HARRISON, N.J. (September 5, 2015) – New York Red Bulls II extended its unbeaten run to four matches in a comeback performance against Louisville City FC, 3-2. Niall McCabe and Matt Fondy scored for Louisville, while Manolo Sanchez, Daniel Bedoya and Bolu Akinyode, who scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute, tallied for New York.
With the win, New York Red Bulls II improves to 12-8-6 on the season, and stands alone in third place of the Eastern Conference. With two matches remaining in the regular season, Red Bulls II can all but clinch a spot in the playoffs with a midweek victory against FC Montreal.
The game got off to a quick pace from the start, with scoring chances on both ends of the field. 10 minutes in, Marius Obekop, fighting off multiple defenders, even going down in the box during the play, maintained possession and let fly a left-footed strike which was parried out of bounds by the keeper. A few minutes later, Louisville had an open shot at the back post which was kept out, thanks to a diving save by Santiago Castano.
Louisville opened the scoring in the 20th minute, when Guy Abend found himself with time to operate in the middle of the field. Abend played in McCabe, who ran in behind the New York defense and blasted home his chance in a one-on-one with Castano.
Louisville’s lead was short-lived, however, and Red Bulls II equalized six minutes later. Shawn McLaws pushed up the right flank and swung in a cross towards Stefano Bonomo. Bonomo got a touch on the ball which was sent to the back post where Sanchez finished the chance to level the match, 1-1.
In the 40th minute, USL’s leading goal scorer responded to re-take the lead for Louisville. Aodhan Quinn charged toward the Red Bulls II back line and spotted Fondy making a run to his right. Quinn passed off to the league’s all-time leading goal scorer who confidently chipped the charging Castano to put Louisville ahead before halftime, 2-1. The goal was Fondy’s 22nd of the season.
As the match reached its later stages, free kicks would make the difference. Louisville City earned a free kick in the 68th minute from about 21-yards out, but McCabe curled his shot off the crossbar. Bedoya, who entered the match in the 64th minute, showed some flair near the Louisville penalty box, taking on multiple players and eventually earned a free kick about 22-yards from goal. Bedoya took the free kick, and curled in a right-footed shot into the top-left corner to tie the game, 2-2.
In the 86th minute, New York completed the comeback on a corner kick taken by Leo Stolz. Stolz floated an outswinging ball into the center of the penalty area, where Akinyode connected with a towering header past the sprawling goalkeeper to win the match.
New York Red Bulls II head north this week to Canada for its next match against FC Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. ET (WATCH: Live stream available on NewYorkRedBulls.com/Live).
Scoring Summary
- LOU: Niall McCabe (Guy Abend) 20’
- NY: Manolo Sanchez (Stefano Bonomo, Shawn McLaws) 26’
- LOU: Matt Fondy (Aodhan Quinn) 40’
- NY: Daniel Bedoya 71’
- NY: Bolu Akinyode (Leo Stolz) 86’
Discipline Summary
LOU: Niall McCabe, Caution 31’
NY: Leo Stolz, Caution 56’
Lineups
NY: Santiago Castano, Shawn McLaws, Mike Da Fonte, Konrad Plewa, Colin Heffron (James Thomas, 90+’), Speedy Williams, Bolu Akinyode, Leo Stolz (Victor Manosalvas, 88’), Manolo Sanchez (Daniel Bedoya, 64’), Stefano Bonomo, Marius Obekop (Chris Tsonis, 45’)
Subs not used: Rafael Diaz, Mason Deeds, Alex Clay
LOU: Scott Goodman, Bryan Burke, Enrique Montano, Conor Shanosky, Tarek Morad, Niall McCabe (Kadeem Dacres, 83’), Juan Guzman, Matt Fondy, Ilija Ilic (Nate Polak, 71’), Guy Abend, Aodhan Quinn (Sean Reynolds, 64’)
Subs not used: Greg Ranjitsingh, Adam West, Kevin Cossette
