The Baby Bulls (5-2-2, 18 pts) currently sit second place in the MLS NEXT Pro eastern conference and are preparing to face Columbus Crew II (2-4-2, 8 pts) on the road. That game will take place 6 p.m. Sunday at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
On paper the Baby Bulls are heavy favorites but anybody can beat anybody in MLS NEXT Pro as the last place team in the Eastern Conference FC Cincinnati II proved when they defeated the Baby Bulls 3-1 in April. The Crew II are 14th in the Eastern Conference and coming off a 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati II at home on May 18.
Baby Bulls veteran midfielder Ibrahim Kasule comes into Sunday’s match with 24 career goals and one goal shy of the Red Bulls II all-time club goals record. The Ugandan also leads the Baby Bulls active roster with three goal contributions against the Crew II.
This is head coach Ibrahim Sekagya’s third year at the wheel and so far he has the club riding high having amassed 18 points through the first nine games of the season. The Baby Bulls start is their second-best through nine games in club history and their best since 2019.
Sekagya described how Kasule is handling the pressure of being on the cusp of the Red Bulls II all-time goals record.
With Kasule, he knows it, it’s in the back of his head. It’s important not just [for] him, it’s for the club also to see how he’s developing. He’s a player who we know has a lot of potential. This is something he has in his head, but it doesn’t take away from what we want him to do for the team. If it comes this game, or if it comes another game, we know that he will break the record.
On the road this season, the Baby Bulls are 2-2-1 while they are a perfect 4-0-0 at home. The Baby Bulls triumphed 4-1 in their recent game on May 18 at home. Veteran forward Tanner Rosborough scored his first career professional brace.
Meanwhile, recently acquired forward Mijahir Jimenez had a goal and an assist in just his second appearance and defender Copeland Berkley added his first professional goal.
In two games all-time on the road against Crew II, the Baby Bulls have gone 2-0 and outscored the Crew II 7-0. A game in Columbus might be just what the Baby Bulls need to turn their road form around and Coach Sekagya described how his team need to approach their sixth road game of the 2025 season.
I think some games which we feel like we lost it, those are the games [that were] unlucky. We thought that the games were there to win, and this is the thing. We have to challenge ourselves to have a chance to win games away. From the beginning everyone was not around us, and now we have guys, they’re coming back. We have some injured guys coming back, and then the team, you can see they are together. But for me, we think game by game and we have to start on Sunday.
Midfielder Aiden Jarvis has started the previous eight games for the Baby Bulls. He is a young 18-year-old product of the Red Bulls Academy who the Red Bulls’ first team signed in February and is coming into his own, as is the Baby Bulls’ attack.
This season, the Red Bulls II have scored 21 goals which is the third-most in MLS NEXT Pro.
Jarvis described what’s been contributing to this torrid goal scoring pace.
I think definitely us working together, and obviously the finishing from our strikers. Because, we work a lot on it in training, lots of reps, so it’s good to see it paying off in a game.
One player who made his mark during the Red Bulls II’s most recent game was Panamanian forward Mijahir Jimenez.
Coach Sekagya described what he’s seen from the forward.
We needed someone who as a nine which is going to help with our players we have with the ball and also him to hold us. This is most important with our team when we’re pushing the team there, but he’s still young. Also he’s a player who has potential, and we knew that when he started… He’s still learning he just came in. This is a number nine where we feel that this is the piece which we are missing into the team.
Good chemistry behind the scenes often leads to results on the field. One of the keys to fostering that good chemistry this year has been the chemistry that has developed between 23-year-old midfielder Dylan Sullivan and Jarvis. Sullivan is one of six players on this Red Bulls II team who are over the age of 20 and he along with Ibrahim Kasule are the only over-20 players who have two years of experience playing in MLS NEXT Pro.
Jarvis described the closeness that’s developed between him and Sullivan two and a half months into the 2025 season.
He’s been there since my first year with Red Bulls II, and he also plays the same position as me, so he’s definitely helped me a lot in trainings and games and just teaching me things.
Coach Sekagya shed some light on the leadership that players like Sullivan have shown in and out of training this season.
We have a group of leadership and he’s one of [them]. He’s helping the guys and we know what he gives. He gives 100% in training. Outside of training, he’s helping the young players, that’s why we liked him to stay with us and this is the player who you know that the young players are going to learn from him… His leadership is so important for the group.
The Baby Bulls may be heavy favorites heading into this week’s match, the first of three in the span of 10 days that they will play, but the Crew II’s defense will be no pushover as they’ve conceded the eighth-least amount of goals in MLS NEXT Pro.
Coverage for the Red Bulls II’s 10th game of the season will be available on MLSNEXTPro.com with Peyton Gallaher providing the commentary.
