It was a cool and crisp night at the New York Red Bulls training facility in Whippany, NJ as their under-23 NPSL side were ready to face the Vermont Voltage of the PDL and while there was a bit of a delay from the team in the Green Mountain State, the action on the field did not disappoint. In the end, the Red Bulls survived, beating the Voltage 2-1 to earn a spot in the second round.
With the win, the Red Bulls pick up their first Open Cup victory as a NPSL team, and deny the Voltage the first win by a Vermont team in tournament history. New York moves on to play the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL Pro in Round 2 on May 14 at 7 p.m.
Both sides were attacking well and you wouldn’t have known it was either sides’ first match of the season. But it was all Red Bulls as they were able to grab hold of a two-goal lead at the half at the R
New York featured some nice combination play in the first half as Scott Thomsen found the back of the net on the far side in the 18th minute as he slipped it past goalkeeper Alexsandar Djekic for the opening goal of the match, but some good fortune came in the 35th minute when Kendan Anderson’s shot hit a defender and popped up in the air. Djekic was well off his line and the ball bounced into an open net to give New York a 2-0 lead.
When the second half began you saw the Voltage get a little more physical and a little more tactical as they tried to stay in the game. They cut the lead in half in the 69th minute when Red Bulls goalkeeper Evan Louro got a hand on a Adrian Saldana shot, he was unable to keep it out.
The Voltage continued to push for an equalizer, led by their 43-year-old general manager, head coach, director of player personnel, marketing director and all-time leading scorer, Bo Vuckovic. The Red Bulls defense would hold on in the final 20 minutes to secure their first tournament win and give them a shot at a professional team in Round 2.
New York Red Bulls Under-23s 2, Vermont Voltage 1
May 7, 2014
2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round
Red Bull Training Facility
Scoring Summary:
NY: Scott Thomsen (Daniel Bedoya) – 18’
NY: Kendan Anderson (Unassisted) – 35’
VER: Adrian Saldana (Unassisted) – 68’
Disciplinary Summary:
None
New York Red Bulls Under-23: 1-Evan Louro, 5-Anthony Viteri, 3-Scott Thomsen, 4-Kevin Politz (12-Bonny London 76’), 9-Kendan Anderson (14-Gabriel Bagot 65’), 6-Sean Sheridan, 7-Dan Bedoya, 15-Chris Lema, 10-Sammy Adjei, 17-Arun Basuljevic, 11-Franklin Castellanos (8-Chris Thorshiem 78’)
Substitutes not used: 18-Keith Cardona, 2-Dwayne Dove, 16-Kevin Romero, 13-Keith Francisco
Vermont Voltage: 00-Aleksandar Djekic, 24-Bo Vuckovic (17-Jack McGowan 76’), 16-Markovic Danilo, 18-Ryan Tauss, 6-Adrian Saldana, 7-Uros Antic, 11-Nathan Olukamni, 2-Luka Milicevic, 13-Stefan Milicevic, 14-Adam Kay, 8-Svetislav Milic
Substitutes not used: 0-Andrew Thomas Coughlin, 3-Ben Williams
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Referee’s Assistants: Adam Alfi, Darius Staner
4th Referee: Alex Verace
Daniel Feuerstein hosts a weekly podcast on American soccer. You can follow him on Twitter @DFeuerstein