HARRISON, N.J. (August 12, 2015) – New York Red Bulls II earned a midweek draw at Red Bull Arena against Charlotte Independence, the second draw between these clubs in a week span, 1-1. Daniel Jackson opened the scoring for Charlotte in the 23rd minute and Stefano Bonomo leveled the match in the 73rd, his first USL regular season goal for Red Bulls II.
New York Red Bulls II improves to 9-8-6 on the season and move into a tie on points with fourth place Richmond Kickers.
The match began with an impressive save by Santiago Castano. In a one-on-one situation, the goalkeeper made a diving save to his left to keep the score level. Red Bulls II earned its first scoring opportunity on a corner kick soon afterwards, when an out-swinging corner kick from Leo Stolz found the head of Ronald Zubar, but the MLS-loanee’s shot was cleared off the line.
Charlotte struck first in the 23rd minute, beginning off a goal kick. The Independence goalkeeper launched his goal kick forward and over the New York defense, and Daniel Jackson ran in pursuit. Castano came off his line to make a play, but mishandled the ball and Jackson collected it with no one to beat. He calmly finished the chance and put Charlotte ahead.
The Independence nearly doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Castano charged out to make a clearance, but the ball was outside of the penalty area and forced him to make a play without using his hands. The goalkeeper was unable to make a proper clearance and Charlotte gained possession with no one in net, but the shot was sent wide.
Ronald Zubar then exited the match in the 35th minute for James Thomas, and Colin Heffron came on for Roy Miller at halftime.
After a couple passes from a short corner kick in the 73rd minute, Speedy Williams found himself on the ball in space with teammates in the box. He spotted Bonomo, lowered his head, and placed his cross directly on his forehead. Bonomo nodded home easily for his first USL regular season goal of the year to level the match. New York pushed forward for the go-ahead goal, but neither team could break the deadlock and both sides walked away with a point.
New York Red Bulls II has the weekend off and will play its next game on the road against Toronto FC II on Saturday, August 22.
Scoring Summary
- CLT: Daniel Jackson (Matt Lampson) 23’
- NY: Stefano Bonomo (Speedy Williams) 73’
Discipline Summary
- NY: Bolu Akinyode, Caution 20’
- CLT: Enzo Martinez, Caution 20’
- NY: Anatole Abang, Caution 43’
- CLT: Carlos Alvarez, Caution 60’
- CLT: Paolo Del Piccolo, Caution 70’
- CLT: Caleb Calvert, Caution 90’
Lineups
NY: Santiago Castano; Shawn McLaws, Ronald Zubar (James Thomas, 35’), Mike Da Fonte, Roy Miller (Colin Heffron, 46’); Bolu Akinyode, Devon Williams, Leo Stolz; Manolo Sanchez (Marius Obekop, 82’), Anatole Abang (Chris Tsonis, 66’), Brian Saramago (Stefano Bonomo, 60’)
Substitutes not used: Rafael Diaz, Daniel Bedoya
CLT: Matt Lampson; Mechack Jerome, Patrick Slogic, Henry Kalungi (Jack Metcalf, 83’), Bilal Duckett; Andrew Ribeiro, Daniel Jackson (Raphael Cox, 76’), Enzo Martinez (Michael Bustamante, 84’), Paolo Del Piccolo, Carlos Alvarez; Tomasz Zahorski (Caleb Calvert, 81’)
Substitutes not used: John Berner, Ryan Finley, Dominique Badji
