New York Red Bulls II Postgame Quote Sheet:
MSU Soccer Park – May 28, 2017
Red Bulls II 2, Charleston Battery 1
NYRB II Head Coach John Wolyniec:
Thoughts on the match overall?
“Yeah, I tried to prepare our guys to be positive because I know Charleston can be frustrating to play against. There’s a reason they have a lot of points, there’s a reason why they haven’t given up a ton of goals. They’re organized, they defend and they compete. I think the start of the game was good especially our counterpesss and we were able to show some energy and fight, putting some plays together, not a lot came from it but it’s not like we had control of the game and then somewhere in there we started to lose control and from there it quickly went to really bad. You know our guys have to be a bit more determined and resolute to stay with what we do, to have a bit more faith in it and each other and not let one of two plays that don’t go our way kind of affect us.
What does the presence of Ryan Meara say to the team’s strong performance against the East’s best, Charleston?
“There’s a reason why goalkeepers can play for a long time because experience helps, experience has a calming factor, a confidence factor, and it’s not even so much what he says, it’s more how he says it and how he goes about his business and it just kind of emanates throughout the team. It certainly wasn’t a perfect defensive performance, but you know you could certainly see Ryan’s influence in the team for sure.
Comment on Andrew Tinari’s performance in the midfield…
“I thought he was good, I agree, I thought he was very good. You can see he’s very good on the ball, covers ground, has a little bit of life to him. You know it’s definitely a hard day for him because hasn’t seen 90 (minutes) in a long time, no, maybe all year. I give him a lot of credit; you know with us, it’s a constant change. We’ve used him a bit at outside back and that’s not really his position, he’s more of a six. I think that’s why he had a good game today and he sensed he had an opportunity to show and we’ll see going forward.”
NYRB II (M/F) Derrick Etienne Jr.
What was different for NYRB II today as opposed to last week?
“I think our mentality coming off back-to-back losses was we didn’t want to lose another game at home, definitely. It was a little bit extra knowing they are top of the east so I think we came out here looking for a battle and we focused a lot on counterpressing and getting it corrected so I felt like it was a big part of our game. It kind of slipped away from us at times during the game but I felt like we were able to come back in and get the game back on our terms and I think that set-up how our goals went.”
Did you demand the ball on free kick game-winner?
“No, Vince (Bezecourt) took the first because it was on the opposite side so he said you can either shoot this or cross it so I’m like I’m definitely shooting it. You know, we have an understanding, we’re comfortable with anyone taking them so I was just happy I was able to step up and take one.”
How does it feel to convert your first goal on the year for USL or MLS?
“It’s a big weight off my shoulders just to see the ball hit the back of the net. It’s going to give me a lot more confidence and hopefully I’ll be able to convert the rest of the chances I’m able to create.”
NYRB II (F) Junior Flemmings
What was the difference in how today’s team looked in the win?
“I think that we definitely have the personnel to do the job every time, it’s just a great mentality, it always has to be better, and today, was a perfect example, we came out from minute one and went after it and counterpressed this team (Charleston) and we came and executed.”
Your involvement increased in the 2nd half, what spurred that?
“I mean, I knew their left back from Toronto. I was playing against him and he’s pretty athletic but slow on the turn, so I went in at halftime and John (Wolyniec) was like ‘ Junior, you gotta go after this guy’ so then I knew that you know when I got it next I had to go after him and he started backing up and we started to get a lot more opportunities.”
