MLS Red Bull New York

New York Red Bulls Weekly Update

Published on May 25, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Red Bull New York News Release


BULLS WRAP UP HOMESTAND AGAINST RAPIDS: The New York Red Bulls hope to wrap up a four game homestand with three points when they take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET at Giants Stadium (TV: MSG; Radio: WADO 1280 AM).

New York had a two-game unbeaten streak snapped on Sunday when it lost to the Chicago Fire, 1-0 with Fire forward Chris Rolfe being the lone scorer. The Red Bulls host a Colorado Rapids team that is currently in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 3-2-4 (13 pts.) record. Last Saturday, the Rapids drew, 2-2, with Seattle Sounders FC at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. After Fredy Montero put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute, Colin Clark and Conor Casey gave the Rapids a 2-1 lead. However, Nate Jaqua tied the game in the 76th minute. Colorado is currently boasting a four game unbeaten streak and has lost once in its last eight games (3-1-4). Casey is in a four-way tie for first place in MLS in goals with six while Clark and Omar Cummings have a team-leading four assists apiece.

New York is 13-13-3 all-time against Colorado and dropped last year's season series against their Western Conference foe. Four different players scored for Colorado in a 4-0 win over the Red Bulls on July 4, 2008 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and a Casey hat trick propelled the Rapids to a 5-4 victory on Sept. 27 at Giants Stadium. The two teams will also play on July 25 in Commerce City, CO.

RED BULLS LOSE 1-0 TO FIRE: A Chris Rolfe goal was enough to give the Chicago Fire a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium Sunday afternoon. Despite out-shooting the Fire 19-12, the Red Bulls dropped to 2-6-3 (9 pts.) while the Eastern Conference-leading Fire improved to 4-0-6 (18 pts.).

The Red Bulls had a good opportunity in the 18th minute when forward John Wolyniec, who was making his first regular season start in 2009, took a throw in from Alfredo Pacheco, turned and fired a shot from 18-yards-out that was punched away by goalkeeper Jon Busch. Fourteen minutes later, forward Juan Pablo Angel almost put the hosts ahead when he got free on the back post and headed a Seth Stammler cross at Busch.

Rolfe nearly got in behind the Red Bulls' defense from a Cuauhtemoc Blanco pass but defender Kevin Goldthwaite knocked it away for a corner kick later. On the ensuing delivery, Blanco swung the ball to Brian McBride, who headed it wide through traffic.

Rolfe gave the Fire the lead moments before the halftime break. Busch played a long free kick that was headed back to Logan Pause, who put it in the path of an onside Rolfe. Rolfe took the ball and slung a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Jon Conway and into the net.

Angel again almost put the Red Bulls on the scoreboard 10 minutes into the second half. Macoumba Kandji got himself free on the left side of Chicago's defensive end and played a low cross that Angel one-timed just right of the post. Soon after, Albert Celades hit a left-footed shot from the top of the penalty box that Busch dove to save. Sinisa Ubiparipovic was able to get to the end line moments later and forced Busch to make a stop by the left post.

With six minutes left, Kandji found Angel, who was able to get in on goal but defender Bakary Soumare slid it out of bounds. Just before, Rolfe forced Conway to make a full extension save to keep the Red Bulls' deficit at one.

The Red Bulls pressed for a goal and substitute Dane Richards ran with the ball from his own half in the 87th minute into the Fire's penalty box and could not get a shot on goal. In the 90th minute, Richards had space in the left side of the penalty box after he was put through by Jeremy Hall and his short angle shot was punched away by Busch. Busch, who had 10 saves on day, made his most important stop in one of the last plays of the game, diving to his right to block a Danleigh Borman header.

LAST WEEK:

Red Bulls 0, Chicago Fire 1 on May 24 at Giants Stadium

THIS WEEK:

Red Bulls vs. Colorado Rapids on May 30 at 7:30 PM ET at Giants Stadium (TV: MSG; Radio: WADO 1280 AM)

NEXT WEEK:

- Red Bulls at D.C. United on June 4 at 7:00 PM ET at RFK Stadium (TV: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes; Radio: WADO 1280 AM)

- Red Bulls at New England Revolution on June 7 at 6:00 PM ET at Gillette Stadium (TV: MSG; Radio: WQBU 92.7 FM)

NEW YORK RED BULLS SCHEDULE (May 25-31)

Please contact a member of the Red Bulls Communications Staff if you have any requests or questions.

This Week's Schedule (subject to change):

Monday, May 25: OFF

Tuesday, May 26: OFF

Wednesday, May 27: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10 AM ET.

Thursday, May 28: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10 AM ET.

Friday, May 29: Training at Montclair State University facility at 10 AM ET.

Saturday, May 30: Red Bulls vs. Colorado Rapids at 7:30 PM ET at Giants Stadium (TV: MSG; Radio: WADO 1280 AM)

Sunday, May 31: OFF

PETKE TO PLAY AGAINST FORMER CLUB: Red Bulls defender Mike Petke will be going up against his former team on Saturday. Petke was acquired by the Red Bulls in the 2008 MLS Waiver Draft on Nov. 26, 2008, after he was waived by the Rapids. Petke played for the Rapids from 2005-08, appearing in 82 games and tallying four goals. One of those goals came on Sept. 27, 2008, in Colorado's 5-4 win over the Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. Petke, 33, is the Red Bulls' all-time leader in games played (139) and started (133).

GAMES PLAYED

PLAYER GP

Mike Petke 139

Jeff Parke 132

Mike Magee 130

Tony Meola 125

John Wolyniec 123

Steve Jolley 120

Tab Ramos 112

Amado Guevara 103

Seth Stammler 102

Chris Leitch 101

Carlos Mendes 101

RED BULLS CELEBRATE FLEET WEEK: On Thursday, May 21, the Red Bulls faced off against the Sailors from the USS Roosevelt on the former USS Intrepid in New York City. Last Sunday, the Red Bulls held their Tickets for Troops program, where companies and individuals donated tickets to servicemen and women and their families. Almost 1,500 tickets were donated for the match.

"We are honored to play soccer with our servicemen and servicewomen at the historic former USS Intrepid," said Erik Stover, Red Bull New York's Managing Director. "Fleet Week New York and Memorial Day Weekend are important events and this event gives us a chance to thank those who protect and serve our country."

GALAXY GAME TIME ANNOUNCED/FAMILY PACKS ON SALE: Red Bull New York announced the start time for its July 16, 2009 match at Giants Stadium against the Los Angeles Galaxy has been set at 8:00 ET.

The Red Bulls also announced that Family Packs for the remaining seven Red Bulls 2009 regular season games at Giants Stadium will go on sale on Tuesday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m. by calling 1.877.RBSOCCER or logging on to www.newyorkredbulls.com. The Family Packs include four (4) tickets to a Red Bulls match and a choice of either four t-shirts or $20 in concession vouchers for use at the Giants Stadium concessions stands. For the Los Angeles Galaxy game, the package only includes $20 in concession vouchers. The Family Packs start as low as $160.00 for the Los Angeles Galaxy match and $89.95 for the other six matches.

The Red Bulls also announced that the last date to join the Priority List for Red Bull Arena, by purchasing Full Season tickets in 2009 is Friday, June 19, 2009. Fans that purchase by the June 19th deadline - for as little as $272 - will have their pricing "frozen" for the 2010 season as well as be line to select their seats when the Red Bulls move into Red Bull Arena - the state-of-the-art soccer-specific stadium being constructed in Harrison, New Jersey -- For more information and securing your place on the Red Bull Arena Priority List, please call the Red Bulls at 1.877.RBSOCCER.

The remaining seven Red Bulls home matches available for the Individual Packs are as follows:

Day Date Opponent Time

Thursday July 16 L.A. Galaxy 8:00 p.m.

Saturday August 15 CD Chivas USA 7:00 p.m.

Sunday August 23 FC Dallas 3:00 p.m

Sunday August 30 Columbus 6:00 p.m.

Saturday September 12 Kansas City 7:30 p.m.

Friday September 18 New England 7:30 p.m.

Saturday October 24 Toronto 7:30 p.m.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Red Bulls have played the month of May at the Meadowlands looking to earn points and move up the standings. This season, New York has a 2-2-2 record at Giants Stadium and a plus-3 goal differential (10-7). In each of the past two seasons, the Red Bulls have earned a 9-3-3 record at home.

ROJAS SUSPENDED: Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas will not be available for selection for Saturday's match as he serves the final game of a two-game suspension. Rojas earned a red card in the 35th minute in the Red Bulls' 1-1 tie against the Houston Dynamo on May 16, when his arm hit midfielder Brian Mullan.

JOHNSON UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY: New York Red Bulls defender Carlos Johnson underwent successful surgery on May 19 to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot. The Open Reduction Internal Fixation procedure was performed by Dr. David Levine at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, NY. Johnson will be out for an indefinite amount of time.

Johnson sustained the injury on Saturday, May 16 in the Red Bulls' 1-1 tie against the Houston Dynamo after a tackle from Houston's Stuart Holden in the 21st minute and had to be substituted out of the game. Johnson has played in six games for New York, starting in five and tallying one assist. Signed on March 18, 2009, Johnson, 24, was most recently with Norwegian Second Division side, Bryne FK, where he made 17 appearances and scored one goal in 2008. Prior to his time in Norway, the right back spent four years the Costa Rican First Division's CS Herediano. There, he played in 91 games and tallied four goals.

Johnson, who was brought up through CS Cartagines' (Costa Rica First Division) youth system, has earned seven caps for the senior national team. He has played at several national team youth levels including representing the Costa Rican Under-17 World Cup squad in 2001.

D.C. UNITED UPENDS RED BULLS IN OPEN CUP: A four-goal first half helped D.C. United defeat the New York Red Bulls, 5-3, at RFK Stadium Wednesday night in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game. D.C. United advanced to the tournament's Round of 16 with the win, while the Red Bulls were eliminated from the tournament.

D.C. United pressed from the get-go and had its first chance six minutes in when Chris Pontius was put in on goal on a ball by Thabiso Khumalo. Pontius raced in before crossing it to Fred, who put his one-time shot over the bar. Moments later however, Pontius put the hosts in front. After United earned its first corner of the match, Christian Gomez's delivery was headed by Pontius past goalkeeper Danny Cepero and into the back of the net.

United doubled their lead in the 18th minute. Gomez played a through ball in the path of Khumalo and he went in alone on Cepero. Khumalo circled Cepero and hit a shot that a fully extended Jeremy Hall could only slide into his own net. Three minutes later, United went up 3-0 when Ange N'Silu's cross from the left wing was deflected by Cepero into Brandon Barklage's path and he blasted it into the empty net.

D.C. made it four in the 26th minute. Pontius played a long cross-field ball to Fred, who beat his defender. Fred's initial shot was blocked by Cepero but he picked up his own rebound and knocked it in.

The Red Bulls had a good chance to score after United's third goal, as Wolyniec had space in the box and hit a shot that was poked away by goalkeeper Josh Wicks. Red Bulls midfielder Khano Smith tested Wicks again in the 43rd minute with a right-footed shot that was parried away.

New York put their name on the scoreboard one minute later. Wolyniec played an over-the-top ball to an on-rushing Dane Richards and he shrugged off his defender before slamming it past Wicks.

The visitors made three substitutions at halftime and it immediately paid dividends three minutes into the second half. Wolyniec found himself with his back towards goal by the penalty spot and he laid it off to substitute Jorge Rojas, who one-timed it inside the left post to make it 4-2. However, United extended its lead back to three as Fred found Pontius with a cross in the box and Pontius headed it past Cepero, who came off his line to deal with the pass.

In this back and forth affair, New York made it 5-3 when it earned a penalty kick in the 58th minute after a Danleigh Borman cross hit off the arm of United defender Greg Janicki. Rojas stepped up and sent Wicks the wrong way for his second goal of the game.

New York had other chances to make the scoreline closer, with Janicki almost deflecting a Wolyniec cross in his own net in the 74th minute and midfielder Luke Sassano hitting just high with Wicks off his line a minute later.

NOT GUN SHY: Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel has been moving up the club's annals in shots and shots on goal. Angel is currently third in each category, with 206 shots and 110 shots on goal. He is trailing Clint Mathis (276, 125) and Amado Guevara (260, 121). Angel started this week in second in MLS in shots (33) and shots on goal (16). FC Dallas' Kenny Cooper leads both categories (36, 19).

Angel has 37 goals in 58 regular season games, which averages to 0.64 goals per game - tops in club history. Giovanni Savarese had 41 goals in 85 games (0.48 avg.).

RED BULLS-FIRE POST-GAME: Here was the reaction after the Red Bulls-Fire match on May 24:

NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS OSORIO

On today's game:

"Disheartened, I think the first half was a very even game. Very limited chances for both teams and in that one play that we went over and over; I don't know how many times, we got done. On the second half, we did everything to change the game. We had most of the possession; we had enough chances to at least tie that game. I recall once chance, maybe half a chance in the second half (Brian) McBride missed it. Other than that, they didn't have anything."

On the team giving up goals in the final minutes of the half:

"I think is too much pressure building up for the final minutes, that's just my personal point of view."

On the frustration of not capitalizing on chances:

"It is very frustrating because we do... during training, we do plenty of drills and entrances into the attacking third, that is like our bread and butter every day and we convert so many chances and different types of goals. And we come to the games and miss them, it is very disappointing."

On being encouraged by the team's play in the second half:

"Yes, I'm encouraged but.... I think that at the end of the day, we all know that this is about results. A lot of people will forget how we played the second half against D.C. or how well we played the second half here today, but yes, to answer the question I am encouraged by that. It is very difficult to go one-nil down against a team like Chicago or Columbus, the teams that counter attack very well in the league and Chicago is one of them. I think having said that, we controlled them quite well in the second half, they still had a very offensive team there, Chris (Rolfe), Cuauhtemoc (Blanco), Brian McBride, (Marco) Pappa. I think that we did well in the second half to control them but not well enough to finish our chances."

NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER MIKE PETKE

On the match:

"We gave them one chance and they put it away. It's sickening to think about right now. We had many opportunities, Jon Busch was the MVP today for sure. It's an extremely depressing feeling right now."

On Chicago's goal:

"I"m playing off of (Kevin) Goldthwaite, off of his right. He goes up and wins the ball; I drop off into his right and cover. The ball was played through from the right midfielder coming across. I thought I was in a good position to cover. You make your own judgments. Apparently the goal was my fault, I'll take that. Tough game."

On what the team needs to do to turn things around:

"It's not my job to say, I'm not the coach. I think we work very hard in practice. It was a good game plan put out, and it's up to us to follow it. Sometimes, I think we do and we still get the short end of the stick, and not all the time, we do. I don't know what's going on."

NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER KEVIN GOLDTHWAITE

On the match:

"I think the first half was a bit tough. I think we were a bit hesitant, and obviously with that goal in the last minute or so. I think in the second half, we definitely played well, we had a lot of chances. I'm not even sure if they had a full chance, maybe a half a chance in the second half. So you come away with it thinking that you played well, but you just can't get a result. (Jon) Busch had a great game in goal as well, so it's definitely frustrating, especially at home."

On Chicago's goal:

"I went up for a header, and I probably could have done a better job winning it against McBride. And pretty much it seemed as I got my head back up it was at (Pause), right at his head or chest and he just put it through. (Chris) Rolfe made a great run and a clinical, great finish."

On whether the team can take positives from the loss:

"Tough pill to swallow, but I think you can look at positives. We've played well with three in the back in the last four or five games, and we have been great in the back. So you look at that and think maybe it can be a possibility or solution in the future. But I think you have to swallow it and take it for what it is right now.

NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL:

On losing despite controlling the game:

"It's extremely hard to explain. I think we dominated the majority of the play, but at the end of the day, we came out empty handed. They took their chance and they converted, and I think that was the only chance they had. We basically made one mistake and we got punished for it and then we couldn't get back in the game. We had a few chances that we didn't convert and we ended up losing the game."

On the team's recent struggles against Chicago:

"I just don't know. It;s one of those things. I think today, we played a lot better than we have played against them. But still, we didn't manage to beat them. We have to pick our heads up, we have a very important game next weekend and we have to get a win."

On the importance of the team's four-game home stand:

"We knew the importance of the home games. The first game we performed really well. The second game, I think we played well. We ended up getting a point after playing a man down for a long time. Today, I think it it's a very hard game to explain. But at the end of the day, we needed to win it and we didn't."

On if the team's lack of finishing was the key to the loss:

"It was a little bit of everything. When you lose, it's a combination of mistakes. We didn't score the chances that we had, and we made a couple mistakes and they punished us."

ARE YOU FOLLOWING?: The New York Red Bulls have added several new multimedia initiatives across the team's web portals, including the team's official website: NewYorkRedBulls.com.

Adding to the club's existing list of web content, including Red Bulls Wrap, a weekly podcast, Red Bulls Insider, a bi-weekly video program taking a behind-the-scenes look at the Red Bulls, the Red Bulls Facebook page, and RedBullsReader.com, the official blog of the club, is anew podcast as well as two Twitter options.

This season, the team has launched a new podcast. Red Bulls Al Aire, a Spanish language offering hosted by the radio voices of the club, Ernesto Motta and Robert Sierra, posts new episodes every Wednesday.

WE'RE ON TWITTER: The Red Bulls and Mike Petke have also joined Twitter.com, offering thoughts and information from the club 140 characters at a time. Follow the club at www.twitter.com/redbullsreader and follow Petke at www.twitter.com/petkemike.

Check out the Red Bull New York Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 25, 2009


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