0:4 Charleston New York Bonomo Kutler Valot Mines 10.21.17 · Playoff

Last year's RBNY II team was a machine, disposing opponents with clinical precision to first win the regular season, then the USL title. This year, there have been flashes, but then team has been incosistent at best. Entering the playoffs as the 7th seed in the East, not much was expected.

Well, after the opener, it looked like last year's team was back on the field. Metro Juniors slammed the Charleston Battery on the road, 4:0, behind goals by Stefano Bonomo, Ethan Kutler, Florian Valot, and Ben Mines.

RBNY II opened the scoring in the 39 minute, when a diving Bonomo was fantastic in redirecting a Junior Flemmings cross into the net. Kutler doubled the lead off a corner kick in the 51st, slamming a shot from just outside the box under the crossbar. In the 71st, Valot finished a rebound off a Bonomo shot. Then, in the 84th, academy player Mines, who had just entered the game, scored after an Andrew Tinari pass left the defense dumbfounded.

Metro Juniors will stay on the road for the course of the playoffs, now advancing to play the NASL dropout Tampa Bay Rowdies. Who knows, maybe some of that last year's magic is still left over...