CHESTER, PA–The Philadelphia Union have faced every wild scenario possible during their deep forays in the U.S. Open Cup over recent years.

Wednesday night was no different for Jim Curtin’s men as they conceded a pair of late goals before Roland Alberg rescued the victory with one of the final kicks of the match.

Alberg’s free-kick blast capped off a wild 11 minutes in which three goals found the back of the net. The final strike was the one that mattered most to Curtin for a variety of reasons.

“Nothing surprises me, ever,” Curtin said. “You’ve seen a lot, I’d like to think that we’re past the craziness, some of the games that have been here, so again, it started to creep in maybe and we punched it right in the face so it was over with.”

“I just thanked (Alberg) in front of the whole group for the goal that he scored because that’s a big goal that obviously wins us the game, but it does a lot more than that in terms of what does 120 minutes look like,’ Curtin said. “As guys do start to fatigue and it gets late, it becomes more of a coin toss, so a very big goal, happy that he got it and again the past is the past.”

Alberg admitted he changed his mind on the placement of his shot right before he delivered the final blow to the Harrisburg City Islanders.

“Well first of all I was trying to kick it in the corner of the goalkeeper and then last minute my mindset was different, so I thought I would flip it over the wall and it goes in,” Alberg said. “The feeling was amazing. I’m happy with the win and going through.”

“He is one of the better ones, that’s for sure, at the set pieces,” forward Fabian Herbers said. “Yeah, Seba (Le Toux) drew the foul very smartly, I thought. And yeah, (Alberg) was on the ball and it was all in his decision. He knows what he can do on the ball and he hit it perfectly. You can’t hit it any better.”

The play of the 25-year-old Dutchman was one of the highlights from the new front four Curtin trotted out for Wednesday’s cup opener. Alberg played alongside Herbers, Ilsinho and Walter Restrepo. The new combination found the back of the net on three occasions. Restrepo notched the opener before Alberg bagged a brace with goals right before halftime and the final whistle.

“We’re a team that feels that everybody can contribute, we have some depth and guys are really pushing, and then there are certain moments where you could flip a coin and choose one guy over the other because they are competing that much,” Curtin said. “I’m happy for them to get rewarded and they deserved the goals that they got, and the performances that they had.”

The growing depth the Union have will be further tested for the rest of the month. The Union head back into MLS action on Saturday against New York City FC. Matches against Chicago and Vancouver follow in the next week in addition to the fifth-round of the U.S. Open Cup on June 29.

“The name of the game is surviving and advancing in this competition, we’ve done that,” Curtin said. “We’ve had a good mentality, happy to close it out. And to not have to go 120 minutes with New York City on, coming up on Saturday. Our focus will shift to them now, this game is in the past and we will learn from it and we’ll get better.”