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Valot All Smiles as Red Bulls II Surge

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 10/28/17, 8:09AM EDT

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French midfielder has been key with eight goals since start of September


Photo courtesy Charleston Battery

WHIPPANY, N.J. – It’s been difficult to keep the distinctive, wide smile off the face of New York Red Bulls II midfielder Florian Valot’s face over the past two months, and it’s not difficult to understand why.

With eight goals since the start of September, including a tally in the No. 7-seed Red Bulls II’s 4-0 victory against the No. 2-seed Charleston Battery last Saturday night in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2017 USL Cup Playoffs, everything appears to have fallen into place for the French standout.

For the second-year pro, who helped the Red Bulls II claim the 2016 USL Cup, it wasn’t always that way this season. New York’s up-and-down start to the season, in addition to Valot struggling to find form at times, led to regular conversations with Red Bulls II Head Coach John Wolyniec that helped the 24-year-old maintain confidence in his ability.

“John helped me a lot through this year,” said Valot. “Finding those moments, those happy places where even though the game is hard, keep finding those happy places and keep smiling even through the difficulties, and that helped me a lot. I’ve been playing way better with that, and I want to thank him a lot because he was really, really patient through the season.”

That patience has paid off handsomely with Valot currently playing arguably the best soccer of his career. After garnering nomination for September’s USL Player of the Month award, Valot and the likes of forwards Stefano Bonomo and Junior Flemmings are carrying the Red Bulls II into Saturday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal against the No. 3-seed Tampa Bay Rowdies (7:30 p.m. ET | Preview) with a good level of confidence.

“This level of confidence is really important for me going to the playoffs, but I need to give credit to the team,” said Valot. “They’ve been supporting me all season and I think it’s just a result of working hard with them and then that will go far. Confidence-wise, everyone is confident, not just me.”


Photo courtesy Ben Solomon / New York Red Bulls II

Facing the Rowdies on their home turf is going to be a tough proposition for New York. Tampa Bay has lost only once at Al Lang Stadium this season, back in April, putting the hosts on a 13-game home undefeated streak after their 3-0 victory against No. 6-seed FC Cincinnati last Saturday night. New York was among the teams to fall to the Rowdies on the road, a 3-2 defeat that saw the side play well, but be hindered by an early-second half red card to Jordan Scarlett that allowed the Rowdies to see out the victory.

Despite that, the 4-2 victory the Red Bulls II took in the first meeting between the teams at MSU Soccer Park showed the younger New York side wasn’t in awe of the Rowdies’ experienced and high-profile squad.

“We know those guys are really experienced, they’ve been playing in the best leagues in the world, especially Joe Cole, but I think we won’t be scared against them,” said Valot. “We just need to play the way we play, obviously we’ll have more energy because we’re younger, but I think it’s going to be a good matchup.”

Seeking to become the first team to win the USL Cup in back-to-back seasons, the Red Bulls II appear to have the confidence of the side that swept to victory a year ago, with Valot among those leading from the front.

“I think last year throughout the season we were always confident. We had a good team,” said Valot. “This year we have a good team also, but what I said after the game [against Charleston] to the guys was that during that game, [I felt like we had] the confidence that we had going into the playoffs last year, winning every game, that kind of confidence when you go on the field and you say ‘nothing wrong is going to happen to us, we’re going to control the game’, it was a really, really good feeling. Hopefully we can get it this weekend too.”

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