In a game featuring the orange adidas ball, the New York Red Bulls and Minnesota United FC played to a 1-1 draw in snowy conditions at Allianz Field on Saturday night.
Andrés Reyes scored the New York Red Bulls first goal of the season to equalize and grab a point on the road. Reyes' header off a John Tolkin corner kick, found the side netting and leveled the score in the second half, following a first half goal from Bongokuhle Hlongwane, also off a corner kick.
"Reyes, was, again, in many defensive moments, a beast," Head Coach Gerhard Struber said. "He was so clear in his personnel fights, his behavior against the ball is on a top level at the moment. He's so reliable. For the backline, he has a big value that it's so, so difficult to score against us.
"In many, many directions, he's very important. On set pieces, he uses his power and his quality to score. This is not a surprise for me. I see this in training often," Struber said.
Reyes scored his first goal of the season and the third of his MLS career. The Colombian defender last scored on June 23, 2021, against New England Revolution. Tolkin registered his sixth career MLS assist and his first since August 17, 2022, against Atlanta United FC.
New York created chances on the attack, registering 15 shots with four on target, despite the less-than-stellar pitch.
"We have too many top chances to bring the points home, what we deserve," Struber said. "On the same time, we must be critical with ourselves, especially the first 20 minutes, how we created the match plan, the picture of what we want, and we don't score."
Reyes becomes the 28th different player in club history to score the opening goal of an MLS season over 28 years in the league.
Carlos Coronel made one save, the first of the season, as New York had previously not allowed a shot on goal during open play.
Women's Empowerment Night | March 18
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"We must score. For me, the bottle is half full and not half empty," Struber said. "I have a very, very good feeling our moments will come. We can see how hard we work today. I'm looking forward for our next game at home against Columbus. Every game is a big challenge. ... We are looking forward. We have to do something. We have to work hard, again, in every training session that we have, hopefully next week, the win in the hand for us and for our fans."
New York returns home to Red Bull Arena on Saturday, March 18 to battle Columbus Crew on Women's Empowerment Night at Red Bull Arena.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm. ET with coverage on Apple TV in English and Spanish and New York Red Bulls Radio in English via Tune In, the New York Red Bulls app, and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
