Few would have placed a significant wager on New York Red Bulls striker John Wolyniec scoring in the MLS Cup Final after a difficult regular season.
The Red Bulls veteran didn't score a goal in 19 regular season appearances and didn't look particularly likely to see much action in the playoffs after the late-season acquisition of Mac Kandji.
New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio contradicted what most would have expected and went with the Staten Island native instead of the former USL First Division striker, last with the Atlanta Silverbacks. Kandji didn't have playoff experience and Wolyniec contributed hold-up play that would help Juan Pablo Angel.
Against all odds, Wolyniec had a chance to atone for these mistakes.
"It was an up-and-down season," Wolyniec said. "I pride myself on being ready for opportunities to play. One presented itself in the playoffs and I feel like I played pretty well over the last few games."
Osorio's gamble paid off in spades as Wolyniec's industry contributed to the surprising upset of Houston in the Western Conference Semifinals. Wolyniec even broke the season-long scoring duck in the second game of the series.
That success meant Wolyniec kept his place against Real Salt Lake and once again for MLS Cup as the Red Bulls capped their shocking run with a place in the final.
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John Wolyniec ties the game for New York in the 51st minute.
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Once again, Osorio's faith in Wolyniec paid off. While Angel operated on the periphery for most of the day, the eight-year veteran enjoyed most of the first-half chances, but couldn't put the opportunities on frame.
"I was disappointed," Wolyniec said. "I thought I had a couple of chances earlier to put us on the board first. That would have made for quite a different game."
Alejandro Moreno's first-half sucker punch meant New York entered the second half on the back foot. Wolyniec changed the dynamic in the 51st minute.
Dane Richards hadn't seen much of the ball in the first half as the Red Bulls preferred to play Dave van den Bergh down the left-hand side, a change from recent weeks when Richards had exposed both Houston and RSL.
Early in the second half, Richards finally had an opportunity. Most of the time, Richards likes to use his sprinter's speed to stay wide. On this occasion, he switched it up.
"Dane has a lot of success going down the flank and wide to the line," Wolyniec said. "He did a good job of mixing it up and coming inside."
The switch might have caught the Columbus defense off-guard. The Crew defenders didn't do a particularly good job of closing down Richards' space as he streaked towards goal. As Richards exploited the space, Wolyniec wanted to give them another option.
"I tried to make little movements inside the box to give him the option to shoot it or play it through," Wolyniec said.
On the edge of the penalty area, Richards watched as the Crew defense finally collapsed on him and cut down his options.
"I was taking on their players and once they came towards me, I just tried to slip it through to him," Richards said. "He finished it."
A clever little run followed the clever little ball through those Crew defenders and Wolyniec slid home the equalizer before Crew keeper William Hesmer could avert the danger.
"He played a great ball that was weighted perfectly," Wolyniec said. "Basically, all I had to do was tuck it in as Hesmer was coming out."
Wolyniec's second goal of the playoffs switched the momentum back towards the Red Bulls for 87 seconds. Chad Marshall snuffed out that momentum -- and New York's dreams -- with his thunderous header.
While Wolyniec said he was proud of his team and happy with his personal performance, the pain of the loss still plagued him.
"It's disappointing because you know what could have been," Wolyniec said.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
