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| St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino watched Bryce Hopkins bury a jumper at the other end. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The St. John's Red Storm moved up slightly in the national polls, by two spots to No. 15 in the AP poll, and only one to No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
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| Tayvon Gray (24) and Nicolas Fernandez Mercau celebrate. Photo courtesy NYCFC. |
New York City Football Club opened the season with a spirited 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy on Sunday night in Carson City, California.
It didn't take long at all for LA to get the early lead. They had possession in the NYCFC zone, and Joseph Paintstil took it into the corner on the left before sending a pass along the touch line to Marco Reus, who flicked it back to Joao Klauss in the box, and amidst four NYCFC defenders fired one past goalkeeper Matt Freese to make it 1-0.
The goal actually came at the 1:25 mark, and it was quite the debut for the Brazilian, as Klauss came over to LA in the off-season from St. Louis City FC.
It stayed that way until well into the second half when NYCFC was pouncing.
In the 61st minute, Tayvon Gray sent a pass to Nicolas Fernandez Mercau as he came into the LA box, and before he could control the ball, he was taken down by LA Galaxy defender Emiro Garces.
A VAR review was called for, and it was determined that Garces did take Mercau down with his arms, with no attempt on the ball, and he was awarded a yellow card.
Because he also took a yellow card in the 36th minute, Garces earned the equivalent of a red and was sent off, leaving LA with 10 men the remaining of the match.
Mercau was awarded a penalty kick and he buried it to tie the match at 1 in the 66th minute.
This was Mercau's first-even Season Opener goal, and his fourth overall with NYCFC.
NYCFC nearly grabbed the lead practically immediately, in the 67th minute, as Kevin O'Toole broke through congestion near the center line, and raced towards the net, but fired his shot wide left.
Their other golden opportunity to grab the lead came in the 80th minute when Mercau, from just outside the top left of the box, fired one towards the center of the box, and Hannes Wolf headed it, but it went wide right.
NYCFC dominated on the possession on the night, not surprising with the extra man for around 40 minutes, at 61.5 percent. They fired in 10 shots, but only one was on goal, while LA Galaxy's were more high-percentage, as seven of their eight shots were on goal.
This was the second time NYCFC played LA Galaxy in the MLS season opener, as they also did in 2022, which was a 1-0 LA win.
NYCFC defender Kai Trewin made his first-ever start for the club, and he record an 87.7 pass accuracy rate, 57 passes, and 88 minutes in the match.
Drew Baiera, a homegrown defender for NYCFC, made his MLS Regular Season debut, as he entered in the 80th minute of the match.
Baiera was the 12th Homegrown signing in NYCFC history, and he has put in regular minutes in past season with their MLS NEXT Pro club, New York City FC II. Coincidentally, he is the 12th homegrown player to make his MLS debut for NYCFC.
Midfielder Maxi Moralez surpassed his own NYCFC club record, as he became the oldest player in Club history to start in an MLS regular season match, at 38 years and 360 days.
This game also marked the return of two stalwart NYCFC players who were lost to injury early last season. Midfielder Keaton Parks came on as a substitute in the second half to mark his first action since a 2-2 tie on May 31, 2025 against Nashville SC. Forward Talles Magno also subbed in late, and it was his first appearance since a Leagues Cup match against Liga MX's Club Queretaro on July 28, 2024. His last MLS regular season appearance was on July 7, 2024, a 1-2 draw against Orlando City.
COACH'S COMMENTS: NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen spoke on these topics in his postgame press conference:
On the second half performance of the team, including Nico Fernandez Mercau, who scored the equalizer: "I think Nico is a good example of how we intended to play from the start. The intensity and the tempo of the game were much better in the second half than in the first half. I just said to the guys that in the first 10 to 15 minutes, the lights were on but nobody was home. That's why we conceded the goal the way we did, and that's very unusual for us. The first half was simply not good enough. The second half was much better, the tempo went up, and that's something Galaxy had a lot of trouble dealing with. One of the factors was getting the penalty from a good attack where Nico got brought down, which brought us back into the game. That's why Nico's role was really important. Even after scoring the penalty, we kept searching for the second goal, and unfortunately we didn't get it."
On NCYFC defender Drew Baiera's performance: "Drew has had a very strong and mature preseason. We created a new pathway for him with Mitja (Ilenic) going on loan and having Drew step in to compete with Tayvon (Gray). Tayvon was under the weather for two or three days this week, so we were hoping he would be able to start, but we had Drew ready coming off a strong preseason. When it was his moment, he showed he can compete. His attacking involvement was good, but especially playing against a good player like (Gabriel) Pec is something you have to deal with as a young player. With 10 against 11, the transitional moments become even more important, and he did a very good job in those phases as well. I'm very pleased with his performance."
On NYCFC defender Kai Trewin's performance: "Overall, I'm very happy with Kai. He showed the qualities and personality that we saw in the process of recruiting him. He can play in the back four, the back three, and in midfield like he did today. I think he benefited from having Aiden O'Neill close to him as well. The intensity of the game is something he really loves in MLS in his first experience. Overall, his performance was quite impressive for his first game."
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| Julian Hall breaking through a pair of Orlando City defenders. @NewYorkRedBulls. |
Red Bull New York started the Michael Bradley Era in style as they rolled to a 2-1 win at Orlando City SC in the MLS season opener on Saturday night.
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| Dylan Darling looking up at the hoop as the ball goes in on his layup that made it 57-36 St. John's with 12:21 remaining. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The St. John's Red Storm cruised past Creighton, 81-52, on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
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| Jorge Ruvalcaba with Red Bull New York Head Coach Michael Bradley (right) and Head of Sport Julian de Guzman (left) on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Schott. |
At Media Day on Wednesday, Red Bull New York took the opportunity to formally introduce Jorge Ruvalcaba, the club's third Designated Player for the 2026 season.
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| Red Bull New York Head Coach Michael Bradley on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Jason Schott. |
Red Bull New York will have a very familiar face at the helm, Michael Bradley, when they open the MLS season at Orlando City this Saturday night.
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| Joson Sanon putting up a jumper. @StJohnsBball. |
The St. John's Red Storm won their 12th straight game on Wednesday night, a 76-70 triumph at Marquette.
