The unbeaten Red Bull New York II (4-0-2) will play their second consecutive home match on Sunday against Columbus Crew 2 (4-2-1) on the campus of Montclair State University.
The Baby Bulls defeated their rivals from Ohio 4-2 in their first match of the current 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season.
Montclair native Roald Mitchell scored a brace in that match, while Tanner Rosborough and Rafael Mosquera added goals of their own. Mitchell comes into Sunday leading all active Red Bull II players with five career goals against the Crew 2.
While ‘Gold Roald’ stole the show in that first match of the season, the story of Red Bulls II’s season has been depth as the team truly boasts one of the deepest rosters in MLS NEXT Pro. Aidan Stokes, who is from Totowa, played 25 games and earned six clean sheets for the team that won MLS NEXT Pro cup last season and so far has only conceded four goals through three matches. The other keeper who has played this season is Morristown native Tobias Szewczyk whose two clean sheets this season in just three matches played is tied for third in the league.
The latest news surrounding Red Bulls II is the recent addition of two players to the roster: Red Bulls Academy product Jason Bori made his MLS NEXT Pro debut as a substitute in their previous match against FC Cincinnati 2 and Venezuelan midfielder Marco Morigi also made his MLS NEXT Pro debut in that match.
Red Bulls II head coach Dominik Wohlert expressed satisfaction at seeing these two players earn their way into the lineup and seeing Morigi make his debut after waiting about a month for his VISA to be approved.
“It’s great that we have these situations like the depth in our squad and finally with a few late arrivals due to VISA processes, we just feel, in every training week and every training day even, that the players come a little bit closer to the idea that we want to see on pitch…it takes some time before we feel confident to push them on the field. It was a great situation finally to see Marco on the field. To see him making his first appearance, that was great and I think also for him, a big step.”
Forwards Dennis Gjengaar, Mosquera, Rosborough, and Mitchell, and midfielders Nehuén Benedetti and Andy Rojas have moved between the first and second teams this season. Mosquera, Rosborough, Mitchell and Rojas have each started four of Red Bulls II’s six matches this year. Gjengaar has appeared in five of the team’s six matches this season, while Benedetti has appeared in just two matches for Red Bulls II. Then there is 19-year-old midfielder Nate Worth who was key to the team’s championship run in 2025 and has picked up right where he left off this year playing 538 of a possible 540 minutes in the center of midfield, while adding an assist.
That’s just to name a few on this Baby Bulls squad that contains 36 players. Nine Baby Bulls have scored at least one goal this season: Mitchell leads the team with three, Rojas, Gjengaar and Mosquera each have two and Benny Rodriguez, Paul Sokoloff, Rosborough, Mijahir Jiménez and Christian Gallagher each have one. Rojas comes into Sunday having scored one goal in each of the previous two matches.
One of the challenges that Head Coach Dominik Wohlert has had to deal with is integrating players sent down from the first team into his match plans. As good as the former head of match analysis at Hertha BSC in the German Bundesliga and Red Bull New York assistant coach is at preparing his team for matches, he can’t create chemistry between players who don’t spend much time on or off the field together.
In the Baby Bulls’ previous match against FC Cincinnati 2, they found themselves tied 1-1 at halftime with a team who had just one win through five matches coming in. Wohlert described how difficult it’s been to start matches off on the right foot.
“It’s a bit of a different circumstance, because we have still a few moving pieces, players who are not with us in training sessions during the week, and then they show up and play for us on the weekend. So, that’s the biggest kind of disconnection, in some ways, from some players, because the way we want to play is also about connections and getting a feeling for your teammate. And when these little connections are not there, especially in the first half, then in some ways, it needs a little adjustment, a little tweak, perhaps in half time to get the picture right.”
Columbus Crew 2 are currently nipping at the Baby Bulls’ heels sitting third place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference while the Baby Bulls sit second. Since losing the first match of 2026 to Red Bulls II on March 1, Columbus have played extremely well and won four out of five matches, including one shootout win.
Throughout history, Red Bulls II own a 5-2-1 record against the Crew 2 but Sunday’s ninth installment in the rivalry will be anything but easy given how well the team managed by former Columbus Crew midfielder, Federico Higuain, is playing.
Higuain’s counterpart Dominik Wohlert discussed the matchup during a recent media availability.
They are in a really good way that I really enjoy. So I enjoyed the preparation, I enjoy the style of play, which they try to bring out. And just the situation from last year they were really young, and now to this year, players get more mature. Players understand the competition a little bit more, and I think they did that. So, one other good move on the transfer market and to bring the one other guy who was a little bit more experienced, and they just have a good lineup, a good squad, a good idea, a good coach, and it will be a challenge. It will be a challenge to face these guys again. In the first games, we did that really well but again, it comes down to what I just said, every situation, every match day, is a challenge in this league, and we have to make sure that we perform on our top level to compete against a really good team.
Speaking of playing well, Deven Cadigan’s professional career is off to a great start. The 17-year-old stepped right up to the MLS NEXT Pro level from the Red Bulls Academy this season and so far has logged 523 out of a possible 540 minutes making six starts. He talked about everything and everyone that’s prepared him for his first year of pro soccer with a team that employs a rigorous style of play.
It’s a lot of lessons being learned through the first six games, just on the field, just everything around the speed of play and in just a little things tactically that I’ve learned, and the coaching staff has done a really good job with helping me adjust to really everything. Like Dom (Wohlert) and Johnny (Rhodes) have done an amazing job to just adjust my mind, especially during preseason, to get me ready for the season. So, it’s been a really good start.
The team Cadigan and company will be going up against on Sunday is coming off of a 2-1 victory over eighth-place New England Revolution II. In that match, Higuain arranged his men in a 5-4-1 formation highlighting 6-foot American forward Chase Adams as the lone striker.
The Crew 2’s goal-scoring has been concentrated among four players this season. Adams and Georgetown University product Zachary Zengue lead the team with four goals each, Ivorian forward Kevin Gbamblé comes in second with three and Liberian under-20 national team winger O’Neal Taylor Jr. has one.
Zengue is on fire having four goal contributions over the Crew 2’s previous two matches. Part of the plan to stop the attacking midfielder and the rest of his team is connectivity. That’s been fostered on and off the field this season between Cadigan and Worth.
I would say I learned a lot from him. He does a really good job of being that leader on the team and kind of talking to the younger players, especially with me being the six and him being the eight. He just tells me, like, where he wants the ball, and how do I get on the ball more to help him? So, it’s just, really just helping out each other. And I think that relationship been built off the field for me just to understand what he wants and how to help him, especially with him being higher up the field. He’s done a really good job of giving me the confidence and trusting me as the six. And it’s my first six games as a professional, but he’s trusting me throughout so it’s been really good with him.
Coach Wohlert’s Baby Bulls will look to keep their strong form going when they face the team right behind them in the MLS NEXT Pro standings in Montclair, New Jersey. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET at MSU Soccer Park.
