A LOOK BACK:
U20s:
The Red Bull U20s have not begun their season.
U18s: The U18 Red Bulls got on the scoreboard early and defeated U18 Real Colorado, 1-0, on Friday, May 22 at the USDA Spring Showcase in Sarasota, FL. In the seventh minute, Oscar Gonzalez (Clifton, NJ) (called up from U16 Red Bulls) finished neatly after Nick Gendron (Ramsey, NJ) beat two men on the right wing and served the ball to the near post. In the second half the Red Bulls received great defending from Jason Wells (Montclair, NJ), and Sheldon Parkinson (Bronx, NY) made several key saves in goal to preserve the shutout.
The U18s were defeated by MLS Academy rival Chicago Fire, 4-0, on Saturday, May 23. Chicago scored in the third minute to get an early lead. As the first half progressed, the Red Bulls came close to leveling the game. Walter Hines (Brooklyn, NY) and Giorgi Chirgadze (Brooklyn, NY) each had chances, but were unable to find the back of the net. In the second half, the Fire made it 2-0 when Sacir Hot (Fair Lawn, NJ) deflected a corner kick into his own goal. As the Red Bulls pushed to get back into the game, Chicago scored two late goals to make the final score 4-0.
"Chicago was very organized and disciplined today and proved to be very dangerous on the counter-attack," stated U18 head coach Paul O'Donnell. "When you give away an early goal against an organized team it is always going to be difficult. We actually played some good football today, probably better than in our victory against Real Colorado. However, we just could not seem to get that extra bit of quality in the final third to get some goals."
The Red Bulls dropped the final game of the USDA Spring showcase by a 2-0 score against CASL Chelsea FC on Monday, May 25. The Red Bulls started the game very well and came up short on a few scoring chances, as the CASL goalkeeper made two very good saves to keep the Red Bulls off the scoreboard. Dylan Mencia (Honesdale, PA) had the best chance after Hines burst through the middle to slip Mencia in on goal. However, his shot was parried wide of the post for a corner kick. CASL scored first after a Red Bulls giveaway in their defensive third allowed the CASL forward to go in on a breakaway to make it 1-0.
"In the first half, we actually played some of the best and most attractive soccer that we have played this season," noted O'Donnell. "I think the majority of the first half was played with us in the attack. However, we did not capitalize on our chances and a mistake led to their goal. In order to win games you must take advantage of your chances and score goals. We have not done that lately and it has made it difficult to win games."
U16s: The U16 Red Bulls posted a 1-1-1 record at the USDA Spring Showcase in Sarasota, FL. On Friday, May 22, the Red Bulls got off to a good start, beating U16 Real Colorado, 1-0. Brandon Adler (Montville, NJ) scored off a corner kick on a good service from Clint Caso (Kinnelon, NJ). Travis Ives (Bridgewater, NJ) recorded the shutout.
On Saturday, May 23, the U16s played very well and created several quality chances but were unable to capitalize, drawing with the U16 Chicago Fire, 0-0. It was a very well played game by both teams and some very good soccer was played. Keith Cardona (Glen Rock, NJ) recorded the shutout for the Red Bulls.
The showcase concluded on Monday, May 25, with CASL Chelsea FC defeating the U16s, 2-1. The Red Bulls got on the board first as Kemal Can Gurel (Staten Island, NY) finished off a good pass from CJ Lyle (Stanford, NJ) to give the U16s a 1-0 lead. CASL drew even just before the half. The game opened up in the second half and both teams created chances to score. In the final five minutes CASL was able to beat the Red Bull defense to find the game-winner.
"Overall it was a good weekend for us to prepare for the upcoming playoffs," said U16 head coach Rob Elliott. "We had moments where we played some very good attacking soccer against three good teams."
U15s: The U15s competed against teams from New York and Connecticut in the Massapequa Memorial Day Tournament on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24. The Red Bulls won their group with a record of 3-0-0, outscoring their opponents by a 12-1 margin. Unfortunately, the team came up short in the finals, dropping a 4-1 decision to U15 Dix Hills.
"I am very proud of the team, they really played good soccer throughout the tournament" said U15 head coach Stan Lembryk.
The Red Bulls went down, 1-0, in the tenth minute when a Red Bull defender was called for a penalty kick. The U15s created several chances, and drew within a goal at 2-1 after Tommy Haskel (Basking Ridge, NJ) assisted on Conor Gleba's (Skillman, NJ) tally with 15 minutes left in the mach. Pressing forward for the equalizer, the Red Bulls got caught on counters and surrendered two late tallies for the 4-1 final.
"I thought it was one of those games where we were controlling the flow of the game, creating chances and Dix Hills would get an opportunity and punish us. They finished very, very well and deserve a lot of credit," stated Lembryk.
U14s: The U14 Red Bull hoisted silverware at the Massapequa Memorial Day Tournament on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24, allowing just two goals over four matches and posting a +12 goal differential.
The Red Bulls opened group play with a 5-0 win over U14 America Juniors SC. Christian Alexief (West Nyack, NY) opened the scoring, converting an Arun Basuljevic (Mahopac, NY) pass. Mathew Mahoney (Poughkeepsie, NY) assisted on a Fredy Umanzor (Morristown, NJ) to double the U14s advantage. Anders Fleming (Nyack, NY) added to the Red Bulls' lead with Basuljevic being credited for the helper once again. Clayton Taylor (Mendham, NJ) made the advantage 4-0 off a Kevin Tejada (Clifton, NJ) assist, before Zack Reed (Teaneck, NJ) blasted home a Luis Munoz (New York, NY) pass to provide the final margin.
In the second group stage match, John Toher (Blauvelt, NY) got the Red Bulls on the board off a Diego Ceron (Belleville, NJ) assist, Taylor doubled the lead with Reed earning the assist, and Shane Kronick (Westfield, NJ) rounded out the scoring off a penalty kick as the U14s defeated the U14 Brooklyn Italians, 3-0.
A 3-1 win over the U14 Huntington Boys rounded out the group stage. Umanzor, Kronick, and Taylor scored for the Red Bulls, with Basuljevic scoring two more assists.
In the championship game, the U14s cruised to a 3-1 win over U14 FC Gotschee. Anthony Sare (River Edge, NJ) converted a Rikuo Nakamoto (Waldwick, NJ) pass to open the scoring the Red Bulls, and Nakamoto had a hand in the second goal as well, as Basuljevic got in on the scoring with a goal of his own. Umanzor put the game away with a tally off a Munoz pass.
A LOOK AHEAD:
Saturday, May 30th
U20 Red Bulls vs. U20 Perugia 5pm @ NJIT
Sunday May 31st
U15 Red Bulls vs. U15 Albertson (TBA)
U14 Red Bulls vs. U14 Albertson (TBA)
U16 Red Bulls vs. U16 Baltimore Bays 3:30pm @ Rutgers-Newark (*game could possibly be moved to earlier in the day)
U18 Red Bulls vs. U18 Baltimore Bays 5:30pm @ Rutgers-Newark (*game could possibly be moved to earlier in the day)
