Five contract options exercised

Last week, New York Red Bulls II exercised the options of five players for the 2016 USL season.

READ: Red Bulls II announce five contract options exercised for 2016 season

The players whose options were picked up include forward Stefano Bonomo, midfielder Devon Williams, midfielder Dan Metzger, defender Konrad Plewa and goalkeeper Rafael Diaz.

The players whose options were not picked up include midfielder Alex Clay, forward Chris Tsonis, forward Daniel Bedoya, forward Franklin Castellanos, midfielder Victor Manosalvas, midfielder Bolu Akinyode, defender Colin Heffron, defender Michael Da Fonte, and defender James Thomas.

NYRB II in College

There are six former Academy players who played with Red Bulls II this season currently in their freshman year of college: Derrick Etienne (Virginia), Juan Sebastian Sanchez (Tulsa), Marcello Borges (Michigan), Henry Martin (Princeton), Kyle Zajec (Georgetown), and Ethan Lochner (Georgetown).

Etienne, who was recently ranked No. 5 by Top Drawer Soccer in the Men’s Freshman Top 100 college soccer players list, has played in 14 games and started eight times in his first season with the Cavaliers. Earlier this season, the midfielder scored an individual goal where he beat six players before chipping the keeper.

READ: Red Bulls U | Regular season coming to a close as Conference Tournaments approach

Sanchez has played all 16 games for Tulsa this season and leads the team in goals with six. The forward also has two assists. At Michigan, Borges has played 11 games this year and was ranked No. 71 by Top Drawer Soccer in the Men’s Freshman Top 100 soccer players list. Along with Martin, Borges received a call-up to the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team for the Mercedes Benz Elite Cup tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. Martin started in the first match against Germany, while Borges started in the second and third matches against Scotland and Mexico.

Zajec and Lochner, who are both at Georgetown, have both sat out for most of the season. Zajec has played three games and made one start, while Lochner has not played in a regular season match for the Hoyas this season.

Red Bulls II in the Academy

New York Red Bulls II players Mason Deeds and Brian Saramago are currently in season with the Red Bulls Under-18 Academy team. Deeds, who played two matches for NYRB II last season, has started six matches for the U-18s this season. In seven total games played, four have ended in a clean sheet for the Red Bulls.

READ: RBNY Academy Update: Nov. 4 | Busy weekend sees Academy go 6-1-0 in all competitions

Saramago, who played in five matches and made one start for NYRB II last year, scored a hat-trick last weekend against Bethesda-Olney en route to road a win, 5-1. The forward has started all five matches he’s played in for Red Bulls U-18 and has totaled four goals thus far.