Waiting for a first chance to pull on the NYCFC shirt on an MLS gameday, John Stertzer has had to be patient.
The midfielder, who joined the club after a successful trial in the offseason, came in against Orlando City as a substitute with 17 minutes remaining.
Stertzer certainly did his hopes of earning more minutes in the coming weeks no harm whatsoever with a promising cameo which included a number of nice touches in between the lines.
The 26-year old Fairfax-born midfielder expressed his frustration that it wasn’t a winning debut for him but is eager for more opportunities to impress in a busy six weeks ahead.
John told NYCFC.com: “It was a great feeling stepping onto the field for the first time – the fans were amazing, they all came out on a beautiful day and I’m so happy to make my debut. Hopefully, there’s many more appearances to come.
“Obviously it’s frustrating not to get the three points – we always want to get three points at home. I think we maybe didn’t play our best but I thought we pushed at the end and finished strong.
“We could have gotten a tie but at the end of the day we need to get the wins at home – we’ll be better next time.”
NYCFC were close to getting the tie Stertzer feels his side merited on the day but found a goalkeeper in Joe Bendik in top form.
The Orlando ‘keeper was beaten once, however, with a goal that caught the eye of the former Real Salt Lake player.
“Everyone knows how good David’s movements are and how good he is – his movement on the goal was awesome, to find the space and to make the finish,” Stertzer reflected.
“Once we got that goal, it was a big boost for us and we started pushing forward more, making chances and forcing them back.”
Following that third defeat of 2017, Stertzer is happy that another test lies just around the corner.
NYCFC travel to Columbus for Saturday night’s game, hoping to string together back-to-back MLS road wins.
Stertzer added: “I think we need to bounce back in the next few important weeks we have – you never like to lose but when you do it’s important to rebound and get three points on the road. Everyone’s really hungry for that game to come around now and we’ll be prepared.”
Don't miss out on Family Day on Sunday, May 7th when NYCFC take on Atlanta United FC at Yankee Stadium.
Purchase the special Family 4-Pack and receive the following:
- 1 t-shirt for Mom
- 4 tickets to the May 7th match against Atlanta United FC
- 4 concession vouchers
- A growth chart for the first 5k kids, seen here
Purchase your tickets below using the code MOM2017.
