BRIDGEVIEW, IL (May 1, 2023) - New York Red Bulls II (2-1-3, 11 pts.) traveled to Illinois and held Chicago Fire FC II (2-3-1, 7 pts.) to a 0-0 draw. New York won the shootout 3-0 to grab the second point in the standings.
New York, who was on the road for the second straight match, looked to continue their recent run of success against a struggling Chicago team that had dropped three matches in a row. The final score was not representative of the match, as it was jam-packed with chances on both ends, highlighted by the tremendous performance from Red Bulls II goalkeeper A.J. Marcucci.
From the opening whistle, the action immediately began. Chicago had multiple chances within the first ten minutes of the match, however, they were just getting themselves familiar with Marcucci. Two close range shots were no match for the Westchester, PA native, as he kept Chicago scoreless with ease in the first half.
On the New York attacking end, there were also quality chances that just could not seem to get through. Frank Ssebufu, Ricardo Gorday, and Ibrahim Kasule all had chances in the opposing third that were unable find the back of the net.
The second half was more of the same from both squads, as the opportunities were there, but the goals were not. A.J. Marcucci continued his fantastic play after the second half began, making save after save to maintain the clean sheet. No save was bigger than the one in the eighty seventh minute, when the keeper stopped an on-target shot from eight yards away to hold the clean sheet and send the match to a shootout.
Frank Ssebufu stepped up for New York’s first shot and, like his other two shots taken from the spot this season, he sunk it to put the team up early. From there, Marcucci continued his success in net, saving two out of the three shots he faced. O’Vonte Mullings and Henry Wise sealed the win for New York with their shots in the third and fourth round to secure the second point from Chicago.
Shootout:
- NY: Ssebuufu (Goal)
- CHI: Prpa (Miss)
- NY: Yearwood (Miss)
- CHI: Gallina (Save)
- NY: Mullings (Goal)
- CHI: Glasgow (Save)
- NY: Wise (Goal)
Marcucci tied his single match high in saves with seven on the night. He has reached that mark two other times in his professional career, with the last being in September of 2021. The goalkeeper currently leads MLS NEXT Pro with three clean sheets on the year and is second in the league in saves with 25.
This is the first three match unbeaten streak for New York since September of 2021. In addition, it is the first three match unbeaten streak for Red Bulls II in which all three matches have been clean sheets since August of 2016.
Dylan Sullivan made the first professional start of his career for Red Bulls II.
New York begins a three match homestand at MSU Soccer Park starting Sunday, May 7th against Philadelphia Union II. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET with coverage available on MLS Season Pass with Apple TV, the New York Red Bulls app, and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
Scoring Summary:
Misconduct Summary:
- NY – O’Vonte Mullings (caution, foul) 49’
- CHI – Eric Leonard (caution, time wasting) 55’
- NY – Curtis Ofori (caution, foul) 60’
- CHI - Omari Glasgow (caution, foul) 81’
New York Red Bulls II: AJ Marcucci; Curtis Ofori (Juan Gutierrez 90'), Jayden Reid, Hassan Ndam, Dru Yearwood, Erick Ruiz (Bento Estrela 46’), Dylan Sullivan (O’Vonte Mullings 46’), Amos Shapiro-Thompson, Ricardo Gorday (Oladayo Thomas 46’), Ibrahim Kasule (Henry Wise 68’), Frank Ssebufu
Unused Subs: Will Meyer, Yostin Salinas, Davi Alexandre, Copeland Berkley
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 ; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 ; FOULS: 16; POSSESSION: 44.7 ; CORNER KICKS: 7 ; SAVES: 7
Chicago Fire FC II: Jeffrey Gal (Mihajlo Miskovic 46’); Charlie Ostrem, Sergio Oregel (Billy Hency 62’), Kendall Burks, Harold Osorio (Herique Gallina 78’), Richard Fleming, Eric Leonard, L. Rochester, Alex Monis (Missael Rodriguez 62’), Luka Prpa, Omari Glasgow
Unused Subs: Justin Reynolds, Allan Rodriguez, Noah Egan, Noeh Hernandez, Michael Flores
TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 ; FOULS: 16 ; POSSESSION: 55.3 ; CORNER KICKS: 10 ; SAVES: 7
