Coming off one of its best performances of the year, RBNY blanked Charlotte FC, 5-2, in the Eastern Conference Wild Card game on Wednesday to book a 1st round Best-of-3 showdown with Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati.
Elias Manoel’s hat-trick (10′, 37′, 78′) set the tone and Tom Barlow (56′) scored the winner, but it was John Tolkin who really got the 16,074 Red Bull Arena fans going with a stunning goal. Golazo from a free kick in the 26th minute.
“He deserves more credit for not only what he does against the ball but what he does with the ball,” said head coach Troy Lesesne of the up-and-coming 21-year-old left back, who also added a pair of assists on the night. . “This free kick is just special, it has nothing to do with any training.
“This is JMi stepping up again and creating a big moment.
Tolkin himself was spurred on by some extra words of encouragement from teammate Kyle Duncan before taking the kick.
“I just heard Kyle Duncan behind me. He’s like, ‘Show me something, show me something.’ And yeah, I guess I had to show something,” Tolkin told the MLS Wrap-Up after the game. “Luckily it was able to go in. Not too bad, huh?”