After a 3-0 home loss to Memphis 901 FC on Sunday afternoon, New York Red Bulls II responded with a 3-2 road victory on Wednesday against a Charleston Battery club looking to continue its playoff push.
“It was a good performance and a good response from our last few games,” midfielder Jake LaCava said. “We came out with energy and we set the tone early, and any time we do that it’s good for us and it kind of helped us throughout the rest of the game.”
New York jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the opening 20 minutes of the match, applying pressure right from the start. It was a lead that they never relinquished, making key defensive stops down the stretch.
“I just think it was the energy and the confidence that we were playing with,” LaCava said. “A lot of stuff was happening for us in our press.”
The victory followed a match against Memphis in which New York was held scoreless, and it can serve as a stepping stone to build some momentum entering the final stretch of the regular season.
“I think that we learned well, and we really came together and dug deep to get three points,” midfielder Jeremy Rafanello said. “We stuck to what we said of just being with the team with everyone doing their roles. I think that’s what John [Wolyniec] and the staff was trying to tell us, and we really did stick by it.”
New York capitalized on its chances, scoring on three of its four shots on target, which was a rebound from Sunday when it went 0-4 in that category.
“I think we were more dangerous in the box with our runs,” LaCava said. “That was a good little change because we’ve kind of struggled with that throughout the season.”
On another quick turnaround with a match Sunday at Real Monarchs SLC, the team will look to use the victory at Charleston to build going forward.
“We think it’s an opportunity to string together two wins in a row, something that we haven’t done yet this season,” LaCava said. “We’re looking to build off a good performance and a good result.”
