One was the team's starting goalkeeper. The other was its best defender. The key word here is "was".

Jon Conway and Jeff Parke made a mistake. A humongous, inexcusable, stupid mistake. They've paid for it: 10-game suspensions. Salary loss. Damaged reputations.

That said, they were the team's starting goalkeeper and its best defender. One spent three years with the club, the other five. In a franchise where continuity is a much-desired commodity, the duo is a rarely-seen example.

So, with the offseason eerily approaching, the RBNY brass will be faced with the decision: do they keep Conway and Parke? Sadly, the decision seems already made.

Never mind the the fact that, considering the players' current status, RBNY will be trading for 50 cents on the dollar, if they decide to go that route. Even worse, they could expose the duo in the expansion draft, or release them outright, not getting anything in return. From a soccer perspective, it seems unwise to drop two valuable members from the squad when their perceived value is at a low.

So why are we saying that the decision seems already made? Conway and Parke are still officially members of the team. The league did not bar them from doing anything with the club, other than playing in actual matches. However, the team itself, and Juan Carlos Osorio specifically, asked them to stay away so they are not a "distraction".

And that's fine. It's Osorio's team, and with the late-season playoff push and now the opening round, the staff might feel that any extra "distractions" would be a negative. Even if those "distractions" are two of the major reasons the team was in position to make the playoffs in the first place.

But what's not fine is the club's reluctance to support its players. Two days after he was suspended, Parke released a statement to the media, apologizing for his actions. Now, the dust has settled. All sides have been given a chance to react. So last week, both of the players addressed their teammates, but it went beyond an apology. One of the key elements of Conway's address was that the promise of the RBNY organization and coaches to "stand by them" was not followed through.

The two players are appealing their suspension. They are trying to fight, to clear their names, and to move forward with their soccer careers. At this point, it is clear that neither Conway nor Parke knew of the banned substances, which were not listed on the supplement's label. RBNY's support, which could be incredibly vital in helping them with this fight, is nowhere to be seen.

Eight years of combined service? Sadly, it seems that one mistake outweighs it all.