Courtesy Courtesy Red Bulls II
by Andrew Garda
garda@montclairlocal.news
Vincent Bezecourt’s 27th-minute goal helped New York Red Bulls II edge Toronto, 1-0, Friday night at the MSU Soccer Park.
With the win, NYRB II (7-10-3, 24 points) pushed themselves back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the USL’s Eastern Conference.
New York came out on the right foot during the match pressing TFC II (3-10-5, 14 points) and keeping the ball in the offensive half of the pitch leading to multiple opportunities going forward.
Red Bulls II nearly had the opening goal of the match in the 23rd minute of the match with Bezecourt sending a shot towards the upper ninety of the frame, but TFC II goalkeeper Mark Pais made a full-extension save to momentarily keep the match scoreless.
NYRB II responded just four minutes later with Junior Flemmings executing the counterattack to perfection laying off a ball for Bezecourt to run with, who then calmly slotted it past Pais for his sixth goal of the season.
Toronto pressed to find the equalizer in the final 15 minutes with Riccardo John’s half chance in stoppage time being their best opportunity but it did not connect.
New York heads back out on the road next weekend to take on Louisivlle City FC on Saturday, July 29.
“We tend to play well against Louisville,” Wolyniec said, “I think they are a good matchup for us and we raise our game for them. I’m excited, they’re a good team. We love playing against them because it always looks like a good game and it’s interesting tactically and it’s a great challenge for us. They do a great job with the crowd and environment there, I’m excited for our newer guys to get the experience there and some of the other guys to experience that again.”