COLUMBUS - Just 24 hours after capturing the attention of the league and acquiring the country's most noteworthy coach in Bruce Arena, the New York Red Bulls captured their first divisional win of the season and shaped the club's first winning streak and road victory to boot.
Although a pair of former Crew castaways, Edson Buddle and Chris Henderson, combined to take the match's first and ultimately deciding goal of the evening, the Red Bulls added another late goal by substitute Jerrod Laventure to seal a 2-0 victory against the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium.
New York began the first half a bit slower than the club would have liked, finding their offensive progression wedged in the middle third. At the same time, Columbus came out sharp and defined, threatening 'keeper Jon Conway from the outset. But just as during last Friday's win against Colorado, Conway held strong.
"Conway ... has been ready all year and he stepped up; he made a big save in the first half for us," said Henderson. "I think that helps our team confidence. We are able to keep the other team off the board and we are able to finish ourselves."
Whatever the force that hindered the Red Bulls attack in the first half was noticeably lifted immediately after the break.
"I told them they needed to pick it up," said acting head coach Richie Williams. "We needed to apply a little bit more pressure on Columbus [and] we needed to be a little bit more aggressive going to the goal."
Shortly after the restart, former Crew fan favorite Edson Buddle grabbed possession in midfield and calculated a pass through the Crew defense to an overlapping Henderson who, with two brief touches, found an acute angle to the goal and slipped a shot between Crew 'keeper Noah Palmer and the goalpost.
"He [Buddle] was looking through the space ... it opened up, it was the perfect ball," Henderson said. "I just had to run onto it and try to keep the ball out of the hands of the 'keeper."
Henderson's goal was his second of the season and the 50th of the MLS original's career.
"I was stuck on 49 for a while," the veteran midfielder said. "It was one of my goals to get 50 and now it is behind me. ... I can move on."
Although Henderson's goal turned out to be the only goal New York would need on the evening, Laventure stepped off the bench to appear in his third match of his professional career and was rewarded with his first MLS goal.
Although the victory was only the club's fourth of the aging season, it could not have come at a better time. The tight standing in the East allowed for the team that sat in sixth place on Wednesday morning to find itself in third place by Wednesday night. And now with consecutive wins and divisional equals Kansas City in their sights, the optimism could not be greater with the Red Bulls.
"The guys are excited," Williams said. "We have got to celebrate wins, they are very hard to get it ... we've got a little streak going now."
After Wednesday's victory, the team was more determined than ever and anxious for Saturday's test against the Wizards at Giants Stadium.
"You look at next week, we play another team that is right there that we can try to hop over," said Henderson. "It is about believing in the guys in the locker room and working for each other. Now we have competition for spots."
Ryan D. Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
