This time of year always represents an emotional and reflective period for Red Bulls reserve goalkeeper Ryan Meara.

This year, Meara’s emotions are heightened because he is in the throes of the most important period of his professional career, having helped lead the Red Bulls to four consecutive U.S. Open Cup victories, which have propelled them into the Sept. 20 final in Kansas City.

Along the way, Meara has produced two shutouts and made a game-saving penalty-kick save in a win over Philadelphia. So the prospect of helping the Red Bulls capture the first cup in franchise history weighs heavily on Meara’s mind these days.

So, too, is the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, because his father, Jack, is a longtime firefighter with Engine 46 in The Bronx, and the attacks on the World Trade Center brings back haunting — though thankful — memories.

Jack Meara survived the attacks because in the immediate aftermath, his company was ordered to stay back in The Bronx for fear there would be more attacks around the city to be dealt with. But he spent countless days digging through the destruction, first searching frantically for survivors then in recovery.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,’’ Ryan Meara recalled this week. “I was in sixth grade. It was a crazy day. We knew something was up because the principal was coming around to the classrooms and they wouldn’t tell us because a lot of kids had parents and family members that worked down there.

“My mom [Geri] was right outside the front office to pick up me and my brothers, and she had tears in her eyes. So I had that sinking feeling right away that something terrible happened. One of the first things she said was my dad and my uncle were fine.”

Jack’s brother Tommy was a firefighter in Ladder 4 and now is a battalion chief in Midtown.

Meara recalled not seeing his father for days because the firefighters were on constant rotating shifts in the search and recovery process.

“Once he came home we were so happy to see him,” Ryan Meara said, “and then I remember sitting in our living room and he was going though names of firemen that were missing at the time, and it was a lot of people that we knew. It was a scary time, a sad time.”

Meara, 26, has pure New York in his blood. He grew up in the Crestwood section of Yonkers and went to Fordham before being drafted by the Red Bulls in 2012. He was preparing to become a firefighter after graduating from Fordham if he didn’t get drafted.

“There’s no doubt in my mind if I wasn’t playing soccer I’d be a fireman,’’ Meara said. “I was signed up for the [firefighter] test my senior year of college. I was confident that I would get drafted, but you never know how it’s going to play out. The test was in March and I got drafted in January, so I didn’t take the test. But for me, I loved growing up in the firehouse, visiting my dad whenever I got the chance.

“It’s such a close brotherhood. It’s like being on a team, but even to a greater extent because these guys trust each other with their lives.’’

Jack Meara will never forget what he saw the morning of Sept. 12.

“Everything obliterated,’’ he said. “I thought there’d be a lot more signs of life and there really wasn’t at that point. We were still looking to find people alive, but afterward, you were trying to just find something for the families … like anything.’’

He said he lost so many friends and colleagues “it’s hard to even count.’’

Jack Meara said he believes his emotional recovery from the trauma was helped by the fact that he felt lucky to survive.

“The companies downtown lost entire battalions and whole divisions, so I couldn’t be feeling sorry for myself,’’ he said.

Meara said “there are constant reminders’’ of the attacks that have little to do with when the anniversary arrives every September.

“In the firehouse, we have all the names of those 343 [firefighters who perished], and then it seems like every few weeks there’s somebody else dying of what they consider Trade Center-related cancers and other ailments,’’ he said. “But this time of year gets a little more … kind of eerie.’’

Ryan Meara said the anniversary “brings me back to the day, and you remember all the things that you felt that day and the weeks after and the months after it.’’

“I think it’s great — 16 years later now — that it’s still a huge day of remembrance,’’ he said. “Everyone says, ‘Gone but not forgotten,’ and I think people have really lived up to that, remembering all the people that were lost on that day.’’

The Red Bulls are in the midst of a month-long community initiative they started in conjunction with 9/11 remembrance called “11 Days of Service,’’ during which they participate in 11 different community activations as a tribute to both the victims and survivors of the attacks.

Ryan Meara has been involved in a foundation called “Answer the Call,’’ which provides aid and services to families of fallen first New York responders.

In the meantime, he, too, is keenly focused on that U.S. Open Cup final, which he hopes to start.

Though Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said he hasn’t decided on whether Meara or regular starter Luis Robles will play that match against Sporting Kansas City, it is difficult to imagine Marsch not starting Meara since he has played in every cup match on this run.

If Meara doesn’t start, it would be difficult to swallow — particularly because he lost his job to Robles in 2012 after suffering a hip injury in the midst of a successful rookie season.

In a classic Wally Pipp scenario, Robles, who has started every MLS game since taking over for Meara, has gone on to set league ironman records for consecutive starts and minutes played en route to leading the franchise in wins, shutouts, goals-against average, winning percentage and minutes played.

“The past couple years have been tough for me personally, having success my rookie year and then having the big injury where I missed almost a year, and then coming back and being behind Luis — who for my money has been one of the best keepers in the league,’’ Meara said. “I’ve tried to use any opportunity I can get to prove my worth to this team — this year using this Open Cup run as a way to prove my worth to the team and teammates.

“You always want to show what you can do. And the best way to do that is to help your team win games.’’

Meara said he has no idea which way Marsch is leaning.

“It’s out of my hands, but I feel like I’ve done everything I can do — both in training and in these Open Cup matches — to prove my point of why I deserve to play,” Meara said.

The right thing for Marsch to do is start Meara, let him finish the job he started.