It’s been seven months since the New York Red Bulls II played a match at Sports Illustrated Stadium, but this Saturday November 1, the Baby Bulls will host the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference Final at SI stadium in Harrison instead of at MSU Soccer Park which they have called home all season long.
At Sports Illustrated Stadium, the Baby Bulls are 24-11-10 all time and played their most recent match there on March 30, which was a 3-2 win over their arch rival NYCFC II.
As for this weekend’s conference final, the Baby Bulls will face their rival Philadelphia Union II in a match that will decide which Eastern Conference juggernaut will punch their ticket to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro final. Although the Red Bulls II have a 2-4-2 record against the Union II all-time, they are undefeated and have outscored the club six to two from down the turnpike in their last three meetings.
New York advanced to the Conference Final after defeating the Chicago Fire FC II 5-3 in a match that needed extra time. Midfielder Andy Rojas scored a brace and has four goals in his last three games while 22-year-old academy product, Montclair native and forward Roald Mitchell scored his second goal of the playoffs. Defender Jair Collahuazo and forward Mijahir Jiménez each contributed a goal, as well.
As a team, the Baby Bulls have scored a league-high 10 goals across their first two playoff matches. That’s more than the Colorado Rapids II who have the second-most with seven goals.
The most recent match between these two conference finalists took place on August 11. Bradley’s side came away with a 2-0 victory at MSU Soccer Park thanks to a brace from Jiménez. Jiménez also leads the Baby Bulls’ active roster with two career goals against the Union II. Midfielder Nehuén Benedetti led the Baby Bulls with 11 goals, while Malik Jakupovic and Stas Korzeniowski co-led the Union II with eight goals during the 2025 regular season.
Jiménez may have come up big against Philly in August, but who’s been scoring lately for the Baby Bulls? The player who got the game-winning goal in the 111th minute of last weekend’s conference semifinal is Andy Rojas. The 19-year-old Costa Rican was held without a goal in the quarterfinal against Carolina Core FC but came up huge with a brace in the semifinal.
That’s a stark contrast from how Rojas started 2025. Rojas joined the Red Bulls II on loan from C.S. Herediano in February. He scored in the Red Bulls II’s first game of the season on March 7 against Atlanta United II and didn’t score another until 12 games later when he found the scoresheet on July 31.
Rojas adds his goal scoring prowess to an ever-growing Baby Bulls arsenal that included six players who scored five or more goals during the regular season: Benedetti (11), Mijahir Jiménez (8), Rafael Mosquera (7), Tanner Rosborough (7), Ibrahim Kasule (6), and Andy Rojas (5). On the other hand, the Union II also had six players score five or more goals during the regular season: Malik Jakupovic (8), Stas Korzeniowski (8), Markus Anderson (6), Cavan Sullivan (6), Sal Olivas (5), and Edward Davis (5).
Korzeniowski, like Rojas, comes into Saturday red hot, having scored all three of his team’s goals in the playoffs so far. He started with a brace against FC Cincinnati II on October 19 and followed that up with scoring the lone goal in a tight 1-0 victory over Huntsville City FC in the semifinal on October 26. It should be a battle of top offenses on Saturday but the thing the Union II also have going for them is they conceded the second-fewest goals (34) in MLS NEXT Pro this season.
RED BULLS II HEAD COACH MICHAEL BRADLEY
On Philadelphia Union II’s Style of Play.
Philadelphia have a lot of skillful, talented players, but the way that they go about it is different. They’re a little bit more direct, they’re a little bit more vertical, they are going to look forward a little bit faster. They have guys who run hard, their attacking players, their 10s, their strikers, they’re mobile, dynamic guys who take off and look to really threaten you in those ways. We have a lot of respect for Philadelphia. I know (Union II Head Coach) Ryan Richter well. He and I played together in Toronto for a year, and so he’s done a really good job with that team. Anytime a Red Bull team plays a Philadelphia team, you know what’s coming. It’s going to be a good game. And so we’re really excited.
On midfielder Andy Rojas.
We’re really happy with the progress that Andy’s (Rojas) made…He has skill, he has an easiness to how he does things with the ball, he can shoot, but we’ve really challenged him to take all those things and make it count for more. More impact on games, more goals, more assists, and then also be ready to put more into it. One of the best clips from the other night against Chicago was Andy on two occasions when we lost balls on the top of our attacking box and we had to deal with a little bit of transition, he was the one to sprint the hardest backwards, to put out a fire and to make sure that a potentially dangerous play didn’t turn into anything more. And so we showed that to him, we showed it to the group. And as a way of saying, look the goals and the assist, keep going with that. You know that part’s important, but the commitment and the willingness to also sprint and make plays going the other way that part is really important as well. We’re really happy with the progress that Andy’s making, and going to continue to count on him in a big way.
His message to the fans.
My message for the fans is that for a young team, we appreciate every ounce of their support. I said this to the group the day before the game against Chicago that the part of at the moment, representing the club in NEXT Pro Playoffs, an being a team that our Young Academy teams are coming out to watch and support. It means a lot. And so when the more people that we can get out to games, the more people that can come and get behind this group, it makes a really big difference, and we appreciate every bit of it.
FORWARD ROALD MITCHELL
On the talent of their attacking unit.
Our offense, like I said in multiple interviews, the quality of our forwards, (Mijahir) Jimenez, (Rafael) Mosquera, Andy (Rojas) and also some of the younger guys who are starting to step up. Everyone’s just focused on the consistency in training. If you guys ever saw it, think it’s just high level. Everyone’s just playing with a different mentality coming for this upcoming final. So we’re just trying to be consistent and as confident as we can.
On Philadelphia Union II.
Knowing a team like Philly, [which] I’ve known since the academy, and until first team. I won’t expect anything less than a tough battle. I think that it’s going to be really good game, competitive. So we’re going to see a lot of scrappy tackles, scrappy fights. So we’ll see what happens.
A win on Saturday would punch a ticket to the MLS NEXT Pro final for New York Red Bulls II for the first time since 2016 when Red Bulls II defeated Swope Park Rangers 5-1 in the United Soccer League (USL) Cup final at then Red Bull Arena. Kick off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday November 1, with coverage available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
