RECAP New York Red Bulls 1-1 Charleston Battery

In their first match at their new home (Rocco B. Commisso Stadium at Columbia University), New York Red Bulls II tied the Charleston Battery, 1-1. Anatole Abang opened the scoring early in the first  half and Justin Portillo converted a late penalty kick to even the score for the Battery.

Anatole Abang scored the opener

Marius Obekop hit a nifty pass and Abang was able to rumble and stumble past a defender and the keeper to put the ball in the net. The Cameroon connection is starting to get going and hopefully fans will get to experience it for a long time. However, it's important to remember they are young and will make a lot of mistakes. Both players also enjoy getting involved in shoving matches with the opposing team. They should probably stop that.

Dropping points late

Another match where they gave up a late goal. But guess what, it doesn't matter because...

This is about development

Wins and losses do not matter. This team exists to develop players for the MLS squad. MLS players, USL players, Academy players, they're all gaining match experience and learning to play Jesse Marsch's system. And it's working. Karl Ouimette has already made the jump from NYRB II to RBNY.

However,

So 9 games into the #USL season and not a single #RBNYII roster player has scored. All 10 goals have come from #MLS loaned players and 1 OG.

— Curse of Caricola (@CurseofCaricola) May 18, 2015

I'd like to see the players with USL contracts contribute more, but I'm not complaining about the MLS players getting the lion's share of experience.

People are going to complain about the presence of reserve teams in USL and Red Bulls fans will complain attendance and the team losing. They're not seeing the big picture and that's fine. You and I? We see the big picture. We know what's going on here and we like it. Although there will be some short-term benefits, it'll be the results 5-10 years from now that demonstrate the true value of NYRB II.

Other thoughts

- Columbia, eh?

- The match was getting pretty contentious between the two sides. Charleston came in looking for a fight, and the young Red Bulls were willing to oblige.

- It does suck that the team dropped points.

- Edson Buddle was on the bench for the Galaxy Reserves. That's crazy.

- Rough outing for Tyler Adams, got a yellow and gave up a penalty. However, you accept that he's going to make mistakes and live with them because the payoff down the line will be enormous. That's why he's here: to learn and improve.