by ANTHONY J. MERCED

USL Writer

New York Red Bull II returns home after their longest road trip of the season for the start of a home and away set against the Harrisburg City Islanders.

New York will certainly have confidence despite losing last week to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3-0. Their six game road trip was a success, earning a 3-2-1 record overall. All of this in spite of the rotating squad which has seen 2015 standout performers Anatole Abang, Manolo Sanchez, Sean Davis and Leo Stolz all but locked into the main MLS roster.

Conversely, Harrisburg City has been sputtering of late having only won one of their last seven games. Still, the Islanders have two games in hand on NYRB II who sit only three points above them in the standings. A win would springboard Harrisburg back into the playoff picture and send New York reeling into the second half of the season.

Projected XI:

New York Red Bull II: Castano; McLaws, Da Fonte, Akinyode, Heffron; Metzger, Adams, Plewa; Obekop, Bedoya, Tsonis

Harrisburg City Islanders: Noble; Johnson, Tribbett, Shaffer, Leverock; Ekra, Barril, Plumhoff, Valles; McLaughlin, Hoppenot

Previous Result: Islanders 2 (Barril), NYRB II 1 (Jean-Baptiste, Plewa OG), on May 9th, 2015.

Players to Watch: Tyler Adams is only sixteen years old but is slowly becoming an essential asset in the midfield for head coach John Wolyniec. He won’t light up the scoreboard but Adams has become an essential part to the defensive portion of the midfield. His long balls up the field have also been instrumental in kickstarting the New York offense. Against Harrisburg on a wide open pitch at Red Bull Arena, he may end up being one of the more important players to watch on Sunday.

X-Factor: Home field advantage. NYRB II will return home to Red Bull Arena and not Columbia’s Rocco Be Commisso Field in uptown Manhattan. This means that they will play on a wide open grass pitch as opposed to a much smaller artificial field. With the familiar confines of home, New York has been able to stand tall against the opposition and will hope to continue that trend this weekend.

The Rematch May Prove to Be a Back and Forth Affair

The last game between these two teams in late May proved to be one of the most entertaining of the season for NYRB II. Both sides played a back and forth game which saw both goalkeepers come up big, with unlikely goals on either end. Andrew Jean-Baptiste, no longer with the team, was able to score a goal off of a corner so keep an eye on set pieces as they have been extremely effective for the Red Bull USL side.

Harrisburg will most certainly counter with speed, especially from Union loanees like Antoine Hoppenot. The Islanders will hope to regain that scoring edge which has escaped them since their 6-5 loss against Pittsburgh some months back. A meeting against New York may be the key to reinvigorating the offense.

New Additions to an Already Rotating Squad

New York Red Bull II is already in a state of transition as Manolo Sanchez and Leo Stolz have all but made their move to the MLS roster. Several other players will also be called up in the near future as the Red Bulls make a run in the US Open Cup. That has caused some rotation in the NYRB II side but the team has responded well, proving that the integration of USL and MLS sides has been equally beneficial.

Now new faces should be making an appearance. Recently signed midfielder Devon “Speedy” Williams may see some time off of the bench, depending on how quickly he can integrate into the high pressure system. Players like Bolu Akinyode may also see more time in an effort to lock in a solid defense. New York has conceded one more goal than they’ve scored, a stat they would like to fix as the second half of the season picks up.