It’s been an eventful week for those following Red Bull New York’s MLS and MLS NEXT Pro teams.
On September 8, Red Bull New York II (also known as the Baby Bulls) lost their Hudson River Derby 4-2. The Baby Bulls scored first but weren’t able to keep their arch-rivals at bay and lost their third and final meeting of the season vs NYCFC II.
A day later, former Red Bulls Academy player, Dennis Nelich and midfielder Sekou Kone became the third Baby Bulls players to make their MLS debuts this season.
Red Bulls II head coach Dominik Wohlert described how it felt to watch two players he’s coached all season in MLS NEXT Pro take the next step in their careers.
Yeah, it was a fantastic feeling. After [Mijahir] Jiménez, now the second and the third player who were able to get minutes in MLS. It was a great feeling to see them coming to the field, like Dennis starting and Sekou coming in a difficult moment. But seeing them performing how they did makes me really proud because they showed personality and they were not scared. They were active, and I think that’s all you can ask in your debut. So, I’m really proud and really happy for the guys. –Dominik Wohlert
Now, the Baby Bulls prepare to face FC Cincinnati 2, who may be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention but defeated the Baby Bulls in a penalty shootout on July 5.
Wohlert and his staff have guided this team to fifth place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference standings, so far, but they aren’t done yet. Two games remain in the Baby Bulls’ regular season and they can still miss the playoffs if they fail to earn a point in those games because only three points separate them from the ninth seed.
Starting this year, MLS NEXT Pro will have a play-in round: teams that finish eighth and ninth in their conference standings will face off in a single elimination play-in round game and the winner becomes the eighth seed for the first round.
First of all, everyone knows the situation. We are in crunch time. It’s the most enjoyable part of the season. In the end, we always remind the guys that they worked the whole season to be in these final games, to play games where something is on the line, where there’s a little bit of pressure, even from the outside. And now, we are locked in on Cincinnati. We know exactly what we want to do. We want to go out. We want to express ourselves. We want to be dominant in another home game, and that’s the goal. That’s the main focus. – Dominik Wohlert
Coach Wohlert and his team are aware that these last two games matter a lot but they aren’t putting too much pressure on themselves. They will take their next match, play by play and not get ahead of themselves. The reason why they will is they have a great coaching staff that has been able to guide a team that lost several key players to the first team during the offseason to the ninth-best record in all of MLS NEXT Pro.
Fullback Connor Faello is in his second year with Red Bull New York, having joined the Red Bulls Academy from SUSA Academy in 2025. It’s been a journey for him to make it to where he is today, starting with his MLS NEXT Pro debut on April 12, 2026.
Faello described how the coaching staff have helped him develop into the professional athlete he is today.
My coaching staff has been so helpful to me. They’ve pushed me so much. Like I said, at the beginning of the season when it wasn’t going well, they pushed me, they turned me into the player I am today. [Red Bulls II assistant coach] Johnny [Rhodes] took me in and made me so much better just the way he coached me, the way he spoke to me, he was always hard on me, which helped a lot. But yeah, the coaching staff has just been so helpful with coaching me, just giving me so much confidence to play and they just [have provided] a great training environment for me too. – Connor Faello
Faello hasn’t been just playing– he’s been contributing offensively from a backline position. The young fullback has three assists in 16 appearances this season.
Forward Christian Gallagher did not score in the Hudson River Derby, but has scored four times in the Baby Bulls’ last four matches. Nelich leads the team with 13 goal contributions in the season and Dennis Gjengaar comes in second with 12.
Sunday’s match at MSU Soccer Park in Montclair will be the third meeting this season between the Baby Bulls and FC Cincinnati 2. The two teams met at MSU Soccer Park on April 19 and the Baby Bulls took home a 3-1 win.
I feel that training today was so much better, energy-wise. I feel like everyone was locked in. We just have to push and fight in these last two games. Obviously, we need two big results. I think it’s really important we are doing the right things in training; we are taking it day-by-day. It would be huge to get in that third or fourth spot because we obviously want to be home. To do that, we need to win both games. So, we need to stay locked in and bring energy, and when we do that, I feel like in these two games, we will get the results that we want. And, hopefully, that will lead to a home playoff game. – Connor Faello
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on September 13. Coverage will be available on One Football and MLSNEXTPro.com.
