The New York Red Bulls II played their third straight home game in 78 degree weather at MSU Soccer Park against USL Championship division rivals, the Charleston Battery. The last time these two played, was a 2-2 tie in May. While their first meeting was decently high-scoring, no one could have predicted four goals in the first half from both teams.
First Half Goalfest
Along with the Baby Bulls, a lot of the players on Charleston Battery have cool first names related to Greek Mythology. One of Charleston's striking pair was named "Dionysius" Harmon. In Greek mythology, according to this site, Dionysius is the "Olympian god of wine and vegetation."
The Battery got on the board in the second minute when midfielder Geobel Perez Oquendo sent in an early cross behind the Red Bulls II backline, where goalkeeper, Luca Lewis was indecisive and beaten to the ball by Dionysius Harmon, whose athletic header punched the ball into the back of the net, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the second minute.
The Baby Red Bulls leveled things up shortly, when Danish forward, Mathias Jorgensen received a pass from midfielder Austin Brummet and scored high over the Battery goalkeeper, Joe Kuzminsky to tie the game at 1-1.
Jørgensen's first start of the season.
Jørgensen's first goal of the season.
1-1 | #NYvCHS | #NYRBII pic.twitter.com/12zODxoML1
— New York Red Bulls II (@NYRBII) August 20, 2021
In the ninth minute, Charleston midfielder AJ Paterson received a one-touch through ball deep down the left wing where he played a ground cross into the Red Bull's box. Joshua Penn strode into the 18-yard-box and scored with his left to put the Battery up 2-1. Penn was the 10th overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by Inter Miami CF and is on loan.
New Jersey-native Omar Sowe once again showed his ability to create offense out of thin air with his athletic ability, taking a sliding shot that Charleston goalkeeper, Joe Kuzminsky miraculously saved. The ball was deflected onto the cross bar by the keeper and out of play.
The Charleston Battery extended their lead to 3-1 right before halftime. The Red Bulls II defense was all over the place and allowed the Italian, Claudio Repetto to roof the rebound over a helpless Luca Lewis. In an odd display of sportsmanship, Repetto downplayed his celebration and walked over to the sideline camera and stood there with his arms folded.
Second Half
In the second half, the rain started to fall and by the end of the game, was heavy. I advise any Red Bulls II fans to bring Tums or some kind of antacid the next time they attend a game at MSU Soccer Park, because the Red Bulls II have been coming agonizingly close to scoring, lately.
In the 59th minute, the Red Bulls broke out of their end with Jake LaCava dribbling forward. The Connecticut-native dribbled all the way into the Battery box, cut to his left and was on a semi-breakaway, but blew his shot high. Just two minutes after that, the Red Bulls II were driving down field again. This time, three Red Bulls stampeded into Charleston territory, where Jeremy Rafanello ended up with the ball. He took a hard low shot that skidded just wide of the left post.
From 60th minute to the end, the game was exhilarating. There were breakaways, free kicks, and fouls. Striker, Omar Sowe leapt high for a header in the 75th minute and stayed down afterwards with an apparent head injury.
- SUB | Red Bulls II
- Luther Archimede IN, Cortez OUT
- Williams in for Yearwood
- Ngoma IN, Jorgensen OUT
The Red Bulls II had a quality chance in the 79th minute where Austin Brummett sent Serge Ngoma in one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The speedy 16-year-old Ngoma dribbled past the Battery's six-foot-four goalkeeper and took an awkward shot that was cleared off the goal-line just in time by Battery center-back, Leland Archer.
The referee signaled for six minutes of stoppage time, which the Red Bulls II could work with. A Charleston defender cleared the ball. Daniel Edelman leapt up and headed the ball back into Charleston's box. Jake LaCava collected the pass and passed the ball over to striker, Serge Ngoma, who was in the correct position and scored his first professional goal.
16. Years. Old.
Congrats to Serge Ngoma for scoring his first professional goal in our last match!@RedBullsAcademy | #NYRBII pic.twitter.com/BH1EMnMlfO
— New York Red Bulls II (@NYRBII) August 22, 2021
Postgame Comments
New York Red Bulls II's Head Coach John Wolyniec discussed how losing at home for the third straight time felt and why his team need to take the bull by the horns more.
Hopefully that gets him where he needs to be, [after] having a tough year with injuries. It was nice to seem him start and get a goal, it was a good one for him and shows what he can do on the run. - John Wolyniec
Mathias Jorgensen scored his first goal since he was the Red Bulls II's top goal-scorer during the 2019 season. Over the past year and a half, he played in eight games in 2020 for the Red Bulls first team, but did not catch on and tonight he scored in a return to his old stomping grounds.
At the end of the day though the Baby Red Bulls would concede three goals to Charleston in the first half, which cost them the game tonight. Nevertheless, Red Bulls II manager, John Wolyniec. was happy that his team did not give up trying, which led to Ngoma scoring his first professional goal.
We came out strong in the second half... [and] we played some of our best soccer and you know obviously the highlight for us is Serge [Ngoma] getting his first goal and hopefully that sets him up for continued success in the next few games here.
Edelman is tied with Omar Sower for the most appearances and starts (17) during the 2021 USL Championship season. His manager discussed Eddy's heroic header which created "a second chance" for Red Bulls II and ultimately the Red Bulls' second goal.
He's a beast at the end of games, he tends to start games slow, but by the end of the game, he's a true impact player, Wolyniec said. The challenge for him is to make [those same] plays early in games as well, but he showed he's a warrior [tonight]. He's getting kicked, pushed and shoved to the ground, but he keeps pushing and credit to him, he made a play for us." - John Wolyniec
Daniel Edelman has been the Red Bulls II's rock in the center of midfield all season long. The 5'8" midfielder may not be the biggest player physically but he sure makes up for it with his heart and attention to detail. As a result, he added that one of his best attributes is endurance.
The Red Bulls II team has lost four straight games by one goal and one of it's leaders, Edelman, who comes from Warren in Sussex County, discussed what his team can do better to make sure they create more offense, consistently.
"We've had opportunities with our fullbacks out wide, serving the ball into the box, that's one part of our game that can get better. I think we have to add another layer to our style of play, not just play the long ball in and hope for a quick chance. We've got to work on building out better and that's how we'll hope to get more goals.
- Daniel Edelman
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