Red Bulls U-18’s unbeaten streak in 2011 reaches nine: On Saturday, The Red Bull U-18s jumped all over Oakwood SC from the opening kickoff with three goals in the first 12 minutes to pace the team to victory. Dan Metzger opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the contest when he received a cross from Clint Caso near the back of the box, beat an Oakwood defender and rifled a left-footed shot into the left hand corner of the net. Less than a minute later, Metzger beat two Oakwood defenders on the flank and served a perfect pass to Brandon Allen, who found the back of the net when he lifted the ball over the Oakwood goalkeeper. In the 12th minute, the Red Bulls made the score 3-0 on another Allen goal. Again, Metzger served up the assist and Allen was there to tap the ball home, giving the Red Bulls a 3-0 advantage at halftime.
“We were really focused on starting the game quickly today. Our focus all week has been on playing forward and creating more chances on goal,” stated Metzger.
In the second half, the Red Bulls regained their dominance after a brief period that saw Oakwood come close to getting on the scoreboard. However, goalkeeper Keith Cardona made a brilliant save in the 53rd minute to keep the shutout. In the 93rd minute, the “Polish Connection” of Damian Bziukiewicz and Konrad Plewa combined for the fourth goal. Bziukiewicz made a great run down the left flank and cut back the pass to the top of the box for Plewa to blast home.
On Sunday, the U-18s showed their depth, as they made seven changes to their starting lineup from Saturday and still managed to defeat South Central Premier 4-1. The U-18s got on the scoreboard when Keith Francisco converted a penalty kick in the 32nd minute after he had been taken down in the box. The lead was doubled in the 36th minute when Plewa converted on a cross from Christian Johnson. South Central Premier managed to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute and end the U-18s scoreless streak at 448 minutes.
In the 2nd half, Caso converted another penalty kick in the 64thminute after Oscar Gonzalez had been tripped in the box. U-18 Captain Bryan Gallego completed the scoring from a corner kick in the 85thminute when Brandon Alvarado served one up for him at the near post.
“The game really showed the depth of our team. We made seven changes to the starting lineup from Saturday, and still were very strong. Everybody is comfortable and confident, and we are all starting to gel and show our personalities on the field,” stated Johnson.
U-16 squad wins two on weekend: On Saturday, the U-16 Red Bulls beat Oakwood Soccer Club 1-0 on a Kyle Goodwin goal in the 12th minute of play off of a Danny Korman pass. That was all Red Bull goalkeeper Max Brown would need for the 1-0 shutout win.
On Sunday, the U-16s continued their winning ways by beating South Central 3-0. Eric Lagg recorded a hat trick while Amando Moreno and Kyle Goodwin provided assists. Santiago Castano went the distance in goal for the shutout victory.
Red Bulls U-15s sweep weekend games: The Red Bull U-15 team continued their winning ways with a pair of wins up in Connecticut this weekend. On Saturday, the faced off against Oakwood Academy and came away with a 2-0 win on goals by Nick Innocenzi and Mamadou Balde in a game the Red Bulls controlled from the opening whistle.
On Sunday, the Red Bulls took on South Central Premier Academy. The Red Bulls got an early goal by Junior Rosero and another by Vincent Brunetti to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. The Red Bulls came out quickly in the second half and Brunetti scored his second goal early in the half, followed by Rosero’s second goal to put the Red Bulls up 4-0. South Central scored a late goal that made the final 4-1 in favor of the Red Bulls.
Red Bulls U-14s win both games over weekend: The Red Bull U-14s traveled to Oakwood on Saturday and pulled out a hard fought 2-1 win. The Red Bulls trailed 1-0 after Oakwood scored with 20 minutes left in the second half. The Red Bulls quickly countered on goals by Chris Lema and Joe Swenson to pull out the 2-1 victory.
On Sunday, the U-14s traveled to South Central Premier. The Red Bulls came out and set the tempo early with goals by Wes Wade and Chris Lema in the first ten minutes. Wade scored again and Ezequiel Cei-Sandoval added another one to make it 4-0 at halftime. The second half was much of the same with the Red Bulls adding to their lead as Wade scored two more and Lema scored his second, giving the Red Bulls a 7-0 win.
Red Bulls U-13s lose hard fought game at FC Westchester 4-3: The Red Bull U-13s battled back from one goal deficits twice before falling 4-3 to FC Westchester in a tough game on the road. Down 1-0, AJ Kmiec opened the scoring for the Red Bulls after he connected off a cross by John Antunes. FC Westchester scored the next two goals but the Red Bulls tied it on a goal from Callum Johnson. After FC Westchester took the lead again, the Red Bulls showed great determination when Orestis Sousonis scored off a pass from Israel Guerrero. Unfortunately, it was not enough in the end as FC Westchester scored and earned a 4-3 win.
"We did a good job competing to comeback twice, we will have to learn from some of the mistakes we made as we go forward," said Coach Antonio Meza.
