The Red Bulls got their first preseason scrimmage action on Friday against Atlanta United. New York fell, 2-1, over the course of three 30-minute periods. Florian Valot scored the Red Bulls goal in the seventh minute.
New York used mixed lineups, with no players going more than 45 minutes. The starting defense consisted of Ryan Meara, Rece Buckmaster, Tim Parker, Sean Nealis and 2020 First Round SuperDraft pick Patrick Seagrist.
Sean Davis and Chris Lema anchored the midfield, with a front four of Danny Royer, Florian Valot, Brian White and 2020 Superdraft pick Niko Petridis.
“We want to have more system of play flexibility,” said head coach Chris Armas.