Baby Bulls Coming into Quarterfinal with “A Lot of Confidence”

On Sunday October 18, eighth-seeded Red Bull New York II will face top-seed Crown Legacy FC at Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina in an MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff match. The Baby Bulls advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Huntsville City FC 3-1 in a play-in round match at MSU Soccer Park on October 11.

Ahead of Red Bull New York II’s upcoming playoff match against top-seed Crown Legacy FC, it’s important to remember where they have been throughout the 2026 season.

Dominik Wohlert’s Red Bulls II side finished the season with a 13-10-5-2 record (including five draws and two shootout wins). One of those 10 losses was handed to them by Crown Legacy at home (Montclair State Soccer Park) on July 24 by the score of 3-0. It was the third game of a five-game winless streak spanning from July 5 to August 2.

It was the only time all season Red Bull went five games without at least a shootout win; from May 17 to June 21, they went five matches without a regulation win but still won a shootout against Carolina Core FC on May 30.

Following their 21^st match of the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro regular season, the Baby Bulls were forced to reevaluate how they were playing. It took getting together as a team and reminding each other that they were a “really good team,” as Red Bulls Academy product and current Red Bulls II defensive midfielder Deven Cadigan said at a media availability held on Thursday.

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Cadigan, who led the Red Bulls II in minutes played with 2,286 this regular season, shed light on how his team’s July swoon became an August and September stampede.

The main thing was that we got together as a group. We really talked about things and how we want to push the end of the season to get into the playoffs. I think the group really came together and started right after the loss before the winning streak, where we just realized, like, we’re a really good team and we have so much potential to just put it together. So, we just started building connections on and off the field more, and that’s built into the streak, and now we’re here in a good spot.

Wohlert added his perspective on this pivotal moment during the season.

For the guys it was an eye opening moment in terms of hey, we are ready to compete with the best teams in the league but we have to minimize our own unnecessary mistakes.

After August 2, the Baby Bulls rattled off four straight wins and solidified their place near the top of the MLS NEXT Pro eastern conference standings. The Baby Bulls went 5-3-1 over their last nine matches of the MLS NEXT Pro regular season.

By the end of Decision Day on Sept. 20, however, they had fallen from third to eighth place due to a regulation loss to Huntsville City FC on the last matchday of the regular season. But that didn’t stop them from advancing past the play-in round match last week against the same team with a solid offensive display.

At Thursday’s media availability, Wohlert described how he and his staff have handled managing a young team’s emotions following a big playoff victory.

The good thing is that we have our ideas. We have our structure. I really believe in structure, and that structure or that system in the background allows us to not to get too high, but also not getting too low. So, I feel like that’s what we always did. We did that the last 10 months, managing the group, trying to, after a win, trying to bring them down and also be realistic and mention points where we have to take the next step. But also, still pointing out what was good in the same way also after losses. So, we really try to keep them leveled and also try to find good momentum to build that over the week to really allow the players to have their peak performance on the weekend.

The Baby Bulls played their best brand of soccer on Oct. 11; They didn’t get deflated after conceding first, had three different players (Mijahir Jimenez, Pedrinho Castro and Tanner Rosborough) score in three different ways, and controlled the last 50 minutes of the match earning 53 percent of ball possession.

Wohlert reminded reporters on Thursday that this versatility has been there the whole season, but has begun to shine more naturally, recently.

We want to fill our toolbox. We want to try to become a complete team, and we want to be able to punish in different ways. And I think that’s something that we have seen over the whole course of the season…Now, it’s become an automatic behavior on the field. It’s really like our toolbox is filled, everyone is paying attention and it’s become more organic. It’s really become a clear idea on how we want to play, and that’s always a good sign when the players are not thinking anymore who is responsible in press or who is now responsible for certain positioning and ball possession. So really, it becomes a bit more fluid and that’s what we wanted. I think we will be a big challenge for [Crown Legacy].

Cadigan and the Baby Bulls head into Sunday’s match with a lot of confidence, but so will their opponent.

Sunday’s conference quarterfinal will be played at Crown Legacy’s home field, where they won nine of 14 matches during the regular season, lost only twice and conceded just 1.07 goals per game. Meanwhile, Red Bulls II were 6-5-3 on the road during the regular season.

This doesn’t faze Cadigan as he reiterated that he and his teammates will travel to North Carolina feeling strongly about their ability to pull off an upset.

We go to Crown Legacy and we know they’re a really good team, but we know that if we do everything well and we play with confidence that we can beat any team, not just Crown.

Players to Watch

Red Bull New York II and Crown Legacy both had goal scoring depth this season: Crown had 18 players score at least a goal while the Baby Bulls had 17.

One disadvantage for the Baby Bulls is that Roald Mitchell, whose six goals ranked third on their squad this season, was loaned to Danish Superliga team Viborg FF in September and will be unavailable for selection.

However, the Baby Bulls did acquire two highly-skilled players on loan recently. Their names are Kevin Wender and Pedrinho Castro; Wender earned an assist in his first MLS NEXT Pro match last Sunday and Castro has scored twice in two matches since coming over from Brazil’s Red Bull Bragantino.

Cadigan spoke about how his team has adjusted to bringing new players into the squad throughout the season and how, recently, they’ve welcomed the Bragantino Duo.

I think especially with the group we have, it’s a lot of moving pieces. One thing that the group has done really well is adjust to that. The group always gets together in training before the games and everything, and the two Bragantino kids [Pedro Castro and Kevin Wender] coming in, they add a lot of quality, and they got really comfortable off the field, which makes it a lot easier to play with them on the field. And you can see through their first few games how much quality they bring. So, it’s just welcoming them and making them as comfortable as possible.

Crown Legacy had the more prolific scorer during the regular season; forward Hugo Mbongue finished with 14 goals, which were tied for the fourth-most in MLS NEXT Pro. His 14 tallies were five more than the nine that Red Bulls II’s leading scorer, Christian Gallagher scored this season.

Peeling back the first layer of Crown Legacy’s scoring depth, you find that their second leading scorer and forward Nathan Richmond led the team in goal contributions with 19 (nine goals and 10 assists). That’s an impressive ‘one-two punch.’ On the other side, Red Bulls II were led by forward Dennis Nelich and Dennis Gjengaar in goal contributions with 13 and 12 respectively. Gjengaar paced Wohlert’s squad in assists with seven while Nelich was a close second with six.

It’s equally impressive that 17 different players tallied at least one assist for Red Bull New York II. Unsung heroes for the Red Bulls II in the playmaking category are the team’s captain Nate Worth and Sean Baitinger. Worth and Baitinger finished the season with modest assist totals (four each) but Worth finished tied for seventh in MLS NEXT Pro in key passes (passes that lead directly to a shot on goal) and Baitinger finished with 24 key passes which ranked fourth on the Baby Bulls.

The Work It’s Taken to Get Here

Throughout what has been a regular season and playoff run full of highs and lows, the Baby Bulls’ coaching staff led by Wohlert and which includes assistant coach Jonathan Rhodes, and goalkeeper coach Miguel Gutierrez among others has done a great job. Part of the reason why is that they had to fill a lineup card each week from a pool of over 40 players, which is about 15 more players than Crown Legacy has on their roster.

As Cadigan said their squad involves “a lot of moving pieces” and they have adjusted to it “really well.”

Cadigan also praised the coaching staff for their efforts which have helped get the team to the quarterfinals.

They’ve obviously done a really good job. Think from the end of the regular season. We played Huntsville, and then two weeks later we played them again. So, they did a really good job of setting us up in the right way, telling us the little details that really make a big difference. And playing Crown before, we’re doing final level adjustments. They’re doing a really good job of setting us up in the right way, and then we just have to do it on the field.

Coach Wohlert added his own praise for his players who have worked hard for about eight months including preseason, to get to this point.

I’m proud of the guys, how they worked together the whole season, they really pushed for it, they pushed for it to play these big games and I just hope that they go out and find again a togetherness and a moment to express our style of play and in the end also combine that with their individual flair.

Wohlert also described the overall vibes he had gotten from the preparations for the Baby Bulls’ upcoming do-or-die playoff match.

We look forward to Sunday and I just feel the energy is right, the commitment is right, everyone is into it and obviously playoff time opens another five percent for each individual so, we’re excited for the matchup.