The Red Bulls Academy went 5-3-1 this past weekend, highlighted by a pair of sweeps by the Under-18 and Under-14 teams over Met Oval and the New York Cosmos.
On Saturday, the Under-18 team got standout performances from some new faces in shutting out Met Oval 4-0. Under-16 player Amando Moreno, playing up with the Under-18 squad, opened the scoring eight minutes in off a feed from Ethan Decker. In the 23rd minute, the Red Bulls doubled their lead on Kerlins Georges’ first of the season. The Red Bulls weren’t done yet, as a minute later Moreno set up Oscar Gonzalez’s first tally of the year as the Red Bulls entered the break up by three. For good measure early in the second half, Moreno notched his second assist of the game as Georges once more found the back of the net. On Sunday, the Under-18’s knocked off local rival New York Cosmos by a 3-1 score. Georges continued his hot play, heading in a fifth minute corner kick from Scotty Thomsen, who assisted on all three Red Bulls goals to raise his season total to 10. Seven minutes later, Brandon Allen converted another set piece off the foot of Thomsen for his 15th goal of the year as the Red Bulls doubled their lead. While the Cosmos were able to pull one back before halftime, Erik Sa put the match away with his fourth goal of the season in the 87th minute.
The Red Bulls Under-14 team also was perfect in its two matches this weekend. A defensive battle ensued on Saturday when the team traveled to Long Island to take on Albertson. Gideon Metrikin found the twine in the first half with the only goal of the match, as the defense held on in a shutout win. The following day, Rafael Terci shined as the Under-14 team defeated NJSA by a 5-0 final. Terci scored all five Red Bulls goals in the one-sided win.
The Under-15 Red Bulls nearly won both games this weekend, settling for a 1-0-1 mark. On Saturday at Albertson, the Red Bulls led twice but couldn’t hold on as Albertson scored just three minutes from full time to share the spoils, 2-2. Dante Perez and Harrison Steadman were the Red Bulls’ goal scorers. However, on Sunday the Red Bulls notched an early lead and continued to build on it, defeating NJSA 5-0. Jake Areman gave the Red Bulls a 2-0 lead going into halftime with a pair of strikes, while Steadman shined in the second half in notching a hat trick.
With some key players missing while at the United States Under-14 National Team camp, the Under-13 Red Bulls dropped a 1-0 decision at PDA on Sunday. The Under-16 Red Bulls fell on Saturday to Met Oval, 1-0, and lost 3-1 to the Cosmos on Sunday. Alex Muyl scored the lone goal for the Under-16s on the weekend, his 11th of the year.
