Union’s Nate Harriel, Quinn Sullivan make U.S. Gold Cup roster

Nate Harriel and Quinn Sullivan made the cut on Thursday for the United States squad at the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Both Union players were included in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster for the championship of North and Central America this summer, the final competitive matches the U.S. will play before next summer’s World Cup.

Sullivan, 21, was a stalwart on the U.S. Under-20 teams, helping them win a CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the Paris Olympics and playing a key role in the 2023 U-20 World Cup. He wasn’t part of that Paris squad, though, using it as fuel for a breakout 2024 in which he had five goals and 11 assists in 34 MLS games (25 starts). He has two goals and seven assists in 17 games this season. Sullivan is in his first senior national team camp.

Harriel, 24, has played in 98 MLS games in five seasons, primarily as a right back. He’s been just as effective this year in central defense, his speed making up for what he lacks in size. Harriel played sparingly at the U-20 level but went to the Olympics with the U-23s. He was called into January camp with the senior team this year and made the bench but didn’t appear in a friendly with Slovenia.

They’re the first active members of the Union to represent the United States at the Gold Cup since Alejandro Bedoya and Chris Pontius (as an injury replacement) in 2017. Jack McInerney, who did not get into a game in the 2013 edition, was the only other Union player to make an American Gold Cup roster.

The U.S. will play friendlies against Turkey on Saturday in Hartford and Wednesday in Nashville. The U.S. is drawn into a group with Saudi Arabia, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. The final is scheduled for July 6 in Houston. Harriel and Sullivan would miss four league games if the U.S. makes it that far.

The duo join a bevy of local ties on the squad. Episcopal Academy All-Delco and Union homegrown Matt Freese is one of three goalies, the New York City FC starter’s path eased by Zack Steffen withdrawing with a knee injury. Harriel is joined on the backline by Union homegrown Mark McKenzie, coming off a stellar season with French club Toulouse.

Brenden Aaronson, who helped Leeds United gain promotion to the English Premier League, and Paxten Aaronson are both included. Paxten spent last season on loan in Holland to FC Utrecht, from German club Eintracht Frankfurt. They join Union homegrown midfielder Jack McGlynn, traded this winter to Houston, and Brian White, a South Jersey native who played for Union academy teams before being drafted by New York Red Bulls and now flourishing with Vancouver.

Fifteen players are from MLS clubs. Freese, Harriel and Sullivan are among seven uncapped players.