamed live at http://www.usllive.com.

If they win, they’ll play in the championship match Saturday at 7 p.m., which will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Reading, an affiliate of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, earned the trip to Portland by winning the Mid-Atlantic Division and then the Eastern Conference, with a 3-2 playoff win over Ottawa.

For more information, check out the PDL’s web site or Reading’s web site.

And you’d be right if we were talking about the team in England’s Coca Cola Championship League.

But we’re talking about Reading United—the Player Development Partner of the Philadelphia Union—and the North Virginia Royals, both of whom play in the USL’s Premier Development League. And after a pregame display of weather last Thursday that included rain, thunder, lightning and even some hail just to make things really interesting, Reading created some heavy weather of their own for the visiting North Virginia Royals.

Despite slick conditions that saw players from both sides slipping and sliding, Reading poured on the scoring chances in the first half and were rewarded with two goals before the mid-game break. After only twelve minutes of play the Royals starting keeper Chris Bresnahan was shown a red card after bringing Billy Schuler down in the box. Schuler promptly put the penalty kick past substitute keeper Jon Dawson and Reading were up 1-0.

In the 29th minute CJ Sapong headed in left back Ged Quinn’s service for Reading’s second goal of the night.

The Royals came out for the second half gunning for an chance to cut Reading’s lead in half. They found it when Reading turned the ball over in the midfield and Northern Virginia’s AJ Sheta’s effort from 30 yards out made its way over Reading United goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo’s hands and into the back of the net.

Fifteen minutes later Reading sealed the win when speedy outside midfielder Mario Vila Boa finished a Luke Mulholland feed to make it 3-1.

With two consecutive home wins to start the season, Reading now go on the road to face West Virginia Chaos on Thursday, May 20 at Schoenbaum Stadium in Charleston. Reading are back at home on June 5 to host Carolina Dynamo.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Studio Photo. You can see his Flickr gallery of photos from the game here.

Billy Schuler (UNC) scored the team’s first goal of the season in the 19th minute. Only the athletic play of Piranha’s keeper Ryan Zmuda kept the visitors in the match as Reading unleashed a barrage of shots for the rest of the half.

In the 42nd minute United midfielder Luke Mulholland (Wingate University) made it 2-0 with a wonder strike. Reading United G.M. Art Auchenbach said of the goal, “Wow! Luke’s goal was a thing of beauty and brawn. A 30 yarder that will be a PDL weekend highlight reel goal, if not season highlight goal. Simply awesome.”

It was a windy day. But even with the wind at their backs in the second half, the Piranhas were clearly outmatched as local product Corey Hertzog (Antietam H.S., Penn State) made it 3-0 in the 46th minute and Matt Hedges (Butler University) added a fourth in the 52nd minute. CJ Sapong (James Madison University) added the fifth goal of the day to his two assists in the 61st minute.

Technical Director Troy Snyder (who filled in as head coach for Brendan Burke who was serving a carryover suspension from 2009 playoffs) said after the match, “It was a great effort by all the guys. Considering we only had two practices and half the guys didn’t show up until today, we have to be pleased. We’ll work on some things at practice this week and it will be exciting to see how well we do once everyone’s firing on all cylinders.”

Burke, who watched the match from the press box, said, “The pace out of the back allowed us to create a lot of opportunities moving forward. This team has a lot of promise.”

Reading next face the Northern Virginia Royals on Friday, May 14 at 7:30pm. The match will be played during Exeter’s “MayDays” town carnival at Don Thomas Stadium. Ticket information is available at the club’s website.

Already on the squad are Billy Schuler and Scott Goodwin. On Monday Reading United announced that Alex Dixon and Martin Murphy would be joining the team for the summer.

Dixon, who is from Texas, was an important part of UNC’s back-to-back Final Four runs. Dixon, knows how to score: in 2008 he was the team’s third highest scorer with five goals; in 2009 he had eight goals, making him second to Schuler. Dixon’s young career is already marked by a number of achievements including U.S. U17 Residency Program, four years of inclusion in U.S. Youth National Team Pools, ESP Camp All Star honors in 2006, Region III ODP team duties, and NSCAA and Parade Youth All America nods in 2007.

Murphy, who was born in Glasgow, made twelve appearances for UNC  this year as a freshman, scoring two goals and one assist. Before joining UNC, Murphy played for CASL in North Carolina where he contributed to winning two Region III titles in 2006 and 2008.

Said Reading United general manager Art Auchenbach, “We’re obviously thrilled to have players of the caliber of Alex, Martin, Billy, and Scott joining us for the 2010 PDL season. This speaks volumes to the level this team has grown under the direction of Coach [Brendan] Burke. We hope our ability to attract these top players will be what we need to get our team back into the playoffs and challenge for the PDL Championship.”

Reading United’s season kicks off on May 8 when they host the Hampton Roads Piranhas at Don Thomas Stadium. The opening night is also Youth Soccer Night and all youth soccer players who are members of teams from the Reading Berks Junior Soccer League and who wear their uniform to the match will have free admission.

With the death of the MLS Reserve League and the chopping of rosters from 28 down to 24 before the beginning of the 2009 season, MLS teams were left with few options to get their young, developing players field time. And no matter how much you practice and train, there is a certain amount of confidence and calm that only comes with minutes on the pitch.

The Union will likely utilize the City Islanders franchise as a place to get their young talent game time, without having to sacrifce quality in their MLS starting XI. The City Islanders have done loan deals with both the Red Bulls (Danny Cepero, GK [Penn]) and D.C. United (Tiyi Shipalane, F) in the past, but have now signed to exclusively deal with the Union. This is big in terms of player movement back and forth, as well as the consistency of the system and proximity to Philadelphia.

New Islanders signing Nate Jafta

Founded in 2004, the Harrisburg City Islanders are the flagbearers of a long-standing soccer tradition in the capital area. Stretching back to the Hershey Impact of the AISA/NPSL, the Harrisburg Heat of the MISL, and the Hershey Wildcats of the A-League (later USL-1), the Islanders filled a void when the Heat folded in 2003. Playing their home games on City Island at the 4,000-seat Skyline Sports Complex, the Islanders have been a consistently successful franchise in the United Soccer League’s Second Division, finishing 3rd or better in the table 4 times  in 6 seasons and bringing home the playoff crown in 2007. This move actually comes at a huge time for the Islanders as rumors and sound bytes from aroung the Mayor’s office had hinted at a lack of support for maintaining the sports facilities on City Island which host the Islanders and the Washington Senators’ AA affiliate, the Harrisburg Senators.

This move, and the move to bring Reading United AC on board with the Union, will have long-reaching impacts. Both Reading and Harrisburg are cities in Pennsylvania with long soccer traditions. Both have vocal and loyal fanbases for their respective clubs. And both come complete with a youth academy system – not only has Philadelphia gained potentially huge assets in terms of playing time for its young players, but it may have established pipelines for fans and young players into soccer-loving communities.

Beyond the on-field product the Union would be developing, Reading and Harrisburg will likely be breeding grounds for Union fans. Supporters of the Reading Rage, now Reading United AC, and the Islanders, have a great transition into rooting for and following MLS’ newest team. If the Union loan out some of their teenage wunderkind to Harrisburg over the summer, Skyline will likely be packed to the thorn bushes.  J.T. Noone, currently training with the Union and standing as the frontrunner for the team’s final developmental spot, is a local product from Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin H.S. and would likely draw even more fans into the stands. In terms of building a fan base outside of the Philadelphia area, this move is superb.

From a historical perspective, this is not the first time that a USL club has aligned with an MLS side and not the first time that an MLS side has courted a PDL affiliate either. Largely, the USL to MLS model has been abandoned by the MLS clubs which tried it, opting instead for in-house academies and systems. What remains to be seen is how the Union take advantage of these relationships. In terms of academcy production, the Union may not see gains from this move for 4 or 5 years; however, I would expect the results for developmental players already on the roster and for fan support to be visible within a season or two. And the planned annual friendlies in Reading and Harrisburg shouldn’t hurt either.

At the moment, we can’t even be sure of the full implications of this affiliation. Will Philly’s ABC6 share its broadcasting rights to Union games with ABC27 in Harrisburg to bring the Union games to more fans? What relationship will the coaches at Harrisburg and Reading maintain with those of the Union? Most interesting to me is, who might get loaned down this season for extra minutes? Jack Mack? Amobi? Perk? I’m now doubly excited to watch my Isles in action.

It seems that there is an underlying theme to almost every move the Union has made since the expansion draft – planning for the future. The expansion draft featured a handful of veterans and some young talent, not the high-priced, flashier players some had predicted. The FO brought-in a youthful starting goaltender, one with bright hopes for the future professionally and internationally. After some wheeling and dealing, the Union drafted 3 teenagers in the first round of the Superdraft in a league dominated by twentysomethings. And the team has locked up several long term sponsorship deals while expanding its footprint regionally with two established affiliates. Aside from the accidential leak of the home kit, the moves of the Union seem calculated for future success. Hopefully, the Union will be competitive enough in its first season on the field, so as not to dispel the enthusiasm about its well planned future.

Former Reading player Aaron Wheeler

“Our technical staff will work closely with the coaches at YSC and Reading United AC to ensure everyone in the program has the best insights to the game we can provide,” Philadelphia Union manager Peter Nowak said.

Reading United, known until recently as the Reading Rage, plays in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League. The team’s new name was only reported in the last few days, with the change likely made in anticipation of the partnership.

The Reading squad is currently led by former U.S. national team player and team vice president Troy Snyder and coach Brendan Burke. They play at Don Thomas Stadium, a high school site in Exeter, Pa.

The partnership with the Union is just another sign that this team will take youth development very seriously and tie in closely to the local soccer community.

Union assistant John Hackworth has worked with U.S. youth internationals for years, but this is different: A grass roots initiative to bring local soccer players into the team, in a way closer to how it’s done in other countries. The Chicago Fire have similarly hosted a team in the PDL, but other Major League Soccer teams have been slow to follow. The Union talked about it early on, and now they’re following through.

Reading isn’t the only PDL team in this area. The Ocean City Barons play just outside of Cape May.

For those unfamiliar with the PDL, it’s a mostly amateur league that is considered the fourth tier of American soccer, below MLS, USL-1 and USL-2. Most players are under the age of 23, and their season takes place largely during the summer months.

What do you think of the partnership? What does it say about this Union organization to you? Do you know anything about the Reading club? Were they right choice, or should the Union have gone instead with Ocean City? Weigh in via comments below.