RED BULLS 1, CAROLINA 0: RECAP/POST-GAME REACTION

CARY, NC – A rocket from Dave van den Bergh’s left foot in the first half was enough to give the New York Red Bulls a 1-0 win over the Carolina RailHawks at WakeMed Soccer Stadium on Friday night in the last preseason match for the Red Bulls. With the win, the Red Bulls ended preseason play with a 3-3-2 record.

Head coach Juan Carlos Osorio on the match:


The Red Bulls controlled the run of play from the get-go. In the third minute, Jozy Altidore, playing in his first preseason game for New York in 2008, latched onto a Luke Sassano ball and volleyed it into the arms of goalkeeper Chris McClellan from 12 yards out. Eight minutes later, Altidore intercepted a pass in the Carolina half and passed it to Claudio Reyna, who unleashed a shot from 25-yards-out that McClellan had to tip over.

With the Red Bulls defense holding the RailHawks to just one shot in the first half, van den Bergh gave the visitors the lead in the 27th minute. Reyna swung a corner into the box that was punched out by McClellan. The ball bounced to van den Bergh, who volleyed it from 20-yards-out into the top left corner.

van den Bergh on the goal:


The Red Bulls kept the pressure on and had two opportunities before the break to double their lead. Altidore was left wide open at the top of the box and elected to lob it into an on-rushing Danleigh Borman, who headed it over the bar. Two minutes later, Borman streaked down the left wing before hitting a low cross into Oscar Echeverry’s path. Echeverry got to it and it slammed off the underside of the crossbar.

The game settled down in the second half as both teams did not have too many chances on net. Chris Megaloudis came on in the 67th minute and almost made an immediate impact by running onto a van den Bergh ball over-the-top ball, but his shot was deflected away.

Carolina’s best chance of the game came in the 76th minute when Martin Nunez, who was on trial with New York earlier this year, broke through on the right side of goal. But Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway was off his line quicky to knock it away. Two minutes later, Wolyniec was able to get to a bouncing van den Bergh through ball and blasted it just over the top left corner.

Osorio on earning a shutout:


van den Bergh on getting a clean sheet:


The Red Bulls open their 2008 MLS regular season against the Columbus Crew on April 5 at Giants Stadium at 7:30 PM. For tickets, call the Red Bulls at 1.877.RBSOCCER or log onto www.newyorkredbulls.com.

Scoring Summary:
NY: van den Bergh (unassisted) 27’

Disciplinary Summary:
NY: Ubiparapovic (caution) 13’
CAR: Stokes (caution) 87’

New York Red Bulls: Jon Conway (GK), Kevin Goldthwaite, Jeff Parke, Chris Leitch, Danleigh Borman (Kevin Mesa 72’), Dave van den Bergh, Sinisa Ubiparapovic, Luke Sassano (Carlos Mendes 57’), Claudio Reyna © (Eric Brunner 76’), Jozy Altidore (John Wolyniec 57’), Oscar Echeverry

Substitutes Not Used: Zach Thornton, Seth Stammler

Carolina RailHawks: Chris McClellan (GK), David Stokes, Steven Curfman, Frankie Sanfilippo, Richard Perdomo (Zeke Dombrowski 72’), Kupono Low, Martin Nunez, Chris Lemons, David Lilly (Santiago Fusilier 37’), Jacob Coggins (Marty Johnston 62’), Joel Bailey (Connally Edozien 37’)

Referee: Lee Suckle
Referee’s Assistants: Eric Hansberry, Daniel Fitzgerald
4th Official: Sandra Serafini
Weather at kickoff: 75 and clear
Attendance: 5,426

All statistics in this box score are unofficial.