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‘Ecstatic’ Rudolph Guides STLFC

By CHARLIE CORR - charlie.corr@uslsoccer.com, 04/09/17, 9:07AM EDT

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St. Louis-area native thrills home side with late winner

With the scoring frenzy and shifts in momentum taking place at Toyota Stadium in Fenton, Mo., it was going to take every element of the Saint Louis FC and New York Red Bulls II rosters to pull off a positive result.

On Saturday, the final piece of the puzzle was in the form of STLFC second-half sub Seth Rudolph.

A native of Belleville, Ill., just a few miles east of the Mississippi, Rudolph thrilled his hometown side with an 84th-minute tally off of a Jose Angulo assist to complete a 3-2 comeback win against the defending champion New York Red Bulls II.

“When that goal went in, I was ecstatic,” Rudolph told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I don’t even remember what I was thinking. … Coming off the bench, I knew my job was to try to get that last goal. I remember the ball went long and I made eye contact with Jose. I saw the space and he put the ball right in my path.”

With new Head Coach Preki leading the side this year, the 2014 USL Coach of the Year and his roster have created some buzz in the early going this season. Saint Louis is 2-0-1 (7 points) through the first three games, posting back-to-back 3-2 wins against Ottawa Fury FC and NYRB II, respectively, and opening the year with a scoreless draw on the road against a challenging Louisville City FC side.

It truly has been a team effort in these first few games, with three different players finding the net Saturday.

“All these guys train hard every day,” Preki said. “It’s not starters and substitutes. I don’t look at it that way. Everybody in this team is capable of playing, and we had quite a few new guys in the lineup. They were ready and they came through for us.”

Saint Louis hits the road this week for a pair of matches against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Wednesday and FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

STLFC demonstrated some needed poise this weekend against the 2016 champions, rallying from a 2-1 deficit thanks to Angulo’s game-tying penalty kick and Rudolph’s winning strike.

“I have to give our team an incredible amount of credit, because even when we were down 2-1, we found a way,” Preki said. “We believe in our process, got ourselves a couple of goals and a nice three points.”