Skip to main content

Recap: Red Bulls grab their first point of the season, fight Charleston Battery to a draw, 1-1

MONTCLAIR, NJ - The New York Red Bulls II, in search of their first win of the 2021 season, took on the Charleston Battery at MSU Soccer Park on a cool Friday evening in the North Jersey suburbs.

Early on, the New York Red Bulls II employed their usual high press attack, and it would pay off in the 10th minute as Battery center-back Jarad van Schaik was pressured to turn over the ball in the back, and Jack LaCava immediately pounced on the loose ball and powered it home for a 1-0 lead.

Charleston quickly tried to get back into the match, with former New York Red Bulls II midfielder Zeiko Lewis leading the attack. However, goalkeeper Luca Lewis and the Red Bulls II defense would shut it down, nullifying the threat.

Charleston would continue to threaten score, with the New York Red Bulls II midfield struggling to string passes together, creating chances in every possession. Including one sequence where a dangerous pass was delivered from Zeiko Lewis over to a wide-open Logan Gdula, but his shot went wide of the right post. 

The second half would be a chippy affair as both teams began to collect fouls which resulted in yellow cards, with many of them putting the Battery in dangerous positions to score from a free-kick. However, the Battery would still not score.

Charleston had a chance in the 64th minute as Lewis’ low cross from the right was turned on goal at close range by Stavros Zarokostas only for Red Bulls II goalkeeper Luca Lewis to make a good point-blank save.

The Red Bulls would have chances to get that elusive second goal, Michael Knapp's touch-pass would find the feet of Jack LaCava sprinting toward the goal, but he could not finish, pushing his shot wide right. 

The Red Bulls would pay for that missed chance as Zeiko Lewis would finally break through his goal in the 72nd minute, evening things up at a goal apiece.

The Battery would have another big chance to take the lead as Angelo Kelly-Rosales' point-blank header would be saved by Luca Lewis, denying the Battery a chance to take the lead. The Red Bulls would have one final chance to steal a victory deep in stoppage time, but Mandela Egbo's header would end up in the arms of Battery goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky as the match came to a close giving both teams a point apiece.

Starting XI:

New York Red Bulls II: Lewis, Egbo, Zalinsky, Edelman, Brummett (Mitchell - 60'), Reyes (Tombol - 73'), Acosta, LaCava (10'), Knapp, Sowe (Ofori - 91'), Rafanelllo

Unused Players: Marcucci, Andrews, Timchenko, Estrela

Charleston Battery: Kuzminsky, Di Rosa, Archer, Gdula, Crawford (Fahling - 60'), van Schaik, Paterson, Kelly, Z. Lewis (72') (Perez - 76'), Zarokotas (Daley - 76'), Cichero

Unused Players: Pondy, P. Lewis, Adesodun, Harmon, Daley, Harmon

Scoring Summary:
10' (New York Red Bulls II) Jake LaCava (2)
72' (Charleston Battery) Zeiko Lewis (1)

Discipline:
27' (New York Red Bulls II) Austin Brummett
43' (New York Red Bulls II) Michael Knapp
45+1' (Charleston Battery) Angelo Kelly-Rosales
54' (New York Red Bulls II) Daniel Edelman
54' (Charleston Battery) Logan Gdula
73' (Charleston Battery) Starvos Zarostarkas
87' (New York Red Bulls II) Omar Sowe
90+2' (Charleston Battery) Chris Fahling


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Red Bulls Announce Fan Experience Improvements

by Garry Redman On top of the theme nights announced this season, something new has been added the next time the season ticket holders and supporters step inside The Cathedral... The state-of-the-art LED lighting system at Red Bull Arena will provide higher on-field light levels for enhanced visibility and safety and introduce new entertainment features that heighten the overall experience for spectators.   Built around Musco's Total Light Control—TLC for LED™ technology, the new system is designed to provide exceptional playability and uniformity while minimizing glare. Cleaner, whiter light will elevate the broadcast quality for fans watching around the world.  Color-changing fixtures and Show-Light® Pro entertainment technology will allow the Red Bulls to wash the stadium in different colors and synchronize light shows to music, heightening the fan experience during goal celebrations, player introductions, and other big moments. If you have no idea what this means, cl...

Quotes: Red Bulls Show Promise, But More Work Need To Be Done

photo by Matt Kremkau Sixty seconds in a ninety-minute match. That’s all it took for Sporting Kansas City to ruin the Opening Day festivities at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night. The supporters in attendance saw crisp passing and a stout defense that kept the visitors at bay, despite not having striker Alan Pulido in the starting lineup. But significantly, the supporters were buoyed by a return to that press that has last seen since Jesse Marsch was in charge. But that was the first 45 minutes. In the second half, things turned for the better and then, shockingly, worse for the home side that evening. Midfielder Caden Clark, who scored the opening goal, spoke about the match as a whole: I’ve kept that in the back of my mind, actually, not scoring at home. I really wanted to do that in front of the supporters, and it was great to do that in front of the few that were here tonight who brought the noise. When I scored that [goal] the place was shaking, and you feed off of that and gai...

Editorial: New York Red Bulls are Fun to Watch

photo by Matt Kremkau by Daniel Feuerstein The New York Red Bulls 2024 season starts off and running. In their first three matches, they have looked different from their last five to six seasons of doom and despair when trying to attack or have a lapse in judgment on the defensive end. The two big editions for the club are undoubtedly the imports from Sweden in Centerback Noah Elle & attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg. Two players who are a part of the Swedish National Team have started off well in Major League Soccer. We all knew what we were getting right away from Forsberg. A high-energy creative and attacking midfielder who was already bought in from day one, when Director of Sport Jochen Schneider went to Leipzig and brought him over. He was already committed to making the trip to the United States to play his brand of soccer, and so far he hasn't disappointed. Even though he has come close three times off of free kicks, hitting the crossbar twice and being saved by the ke...