HARRISON, N.J. (March 26, 2016) – New York Red Bulls II opened the 2016 USL season with a draw at Red Bull Arena against Toronto FC II, 2-2. Raheem Edwards and Skylar Thomas put Toronto ahead in the first half, only to be cancelled out by Brandon Allen who scored two goals in the second half to preserve a point for New York.

With the result, New York opened the USL season with a draw for the second consecutive year.

New York started the game pressing high and caused problems early for Toronto. New York’s first chance came in the 19th minute when Alex Muyl collected the ball at the corner of the six-yard box. He fired, aiming high for the near corner, but missed and the shot went high.

New York’s best chance came in the 32nd minute when Davis sent in an inswinging ball on a free kick. Aaron Long rose above the crowd and got a head to it, but his attempt flew just wide.

Toronto got on the board first in the 35th minute when Mo Babouli cut a low cross from the endline in front of goal, where Edwards finished to put the visitors ahead.

TFC II doubled their lead seconds prior to halftime when Thomas chipped in from a tight angle.

In the second half, Homegrown forward Allen took over for New York. Derrick Etienne Jr. was brought down in the box and earned a penalty kick in the 65th minute. Allen stepped up and although his shot was initially saved, he collected the rebound and scored to cut the deficit to one.

Four minutes later, Sean Davis fed Allen in the box who fired his shot towards the near post. The projectile took a deflection off a Toronto defender and beat the keeper to tie the game and earn New York one point to start the season.

New York Red Bulls II will be back in action next weekend when they travel south to take on Louisville City FC on Saturday, April 2.

Scoring Summary (Assist in parenthesis):

TOR: Raheem Edwards (Mo Babouli)

Raheem Edwards (Mo Babouli) TOR: Skylar Thomas

Skylar Thomas NY: Brandon Allen

Brandon Allen NY: Brandon Allen (Sean Davis)

Discipline Summary:

NY: Noah Powder, Caution 38’

Noah Powder, Caution 38’ TOR: Skylar Thomas, Caution 62’

Skylar Thomas, Caution 62’ NY: Stefano Bonomo, Caution 88’

Lineups:

NY: Ryan Meara, Noah Powder, Tim Schmoll (Speedy Williams, 62’), Zach Carroll (Mason Deeds, 89’), Aaron Long, Tyler Adams, Sean Davis, Derrick Etienne Jr., Alex Muyl (Vincent Bezecourt, 58’), Brandon Allen, Stefano Bonomo

Subs not used: Rafael Diaz, Dan Metzger, Junior Flemmings

TOR: Alex Bono, Mark Bloom, Mitch Taintor, Skylar Thomas, Anthony Osorio, Chris Mannella, Brian James (Adam Bouchard, 90+’), Aidan Daniels (Malik Johnson, 78’), Molham Babouli, Raheem Edwards, Sal Bernal (Martin Davis, 74’)

Subs not used: Phillip Boerger, Andrew Dias, Steven Furlano, Richlord Ennin