The man you see down on the field turf is a hard nose player that gives his all to the club and tries his best to be a strong and needed player for this squad. No he doesn’t have the greatest of abilities like Juan Pablo Angel, or Landon Donovan, not even the power shot from long distance like Dwayne DeRosario, but the one thing you can always count on from this man is the size of his heart and the willingness to perform on the field and working hard in practice to make sure he can bury those chances when his number is called upon.

This is John Wolyniec from Staten Island, NY and a legend at Fordham University in the Bronx. He holds the goal scoring record for the University’s men’s team and thru three separate stints with this club both as Metro & RBNY he has never lived down his work ethic. In 2003 when there was golden goal overtime and the season reached the month of September, which meant the NFL gridlines are drawn in the Meadowlands for the Giants and Jets. Overtime against the Columbus Crew and time was ticking away on a nil-nil draw. Till Amado Guevara placed the ball on the Metro 47 yd line (yes I am using American Football descriptions for this report) took a long distance free kick that was punted deep into Crew territory and just when you thought the ball was going past the end line, out of nowhere was Wolyniec and he took a one time blast that tucks underneath the crossbar and the surprised look on the face of Jon Busch was priceless.

Well once again as the club is playing the string and trying to play spoiler against the New England Revolution. Down a goal in the 13th minute and scrapping to pull one back it took the 69th minute for Macoumba Kandji to spring Dane Richards into the attack and when the ball was crossed there was Woly magic doing it again. Finding a way to score a goal anyway he can, Wolyniec buries the ball past Matt Reis for the equalizer. His second in MLS play third of the season when he gave RBNY the 3-2 goal aggregate lead in the qualifying round of the CONCACAF Champions League against W. Connection.

This match however was very physical and the Revolution pulled no punches as Reis took a piece of Wolyniec and forced him to be subbed out. When the second half started Wolyniec took several blows to his legs and ankles as he was taken down from behind in the penalty area and referee Hilario Grajeda refused to give New York a proper penalty. It takes a lot to force Wolyniec out of a match and sadly that goal came with a price and to see him get carted off to the tunnel for an MRI, thankfully he suffered a sprained ankle for his efforts.

We all know that talent wins you matches, some have alot and some don’t have it all. But I remember the former head coach and former player of the Montreal Canadiens Guy Carbonneau saying something about one of his players during the playoffs in his press conference. He talked about Guillaume Latendresse having just enough talent to go on the ice and get that game winning goal to give his team that important win in a playoff game. Woly has more than that little bit of skill and talent, he has the heart, desire & passion to go on the field either as a starter or a super sub to give his all and score as many goals that he wills himself to do. That’s why I say Woly Magic has done it again.