Sitting in a room at the Philadelphia Union's YSC Academy, twin brothers Declan and Ronan Sullivan looked around at framed jerseys of professional soccer players who had graduated from the illustrious academy before them, aspiring to have their jerseys displayed on that very wall some day. 
 
"With my brothers, with all the people around me – I mean, we're sitting in a room with jerseys all over the wall from people who I'm very close to," Declan Sullivan said. "This is the dream, and it's always felt in reach."
 
To reach their goals of playing professionally, the brothers wanted a program that offered continued professional development, had a winning mentality and allowed them to embrace their family's Northeast Philadelphia roots.
 
That is why they chose Saint Joseph's University.
 
"Coach Mulqueen had a great vision for the program," Ronan Sullivan said. "This program is on the up and can easily be a pathway to the professional level. And the whole idea of staying local and playing in Philly as a Philly kid was super intriguing and exciting for my brother and me."
 
When men's soccer coach Tim Mulqueen inherited the program in December 2024, he noticed it was missing a local flair. 
 
In a little more than a year on Hawk Hill, Mulqueen has made it a priority to recruit the best talent the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland regions have to offer. For the New Jersey native, it's an intentional process with a clear goal in mind.
 
"We want to win the city," Mulqueen said. "That is our motto every year. I joke that we want to turn the city crimson. We want the best players in the area to consider St. Joe's.
 
"I always found that success for the group was when they had a connection to the area, to the university, playing in front of family and friends, with that extra oomph to do well."
 
A 1988 St. Joe's graduate, Mulqueen has an expansive background in the sport, which started as a two-time MVP goalkeeper for the men's soccer team and has blossomed into a successful coaching career at the collegiate, professional and national levels. 
 
Mulqueen is very familiar with the strategy of recruiting locally. As an assistant coach at Rutgers from 1988-94, Mulqueen went to three NCAA men's soccer Final Fours with a roster primarily constructed of players from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
More than three decades after his first coaching gig, Mulqueen is back at his alma mater, implementing the same recruiting process that led to success at Rutgers and has been a calling card for some of the more recent winning programs in college soccer.
 
"Looking around college soccer, a lot of teams are trying to go overseas and bring in a lot of international players, or kids from all across the country," junior Conor Clair said. "But Tim's focus on bringing in the best talent from within the region is really special, and it helps the team jive and connect more quickly. The season gets up and running pretty quickly, so having those connections is pretty important."
 
Clair, a native of North Wales, Pa., recently transferred from Penn State, with St. Joe's being atop his list of choices. 
 
The midfielder is part of a larger group of incoming players who have ties to Philadelphia's Major League Soccer franchise, the Union. Clair and the Sullivan twins, along with transfer defender Rob Myrick and 2026 commit Alex Smith, have all played with the Union Academy during their careers.
 
"It's the top academy in the country, and it's right here in our backyard," Mulqueen said. "I'm fortunate enough to have a long-standing relationship with some of their coaches, so they understand what we're trying to do, and have steered me toward the right kind of players."
 
Located in Chester, Pa., and on the same grounds as the first team, the Union Academy has produced some of the country's top talents. The likes of Medford, N.J.'s Brenden Aaronson, who plays for Leeds United in the Premier League and represented the United States at the 2022 World Cup, along with Mark McKenzie, who grew up in Bear, Del., and now plays in France's top league, came through the academy system.
 
The Sullivan brothers know a thing or two about the talent that comes through the world-renowned academy. Their two other brothers, Quinn and Cavan, earned homegrown contracts with the Union's first team. After making his debut in 2021, Quinn has played 154 games and scored 15 goals for the club. The youngest Sullivan brother, Cavan, became the youngest athlete in North American sports to make his professional debut in July 2024 at 14 years, 293 days old. 
 
"The academy produces a lot of great players," Ronan said. "It's one of the best academies in the country, and is starting to get recognized on an international level as a great program. To have guys that want to play in Philly, that is normal here because the Union preach that Philly mindset."
 
Declan and Ronan weren't thinking about creating their own legacy or making names for themselves; it was all about finding an opportunity that fit their needs, and that was on Hawk Hill.
 
The prospect of playing college soccer with their academy teammates and best friends was even more intriguing. While recruiting the Sullivan twins, Mulqueen and his staff were recruiting Smith and others. A local, highly rated goalkeeper, Smith, joined Declan and Ronan as 2026 signees.
 
"We weren't a package deal," Declan said about the recruiting process with his brother. "We were looking at a lot of different schools, and we didn't have the same set of schools looking after us, but St. Joe's came to both of us, and we thought it was a great opportunity. We've been together 18 years, might as well make it another four."
 
"There was a bunch of communication between all of us," Ronan said. We all thought it was a great spot individually, and then to have us all together, it was like a dream come true. You think about, 'Oh, I'm going go to college with all my buddies,' and for kids outside of soccer, that's more realistic, but to have all of us going to the same school at such a high level of soccer and academics is great."
 
There are a lot of similarities between the Union and St. Joe's, from academics to play style to mentality. 
 
Academically, the standards for both institutions are high. With smaller class sizes, St. Joe's and YSC Academy offer personalized educational experiences for their students, which can be beneficial for student-athletes who have to balance school and sports. 
 
"Academically, it was great," Rob Myrick said. "They gave me all the core curriculum I needed to be prepared for college. They have a very good system with training and school, which kind of bred me into more of a student-athlete.
 
"At the academy, they train you to be as professional as possible from a young age. Tim is all about the details and professionalism, so those two tie together very well."
 
A Philadelphia native, Myrick recently transferred to St. Joe's from La Salle. The redshirt junior graduated from YSC Academy in 2023 and had two former club teammates, Sebastian Perez-Gasiba and Jake Ross, put him in touch with Mulqueen after entering the transfer portal. 
 
While academically prepared, the players coming in from YSC and the Union system will be even more ready for the style of soccer Mulqueen implements. A former MLS assistant coach, Mulqueen uses a professional system that relies heavily on high energy, pressing, and playing on the front foot. 
 
In the soccer world, the system is known as "energy drink soccer," a style popularized by the global Red Bull soccer group. The Union turned to the unique style of play in the early 2020s, finding consistent success, with an MLS Cup Final appearance in 2022 and winning the MLS Supporters' Shield in 2025. The Union Academy teaches the same tactics and plays with the same style, making the transition to the college game and St. Joe's soccer a little bit smoother for the Union products.
 
"We are going to press," Mulqueen said. "We're going to be on the front foot, we're going to be aggressive. We are going to get forward, and we are going to defend. We look for guys who have those qualities, so it's a pretty focused and intentional recruiting process."
 
"I love the system," Declan said. "I love that high energy; I thrive on it. That last step, making that last tackle, it gives me a jolt of energy. I know Ronan and the other Union guys are the same way. It's a style that fits all of our attributes as players, with our fitness and also our tactical awareness."
 
Perhaps the biggest similarity between the Union and St. Joe's is the Philly mindset that both programs instill in their players. 
 
There is a certain attitude and mindset you must have to be an athlete in the City of Brotherly Love. Mulqueen makes it a priority for his players to understand the significance of not only playing soccer in Philly but also representing the city. The Philly toughness is promoted within the Union system, from youth levels all the way to the first team.
 
"The biggest thing that translates from the Union to St. Joe's is the Philly spirit, the hard-nose, blue-collar mentality," Clair said. "That is carried throughout the Union Academy and St. Joe's, which is why both institutions are really successful."
 
"We want culture setters. We always look for guys who understand the importance of playing in the city, playing city games, and representing the great soccer of Philadelphia. It's a common theme with all our guys; it permeates through our team."
 
Mulqueen knows exactly what he's getting from the Union Academy products. It's a disciplined group that knows how to train and compete at high levels. That's why he brought them in.
 
However, it's not just about this class. Mulqueen's goal is to continue emphasizing local recruiting while establishing a Union-to-Hawk Hill pipeline that will be successful for years to come. 
 
"We've been blessed to have that relationship, and we've been blessed that the players have decided to come here," Mulqueen said. "Now it's our job to make sure we do right by them while they're here, so that continues to develop a nice pipeline for us."