The New York Red Bulls completed their 2011 preseason Saturday night, falling to Real Salt Lake, 1-0, in the third-place game of the Desert Diamond Cup.
The first regular-season MLS match for New York is on March 11 against FC Dallas (3 p.m., TV: NBC Sports Network).
The Red Bulls will be short-handed when the MLS season opens. William Conde, acquired to fortify the team's defense, has suffered a strained thigh and could miss as many as three weeks of action. Ryan Meara, projected as the team's starting goalkeeper this season, sustained an apparent broken bone (although no reports specified which bone). The rookie from Fordham is still expected to start against FC Dallas, however.
In addition. New York will be without midfielder Rafa Marquez. He will open the 2012 season serving a two-game suspension for his role in starting a melee after the final game of the 2011 MLS Cup playoff series between the Red Bulls and the LA Galaxy.