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MLS New York Red Bulls

Match Preview: New York Red Bulls Open 2016 Season Sunday at Red Bull Arena

March 4, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York Red Bulls News Release


HARRISON, N.J. - The New York Red Bulls open the 2016 season at home on Sunday, March 6 versus Toronto FC at Red Bull Arena. The match also kicks off the MLS season, with the 1:30 p.m. start time making #NYvTOR the first game of a full Soccer Sunday league-wide.

Coverage of the match is available on MSG beginning at 1 p.m., with Steve Cangialosi, Shep Messing and Tina Cervasio. Matt Harmon, Steve Jolley and Ernesto Motta return as the voices of the Red Bulls Radio broadcasts.

All 2016 matches on the Red Bulls Radio channel are available on www.newyorkredbulls.com/live . Each match will be preceded by the Red Bulls' official pregame show, Countdown to Kickoff. Home matches will have an hour-long pre-game show, while road matches feature a 30-minute edition of Countdown to Kickoff.

It will be the first time New York opens the season at home since 2011, when the club earned a 1-0 result over Seattle Sounders FC. New York is 7-8-5 overall on opening day, including a 5-1-1 record at home. New York is 12-3-5 all-time in home openers.

The Red Bulls return 10 of 11 starters from the Supporters' Shield winning side of a season ago, though center back Damien Perrinelle will miss the beginning of the season as he rehabs from injury. All 17 returning field players saw time in at least 11 MLS matches last season.

Among the returnees is Bradley Wright-Phillips, who churned out a team-leading 17 goals and career-best seven assists last season. Wright-Phillips now has 45 goals in his MLS career, putting him within striking distance of the club's all-time goals record. He enters the season trailing Thierry Henry (51) and Juan Pablo Angel's club-record 58.

Dax McCarty returns for his second season as captain after a career year of his own. McCarty recorded a career-best eight assists, including the first three multi-assist games of his 10-year career. McCarty earned his first MLS All-Star and MLS Best XI nods in 2015.

Sacha Kljestan burned up the score sheet in the second half of the season, ending on a run of six goals and 13 assists in the final 19 league contests. He finished with eight goals and 14 assists, which tied the franchise's single-season assists record held by Henry and Eduardo Hurtado.

Luis Robles rewrote the franchise record books in 2015, surpassing Tony Meola's club records for wins and shutouts. Robles has started and played a full 90 minutes in 106 consecutive MLS matches since making his New York debut in 2012. His iron man streak is the second longest in league history behind only Kevin Hartman's 112.

Robles was named the 2015 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and earned MLS Best XI honors.

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