Last week, Red Bulls U-23 claimed a victory and kept their PDL playoff hopes alive. At 5-4-4, Red Bulls U-23 will need to win their last game against Evergreen FC on Saturday July 16 and get some help to make it to the postseason.
Red Bulls U-23 top Lehigh Valley
New York Red Bulls U-23s got back to their winning ways on Saturday night as they defeated Lehigh Valley United Sonic 1-0 at the Red Bulls Training Facility in Hanover.
Arun Basuljevic was pulled down in the box after a combination with Alex Tejera. Basuljevic stepped up and drilled a low shot to the goalkeeper’s left to give New York a 1-0 lead, which went on to be the eventual game winner.
In the closing seconds of the first half, Tejera almost doubled the lead after dribbling past the Lehigh Valley goalkeeper Todd Morton, but was denied by a sliding effort from defender Tanner Sica on the goal line.
Goalkeeper Evan Louro made a diving save from close range on a header from Anthony Smith in the 76th minute to preserve the lead. This was the Red Bulls fourth clean sheet of the season.
Taking on Evergreen FC
Red Bulls U-23s will play their final game of the regular season this Saturday night against Evergreen FC. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be played at the Red Bulls Training Facility.
This is the second and final matchup between the two teams. They first met on June 25, in Virginia and played to an exciting 3-3 draw.
New York took a 2-0 lead with two goals from Basuljevic after 29 minutes, but Evergreen got one back just seconds before the halftime whistle. Evergreen FC would add another two goals to take the lead. With just nine minutes remaining in the game, the Red Bulls’ Thomas De Villardi leveled the match after receiving a pass from Nicholas Melo.
Playoff Scenario
The New York Red Bulls U-23 squad sits at fourth place in the Mid Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5-4-4 and 19 points.
A playoff bid for New York is unobtainable without a win against Evergreen FC, but even with a win a little luck is needed. The Eastern Conference is compiled with three divisions – the Northeast, Mid Atlantic and South Atlantic. Each division sends two teams to the playoffs, plus a third team from the division that holds the team with the best record in the conference.
The Charlotte Eagles from the South Atlantic Division are currently the top team in the conference with 31 points. The Eagles have one game remaining and New York needs a loss from them as well as a Reading United AC victory in their final match. This will put Reading and Charlotte even with points in the conference and will come down to goal differential. Both teams are currently even with +22.
If Reading were to come out as number one in the conference, this would allow the Red Bulls U-23s to clinch the playoffs finishing in third place in the division. Third place is also unreachable if the Baltimore Bohemians grab four or more points in their remaining two games.
