The kids are alright.
The New York Red Bulls II saw off the Colorado Rapids II in the MLS NEXT Pro Cup final on Saturday night, winning 3-1 on penalties in dramatic fashion. New York goalkeeper Austin Causey saved Colorado’s fourth penalty after the Rapids had missed their first two spot kicks.
“It’s special,” Red Bulls II head coach Michael Bradley said after the match. “I said it in different words last week, but there’s a lot of football history and culture in this area.”
After a tense 3-3 draw that went the full 120 minutes, the cup final went to a penalty shootout in front of the South Ward.
Colorado left back Anderson Rosa, who had a solid match, hit the post with the first shot from the spot of the night. Nathan Worth sent Rapids goalkeeper Zackory Campagnolo the wrong way to give the Red Bulls the lead.
Mamadou Billo Diop, who scored the Rapids’ first goal of the night, skimmed his effort off the crossbar, and substitute striker Mijahir Jiménez doubled New York’s lead in the shootout in just the second round.
Causey got a strong hand on Alex Harris’s penalty, sending the red contingent flooding onto the pitch to celebrate the victory.
The second-team Red Bulls had to fight back from 2-0 down after a first half in which they could not seize on multiple opportunities.
Against the run of play in the first 45, the Rapids broke the deadlock in the 34th minute, but goalscorer Diop probably didn’t know too much about it. The Senegalese miscued his slide for Steve Flores’ cross, hitting his trailing right leg to lob Causey in goal.
The Rapids doubled their lead at the start of the four minutes of added time, this time from a long throw from right-winger Harris. The 20-year-old launched a ball into the box that New York did not deal with, and left-winger James Cameron was able to tap it in from three yards out.
Rafael Mosquera, one of RBNY II’s young stars who has made their debut for the first team, pulled one back for New York 65 minutes in after building up the play from the back.
RBNY II worked the ball well for the second time in as many minutes from their right to left flank, and patient play from Andy Rojas meant substitute Curtis Ofori was able to overlap and find
Worth in the box.
The midfielder couldn’t get it out from under his feet and squared to a waiting Mosquera, who slid it into the bottom left corner.
Almost exactly two minutes later, Roald Mitchell finally got his goal after spurning a pair of chances in the first half.
Another bit of patient build-up play from the RBNY II to keep the ball in the opposition half saw captain Adri Mehmeti play an incisive through ball to Nehuen Benedetti, whose first-time flick played it into Mitchell’s stride.
He took two touches to set himself and get the shot off, sending the home fans inside Sports Illustrated Stadium into raptures.
“The message at halftime was just that we had 50,55, more minutes to keep playing, and that the game was there for us,” Bradley said.
The Rapids retook the lead 11 minutes later when substitute Antony Garcia picked up a loose ball in midfield and was allowed to take six touches whilst driving forward to unleash a shot at Causey’s goal. The young goalkeeper could not dive to his right fast enough to catch the rocket from 20 yards out.
The adrenaline must have been pumping for both sides, and as RBNY II came forward again, some quick one-touch passing found Worth in the box and was rashly hacked down by Rapids center back Charlie Harper to concede a penalty and give the Red Bulls a way back into the game.
Mosquera duly converted the penalty, sending Campagnolo the wrong way and doubling his tally for the night.
Neither side could break through in the final 10 minutes, forcing extra time.
Rapids’ first goalscorer Diop could have had another 10 minutes into the first period of extra time, but his header was glanced just wide.
Multiple players ended up needing to stretch out their legs whenever they had the chance, and Mitchell had to be replaced with Jiménez two minutes from the half due to cramps.
RBNY II had the better of the chances in the second 15 of extra time, with Mosquera and Costa Rican international Rojas continually troubling the Rapids’ backline. It was Jiménez who had the best chance to win it for the Red Bulls, though.
Five minutes from time, Campagnolo was equal to the striker’s swivel-and-shot at the near post, racing down to claw it out from the goal line.
After the shootout, Mehmeti lifted the cup in front of the Red Bulls fanbase, who had not much to cheer about after the first team was eliminated from playoff contention before the regular season finished.
“To be able to play a final here in a stadium like this, the crowd was incredible,” Bradley said. ‘It means a lot to me, it means a lot to the players, it means a lot to the club.”
