On a mild Sunday evening, the New York Red Bulls II clashed with Crown Legacy FC at MSU Soccer Park on the campus of Montclair State University. The Red Bulls II came into this match in 10th place and just one point behind Crown Legacy FC (seventh) in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference standings. This meant that with a win, the Baby Bulls would have leapfrogged Crown Legacy into a spot above the playoff cut-off line. With six games remaining in their season, much was at stake here in tonight’s contest.
The Baby Bulls started the game on the front foot, generating the game’s first scoring chance in the second minute when Red Bulls II midfielder Tanner Rosborough had his shot saved one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The rebound that came off Rosborough’s shot fell to his teammate, Steven Sserwadda who attempted a shot from outside the box but that was blocked by a Crown Legacy defender. At around the fifteen-minute mark, Red Bulls II forward Julian Hall got in behind Crown Legacy’s backline and raced the Crown Legacy goalkeeper to a loose ball. The Crown Legacy goalkeeper tripped Hall outside the 18-yard box and was shown a yellow card.
At minute 26, the Baby Bulls found their breakthrough on a corner kick taken by Omar Valencia. The in-swinger found the head of Red Bulls II center back Aidan O’Connor who headed the ball into the far side of the net to give Red Bulls II the first lead of the game.
After this, the Red Bulls II had a few chances to stretch their lead, mostly on crosses inside the 18-yard box but none of them were connected with. In the 41st minute, a Crown Legacy player dribbled a Baby Bulls defender before taking a hard shot that forced Red Bulls II goalkeeper Aidan Stokes into a desperate save.
In the 48th minute, after halftime, the Red Bulls II conceded the lead when Crown Legacy’s Nimfasha Berchimas ripped a shot from distance that just beat a diving Stokes to the left side of the net. 12 minutes later, the visitors took their first lead of the game when a desperate cross found the head of Idan Toklomati inside the Red Bulls 18.
And the visitors were not done there. A failed clearance in minute 70 led to the ball staying in the Baby Bulls 18-yard box too long. Long enough for Julian Bravo to take a swinging kick at it and pummel it into the net to stretch Crown Legacy’s lead to two.
Five minutes later, Crown Legacy put the nail in the Baby Bulls coffin, when Dylan Sing powerfully headed in a corner kick to put the visitors in front 4-1.
In the 89th minute, tempers flared by the players benches as after a hard challenge, Red Bulls II defender Omar Valencia and Crown Legacy’s Jonathan Nyandjo got into an altercation. Valencia and Nyandjo were both shown red cards reducing both sides to ten men, but by that time, the game was well out of reach for Red Bull and they lost in stunning fashion in front of their home supporters on the campus of Montclair State University.
Head coach Ibrahim Sekagya described what his Red Bulls II team did well in the first half.
“We did what we talked about it stayed compact, they couldn’t play inside. They just played long balls behind. Sometimes they got to run behind but we saw it. I think the structure of the team the way in the transition, when we win the ball to play forward was good, everything we talked about in the first half was good.” – Red Bulls II head coach Ibrahim Sekagya
Then, Sekagya touched on what happened that led to his team conceding four goals in the second half in a span of 27 minutes.
For me the only thing is when we concede the first goal I think [the reason was] a little bit of the mentality of our players, which it helps us more to come back from. This is a young team, we need to learn from this as I said. The second half is where we have to learn more. There was a little bit of good stuff but a lot of things which we have to correct.
With the loss, the Red Bulls II remain in 10th place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference standings with 33 points. They will look to rebound at their next match against Carolina Core FC who sit just behind them in the standings, in 11th.
“I just told them we had a good first half. I think the first half was good. In the second half, we concede the goal and then everything changes but yeah, it’s a young team and these are the games where we have to learn and now we just think about the next game, also it will be difficult our way, but we just have to push ourselves. Right now, the most important thing is to learn from this and then we go to the next one.”
Anthony Paradiso 