John Tolkin smashed a free kick past the Orlando goalkeeper for the game-winning goal at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night, as the New York Red Bulls won, 1-0, over Orlando City SC in his 100th career appearance for the club.
Tolkin opened the scoring for New York in the 38th minute, when he fired a free-kick from 25-yards out and put it in the top corner past Orlando City SC goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. Tolkin scored his first goal of the season and the sixth of his MLS career. It was his first MLS goal since October 21, 2023, against Nashville SC.
"I thought we controlled a lot of the first half," Tolkin said. "It's a tough game with the humidity, obviously. The second game in the week, and we're comfortable defending. A lot of the second half we tried to get on the counter a little bit. They threw all their attackers towards us, and they have a lot of quality."
The Chatham, N.J. native scored his fifth career game-winning goal becoming the fifth active MLS player to record five-or-more game-winning goals before turning 22 years old.
"We were dominant in our ball position, and we found a lot of good moments in our buildup to come in the red zone, to come between the lines," Head Coach Sandro Schwarz said. "The only thing is that we can make more deep runs in the first half and create more situations. But the first half was very dominant, and the second half was a great fight, great spirit from the whole team with the supporters here in our stadium."
Tolkin has recorded a goal or an assist in back-to-back matches.
The Red Bulls extended their unbeaten streak at home across all competitions to 10 matches, which is the fourth-longest home unbeaten streak across all competitions in franchise history.
Carlos Coronel recorded his third shutout of the season and his 33rd career shutout with New York, which ranks second in franchise history. Coronel also tallied his 45th career victory with the Red Bulls, which ranks third in franchise history.
New York recorded their 92nd shutout at home since 2010, which leads MLS in that timespan. The Red Bulls have won three-straight home matches for the first time since 2022, which ran from May 28 to June 30.
"I'm very proud of the team," Schwarz said. "I'm very proud of the supporters here because it was a very good week for all of us."
This was the first time New York has scored a free-kick goal in back-to-back matches since July 2016, which saw Felipe Martins (July 13) and Sacha Kljestan (July 17) scored free-kick goals.
Aidan O’Connor made his MLS debut in tonight’s match.
"Super happy to make my debut but happier that it can be on a win and in front of the home crowd," O'Connor said. "That’s an awesome experience. And with the stadium as full as it was today, makes the experience even better. So, I’m super happy with that."
Sean Nealis made his 127th career start for New York across all competitions, which tied Roy Miller for seventh place in franchise history for starts by a defender. Nealis also made his 121st MLS appearance which passed Steve Jolley for sole possession of seventh place in franchise history for MLS appearances by a defender.
New York heads to Gillette Stadium to face off against the New England Revolution on Saturday, June 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish and New York Red Bulls Radio in English via TuneIn, the New York Red Bulls app and NewYorkRedBulls.com.
