HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Harrisburg City Islanders put together one of their best first halves of the season as two tallies in the opening 41 minutes lifted the host side to a 2-0 victory against the defending USL champion New York Red Bulls II on Wednesday at FNB Field. James Thomas’ rebound tally in the 20th minute and Paul Wilson’s slotted shot in the 41st minute guided Harrisburg to its third win in a four-game stretch. The City Islanders are now 5-8-4 (19 points) overall and 3-1-3 at home. New York falls to 6-9-3 (21 points) overall and 1-4-3 on the road.

Scoring:
20’ – HAR – James Thomas
41’ – HAR – Paul Wilson (Ropapa Mensah)

• #HARvNY: Full match and Opta box score

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. A multiple-goal first half has certainly been a rarity for Harrisburg this season, but the host side managed to grab a pair against the defending USL champions. After Harrisburg had a couple of attempts sail well over the crossbar in the opening minutes, the City Islanders mustered a nice buildup in the 20th minute to break through the Red Bulls II’s shaky defense. Cardel Benbow dribbled up the left side and dished to Ropapa Mensah, who had two right-footed attempts stopped by New York goalkeeper Rafael Diaz at the near left post, the second being a foot stop. The third rebound, however, found a clear path as James Thomas slotted home from the right side to give Harrisburg the 1-0 advantage. Then in the 41st minute, it was Mensah whose through ball targeted a wide-open Paul Wilson who had enough time to pause for the right moment to find enough space to slot home his attempt inside the right post past Diaz to grab a two-goal cushion.

• 2. Just how strong was Harrisburg’s first half? The City Islanders put eight of 12 shots on frame to force Diaz into six saves. New York was limited to two shots on goal and six total in the opening 45. Harrisburg without question generated some of the more clear-cut chances while the Red Bulls II were sorely missing their goal-scoring leader Brandon Allen and assists leader Vincent Bezecourt.

• 3. New York’s strongest scoring chance of the night came in the 71st minute off of a Florian Valot corner kick from the left side. Valot connected with Douglas Martinez, whose header was headed top-shelf and City Islanders goalkeeper Brandon Miller came up with one of the biggest saves of the night. The Red Bulls II were shut out for the fourth time in their past six matches.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Abass Mohammed, Harrisburg City Islanders – The City Islanders left back led all players with a whopping 10 tackles and made some key clearances to lead a strong defensive effort and maintain a clean sheet.

Upcoming Games:
Harrisburg City Islanders vs. Richmond Kickers – July 15, 7 p.m. ET, FNB Field
New York Red Bulls II vs. Charlotte Independence – July 15, 4 p.m. ET, MSU Soccer Park