Red Bulls Help Send Mahwah Travel Team To Italy

RED BULLS 2, MAHWAH 1

For most members of the Mahwah Raiders 16U soccer club, they have never made a trip overseas before. Later this summer that is about to change. Thanks to the work of Mahwah residents, parents, team President George Kayal, and the New York Red Bulls Academy, the Raiders will make a trip to Italy to take part in the international championship known as the Italy Cup, which will feature more than 20 countries in July.

 “Three years ago when I was coaching my U14 team I wanted to do something special for the kids and expose them to the best soccer experience possible,” said Raiders president George Kayal.  

In 2008, Kayal took a team to Denmark, where they played teams from Sweeden, Ireland, Uganda, and Denmark during that year’s international series. This will mark the Raiders first return trip to Europe since that time.

“These kids have been playing since they were eight-years old. They are a very unselfish group of boys, and this will be a chance of a lifetime for them,” said assistant coach Michael Coates, who himself admits having never traveled to Italy before either.

In order to raise funds for the trip, parents and coaches have had to get cobble together funds to book the plane, rooms and board for the kids; yet the Raiders were hoping to raise some more money for extra soccer equipment. Enter in the New York Red Bulls Academy.

In a friendly competition, the Red Bulls 16U team came out to support the Mahwah Raiders in an exhibition game at Mahwah High School on Saturday, with the hopes of raising more than $2,000 to help fund the Raiders trip to Europe.

Dean Wells, who is the head coach of the Raiders, is also employed by the Red Bulls as a trainer of young talent across the state.

“When I came over from the UK and joined the Red Bulls, they put me and others onto clubs across the tri-state area. I run the summer camp for the Red Bulls, and I have been here in Mahwah for four years working with their kids,” Wells said.

Wells’ connection to the Red Bulls made the night possible. Even though it was a cold and foggy evening, there was still solid support from parents and other Mahwah locals, who came to the game.

“We wanted to something of a fundraiser to get the group of kids to play against a top quality opponent and the Red Bulls stepped up,” Kayal said.

The game itself was quite competitive. A scoreless first half saw the Red Bulls fail to cash in on several scoring opportunities. In the first half alone, the Red Bulls attempted 10 shots on goal, neither of which came close to hitting the back of the net.

The best chance for the Red Bulls to score in the first half came a strike by Diego Ceron who had a clean shot at the goal, but it was tipped away by the Mahwah goalie at the last second to preserve the tie.

The Raiders did a wonderful job defensively. They kept the ball out of their own perimeter for much of the day, as the Raider midfielders flustered the Red Bulls offense by keeping heavy purist on the ball, kicking it away from the Red Bull offense.

Five minutes into the second half, Mahwah broke the scoreless tie when Kyler Raia scored unassisted on a sharp kick that went into the right corner of the net. Raia exploded with emotion after the score, as he was mobbed by teammates.

“The goal was a big accomplishment, especially going up against a team with the cream of the crop in players. (The Red Bulls) had to work hard to beat us,” Wells said.

The Raiders held onto that 1-0 lead for a better part of the half, however, as the Raider defense began to tire, the Red Bull offense began to take advantage.

Soon shots by the Red Bulls were missing by a matter of feet, until Mamdou Balde scored the tying goal, as he shot the ball right underneath the clutches of the Mahwah goaltender with 9:58 to play.

With less than a minute to go in the game, Balde put the contest away when he took the pass near the perimeter, fought off a defender, and somehow drew the goalkeeper out from the net. When he saw the goalie make a move to defend the ball, Balde took his shot, and zipped the ball  right into the back of the net for the game winner.

“It was great to help the team,” Balde said. “We worked very hard to get back into the game. We came out here and wanted to win as a team.”