New York Red Bulls II earned the fourth seed in the USL Playoffs and prepare for a win-or-go-home conference quarterfinal match at Red Bull Arena. NewYorkRedBulls.com caught up with NYRB II Head Coach John Wolyniec to preview Red Bulls II’s inaugural playoff match against Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
On Saturday, Sept. 26, New York Red Bulls II will play its first ever playoff game against Pittsburgh Riverhounds. After 28 regular season games, New York finished in fourth place of the Eastern Conference and will host the conference quarterfinal at Red Bull Arena. In two matches against Pittsburgh this season, the clubs split the series, with the home team victorious in each game.
With the elimination game approaching, Red Bulls II Head Coach John Wolyniec looks forward to his players getting their first professional playoff experience.
“The reason we started this is team is because we felt like we had a number of good Academy players coming through college, coming through the ranks at that young professional age and there’s not always enough opportunity for all of them in MLS games and they need real meaningful games to help them progress and to get better and develop and this team’s supposed to provide that so now we’ve gone through a full season,” Wolyniec said. “Now with the playoff portion of it, it’s an even more meaningful game, the pressure’s ramped up a little bit, I’m sure the intensity will be ramped up and the more games we can get these guys in that fashion the better and I think it’ll help guys improve their games and get in their comfort zones as far as performing in important elimination games.”
Wolyniec, an ex-MetroStars and Red Bulls forward, appeared in 12 MLS playoff in his career as a player, including a run to the MLS Cup Final in 2008 with the Red Bulls. Although this will be his playoff game as a head coach, he recognizes that he can take from his own experiences to help motivate and prepare the squad.
“There’s a tricky balance there as a coach,” Wolyniec said. “You don’t want to throw a whole bunch of new stuff at them right before a playoff game because then anything new and things that you change, I think that may frazzle them or make the team a little anxious because it’s not their comfort zone so to speak, you don’t want to put them [off], but at the same time I’ve had some success in playoff games and I feel like I have a good idea of how to prepare yourself to perform.”
“Individually speaking, as a group, I’m going to give them little hints and try to remember what mental state I was in when I felt like I performed well and try and help the group even if it’s not directly by saying certain things, but maybe indirectly by the environment and the attitude and stuff just to help them find that zone where they’re ready to perform at their best.”
Pittsburgh Riverhounds will be making its third postseason appearance in club history on Saturday. In two previous tries, the Riverhounds have never advanced past the first-round and are yet to score a playoff goal. History aside, Pittsburgh enters the match unbeaten in its last five matches. Led by Rob Vincent (18 goals, third in USL) and Kevin Kerr (nine assists, second in USL), the Riverhounds boast offensive firepower and have the ability to light up the scoreboard.
“They’re a good attacking team, they have a number of good attacking players,” Wolyniec said. “They’ve put up a lot of stats in terms of goals and assists, stuff like that. They’re a team that, tactically speaking, is intelligent going forward and they cause some problems for you so we’re just going to have to be really organized and really determined to make sure that we’re aware at all times of where their players are, where their dangerous players are and dealing with them even when we have the ball.”
Red Bulls II look to bounce back from a heartbreaking road loss last weekend to the first-place Rochester Rhinos, but Wolyniec acknowledges the team’s recent positive performances. Since June 13, NYRB II has gone 9-5-2 and is undefeated in five consecutive home matches.
“It’s going to be interesting in that it’s the first playoff game for a lot of guys so I think the key is to remember that we’ve been on a good run,” Wolyniec said. “Maybe the last two results haven’t been great, but the last eight to ten performances from us have been pretty good and we should feel confident that we’re coming together as a group, that we’re committed to a certain style of play and a certain way of playing and if the guys believe in that, stay within that framework, commit to each other, commit to that style the way they’ve been doing over the last run of games I think we’ll be fine.”
New York Red Bulls II face Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the first-round of the USL Playoffs on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 5:00 p.m. ET (TICKETS: General Admission available for $10 at Box Office or call 973.776.8966 – Season Ticket Holder Can Access FREE tickets via Account Manager; WATCH: Live stream available on NewYorkRedBulls.com/Live).
