Red Bull 2 get Shoot Out Win over Chicago 2
4/30/23
J.J. Pavlick
The Red Bull 2 entered Chi-Town on a two-game winning streak with 2 clean sheets in a row. Goalkeeper A.J. Marcucci has been on fire in goal for the team and he will be looking for yet another clean sheet and helping his squad move up in the standings. Dylan Sullivan is expected to make his Professional debut tonight, the former Clemson Tiger spoke with us and Soccer Long Island Magazine on Thursday about his playing time and what it would take to crack the starting XI. The full interview is available below or on our YouTube channel.
The game was back and forth between the two clubs and neither keeper would budge. both have made big saves to keep their sides in the match. The game was a little chippy but nothing you wouldn't expect from two rival clubs. New York has only allowed five goals in six matches this season which is fifth in the league. The Red Bull 2 scoring issues were on display, but it definitely wasn't due to any lack of effort from the players. Tonight, they just ran into a hot goalkeeper who is on his game.
When asked what positives can be taken away from the win today despite his side not scoring until the shoot out? "No, the positive is a clean sheet we have and then we keep going. I think the second half was much better. That's the one we build on this week. I think we work on what happened on Sunday. I think those are the things we saw in the game and then we just have to build on the clean sheet. Also, the PK with AJ in the goal also the guys who took the PKs, I think those are the small things we will see but those are big ones also playing our ways when the positive one, the second half was much better." When asked about preparations for Philly, "It’s going good. It's going good. I think we worked on, and we know exactly how Philly is. Those are the games which are so exciting the way how we play them the way how they play us. The guys they just have to be prepared. We have two days left now for the game on Sunday. -- Head Coach Ibrahim Sekagya
The second half saw some substitutions made and more high-quality chances go unfinished due to quality goalkeeping on both ends. The match would stay a 0-0 draw and head to a shoot-out where Red Bull 2 would convert 3 out of 4 attempts (Frank Ssebufu, O'Vante Mullings, and Henry Wise) all made their attempts. As for Chicago all 3 of their attempts were denied by the goalkeeping guru A.J. Marcucci, he would finish the match with seven saves and now a three-game clean sheet streak.