ORLANDO, Fla. (October 7, 2017) – In its penultimate match of the regular season, Orlando City B (10-9-12, 42 points) fell 6-5 to New York Red Bulls II (13-13-5, 44 points) on Saturday at Orlando City Stadium. The result leaves OCB in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, one point out of a playoff spot ahead of Thursday’s regular season finale against the I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay Rowdies at Orlando City Stadium.
“Crazy game. Unfortunately we paid the price for some really poor defending tonight,” OCB head coach Anthony Pulis said. “But a massive positive for me tonight was the way the guys kept going. They didn’t give in and they kept fighting all the way to the final whistle. As I’ve just said to the men, it’s not over. When we get back in at the start of the week it’s important that we as a staff rally them, get them going again, and make sure we put in a good performance and get a result against Tampa on Thursday.”
Stefano Bonomo opened the scoring for New York in the third minute. Florian Valot followed up in the 12th. In the 16th minute, Michael Cox sprinted past the Red Bulls II back line and beat goalkeeper Evan Louro to the ball before slotting it to Lewis Neal for the tap-in into an open goal.
Bonomo scored two more goals in in the 41st and 51st minutes, followed by a goal from Arun Basuljevic in the 55th.
The Lions began a fervent second-half comeback when Zach Carroll scored his second goal of the season on a free kick delivery from captain Neal in the 67th minute. Carroll then found the ball in the box 10 minutes later and passed it off to Timbó who made it 5-3.
Valot found the net on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to extend New York’s lead to three.
The Lions stormed toward the equalizer, scoring two more goals in added time. Barry scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 91st minute. One minute later, Austin Martz raced onto a perfectly weighted pass from Richie Laryea and slipped it through the legs of Louro to bring OCB within one.
Five goals scored is the most for OCB in its two-year history.
The Lions face a critical season finale when they host the I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay Rowdies on Thursday, Oct. 12. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
Scoring Summary:
NY - Stefano Bonomo (Ethan Kutler) 3’
NY - Florian Valot 12’
OCB - Lewis Neal (Michael Cox) 16’
NY - Stefano Bonomo 41’
NY - Stefano Bonomo (Junior Flemmings) 51’
NY - Arun Basuljevic (David Najem) 55’
OCB - Zach Carroll (Lewis Neal) 67’
OCB - Timbó (Zach Carroll) 77’
NY - Florian Valot (PK) 87’
OCB - Hadji Barry (PK) 90+1’
OCB - Austin Martz (Richie Laryea) 90+2’
Misconduct Summary:
OCB - Conor Donovan (Yellow Card) 28’
NY - Ethan Kutler (Yellow Card) 43’
NY - Arun Basuljevic (Yellow Card) 63’
NY - Stefano Bonomo (Yellow Card) 73’
NY - Hassan Ndam (Yellow Card) 76’
OCB - Zach Ellis-Hayden (Yellow Card) 80’
NY - David Abidor (Red Card) 91’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City B - GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D PC (Kevin Alston 46’), Zach Carroll, Conor Donovan (Timbó 46’), Zach Ellis-Hayden, M Pierre Da Silva (Austin Martz 61’), Tony Rocha, ⓒ Lewis Neal, Richie Laryea, F Hadji Barry, Michael Cox
Substitutes: GK Jake Fenlason, M Paul Clowes, Danny Deakin, F Ben Polk
New York Red Bulls II - GK Evan Louro, D Ethan Kutler, Gideon Baah (David Abidor 45’), Hassan Ndam, David Najem, M Dan Metzger, Andrew Tinari, Arun Basuljevic (Kazu Shigenobu 74’), F Florian Valot, Stefano Bonomo (Tim Schmoll 87’), Junior Flemmings
Substitutes: GK Rafael Diaz, F Zeiko Lewis, Ben Mines
Details of the Game:
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
Date: Oct. 7, 2017
Attendance: 1,009
Stats:
Possession:
OCB - 47.7%
NY - 52.3%
Shots:
OCB - 15
NY - 19
Saves:
OCB - 5
NY - 5
Corners:
OCB - 5
NY - 5
Fouls:
OCB - 13
NY - 23
