CHESTER, Pa. – Conor Casey isn’t sure why he always seems to get hot around this time of year.
He’s also not entirely certain why he’s saved some of the best moments of his Philadelphia Union tenure while playing against the New York Red Bulls.
But the veteran striker hopes both trends continue when the Union head up the Jersey Turnpike to face the Red Bulls on Sunday (5 pm ET, Fox Sports 1), looking to win their second straight game over a big rival.
“Yeah I don’t know, I’ve got a pretty good track record [against the Red Bulls] the last couple of years,” Casey said following training Wednesday. “It’s a nice stadium to play in. It’s close. Our fans will be there too, which is really nice. Hopefully I can keep the good feelings going and get on the board there.”
During his last two years with the Union, Casey has scored four goals and logged one assist in 299 minutes against the Red Bulls. The last time he played them, Casey’s one-goal, one-assist effort spurred Philly to a 3-1 home win last July.
For Casey, that performance ended a six-game stretch from May 31 to July 16 in which he scored six goals – his first six of the season. The year before that, the 33-year-old veteran had a similar six-game stretch in which he scored five goals from June 5 to July 12.
“I think the past couple of years I’ve had some more playing time during those months than in the start of the season [when I had] slow starts whether it be [because of] injuries or just finding my way onto the team,” Casey said. “I hope that’s the case again this year – that I can help score goals and help the team progress forward.”
Casey certainly had a slow start to the season this year as he played only 105 minutes through the team’s first 11 games, in part due to a nagging groin injury. But with starting striker Fernando Aristeguieta away with the Venezuela national team ahead of Copa America 2015 and C.J. Sapong undergoing an assessment by the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program following his DUI arrest, Casey earned his first start of the season last weekend against D.C. United.
Not only that, he played all 90 minutes and, according to head coach Jim Curtin, did the little things to help the Union snap a four-game losing streak with a critical 1-0 home victory.
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“Conor’s a guy I believe in,” Curtin said. “That’s the reason I started him last game. He’s a guy that has always scored goals in his career. He’s a winner. If you go back and look through the games he’s given our national team, the games he’s given overseas in Germany and the games he’s given in MLS, he scores goals – and he does it in a way that not many American forwards have.
“He’s a guy that puts in a ton of effort. His legs aren’t the same as they were when he was 20 but, at the same time, I thought in this game he was a little bit of a throwback. He turned back the clock a little bit and was really battling and fighting. He gave us a lot of defensive work that kind of doesn’t show up in the stat sheet.”
The only thing Casey didn’t do this past Sunday was score, as D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid robbed him twice. But Casey will get another chance to open his 2015 account this weekend – and perhaps even go another 90 up top as Aristeguieta is questionable to return in time for the contest.
“He tends to get hot, and when he does, you have to ride him,” Curtin said. “I can’t say enough about Conor. He’s a man. He’s a warrior. And he fights for everything.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
