It was a tale of two halves Wednesday for the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. With wind gusts of more than 35 mph throughout the match, both teams took advantage of the weather to play to a 1-1 draw in the second round of the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium.
Playing with the wind in the first half, Toronto FC scored early on Jeff Cunningham's goal and dominated possession of the ball. In the second half, it was all Red Bulls as they pressed forward with John Wolyniec eventually tying the game in the 60th minute.
"It was very difficult conditions," Toronto FC coach John Carver said. "I thought we did OK in the first half. Not great, but OK. I thought there was some progress there from Saturday. It was an improvement, but there still needs to be more improvement. There's certainly something there to work with.
"I was happy with the way we defended. I thought we defended the box very well. I thought we scored a very good goal and that's something that we've worked on. That pleased me as well."
Toronto FC grabbed a 1-0 lead on Cunningham's goal just 10 minutes into the match. Kevin Harmse got picked up the ball at the midfield line, slotted the ball up to Cunningham who made a strong run on New York 'keeper Jon Conway. Cunningham tried to dribble around Conway, but the Red Bulls backstop wasn't able to control the loose ball. Cunningham pounced on the ball and slammed it home for the score.
The Red Bulls nearly scored a goal in the 45th minute when Claudio Reyna served a ball into the six-yard box on a corner kick. Juan Pablo Angel's header, however, sailed just over the crossbar.
Less than a minute later, in stoppage time, Collin Samuel picked up a loose ball from about 25 yards out, stepped past defender Jeff Parke and blasted a shot on net. Samuel's shot missed by inches outside the right post.
Toronto FC nearly went up by two goals in the 60th minute when Martin Brittain made a strong run down the right flank and served the ball to Todd Dunivant on the back post. But New York backup 'keeper Zach Thornton stopped Dunivant's half-volley to end the threat.
The Red Bulls started to gain control of the match and put constant pressure on Toronto FC for the final 30 minutes of the game. New York tied the game at 1-1 on Wolyniec's goal in the 74th minute. After a build-up in the midfield, Reyna got the ball just outside the penalty area. The New York captain slotted the ball between two Toronto FC defenders to Wolyniec, who beat Toronto FC 'keeper Brian Edwards at the near post for the goal.
"When I saw Claudio had space I pretty much took off running," Wolyniec said. "I looped around their defense and he split their two middle backs. Claudio put it in there right away. He put it right on my feet, right in the box. I didn't even need to take a touch. I just hit right as soon as I got it and used the wind to my advantage."
Angel nearly gave the Red Bulls the lead in the 80th minute, but his blast from just outside the 18-yard box bounced off the right post.
"I think we were a little inconsistent," said New York assistant coach Richie Williams. "We wanted to play well from the beginning of the game and we didn't have that good of a first half. It wasn't just the wind. We didn't pass well. We didn't move well as a team. Defensively, we were disjointed.
"The second half we played much better. We pass the ball much better. We were organized in the back. We limited the amount of chances they got and we got the goal back. These are exhibition games and what you're trying to do is bring the team together, so when the regular season starts they're playing consistently for 90 minutes."
Andrew Miller is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs. Toronto FC 1, New York Red Bulls 1
Scoring Summary:
TOR -- Jeff Cunningham (Kevin Harmse) 10
NY -- John Wolyniec (Claudio Reyna) 74
Toronto FC: Brian Edwards, Marco Velez, Tyrone Marshall, Julius James (Pat Phelan 22), Jim Brennan, Martin Brittain, Carl Robinson, Kevin Harmse, Todd Dunivant, Collin Samuel (Danny Dichio 85), Jeff Cunningham (Jarrod Smith 89)
New York Red Bulls: Jon Conway (Zach Thornton 46), Kevin Goldthwaite, Carlos Mendes (Eric Brunner 46), Jeff Parke, Dave van den Bergh, Seth Stammler, Claudio Reyna, Luke Sassano, Mike Magee (Danleigh Borman 46) Oscar Echeverry (John Wolyniec 56), Juan Pablo Angel
Disciplinary Summary:
NY -- Angel 36 (caution)
TOR -- Harmse 78 (caution)
Referee: Carol-Anne Chenard
Referee's Assistants: Darren Clark, Kyle Borne
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
