The New York Red Bulls II (NYRB II) have won six matches in a row dating back to May 18 and have won eight of their last nine matches dating back to mid April.
They now gear up to face one of the two teams that have defeated them this season, FC Cincinnati II (2-7-4) on Sunday.
Their most recent game was the first of new head coach Michael Bradley’s tenure and they won 2-1 over Carolina Core FC on the road.
The Baby Bulls have outscored opponents 18 to 6 during this stretch and a lot of it has had to do with the play of Nehuen Benedetti. The Argentine midfielder joined the team on a one-year loan in April and made his first appearance as a sub on April 6. Since that match, Benedetti has started seven of eight possible matches and scored five goals and provided five assists. He leads the team in goal contributions this season with 10.
The Argentine has also scored in each of his last four matches and Bradley had this to say about the 20-year-old attacking midfielder’s run of form.
“He’s in really good form, as you’ve said, goals, assists. Nevi (Benedetti) has football you know, his ability to find space, his ability to recognize situations, slip certain passes, understand rhythm and timing. That part is really good. And with that, he’s still, in terms of how hard he works, how much ground he covers, his ability when we don’t have the ball to press, to counter press, that those things are all at a really good level as well. So he’s establishing himself as a really important guy in the team. And I think we’re all really excited to see how that continues to progress.” – NYRB II head coach Michael Bradley
The Red Bulls II lost their starting goalkeeper, Aidan Stokes last Sunday to injury. Stokes played just 35 minutes before he was subbed out for veteran Austin Causey.
Causey played the last four seasons in USL League One first with Richmond Kickers from 2021-2022 and then with Lexington Sporting Club in Lexington, Kentucky from 2023-2024. He was without a club when Red Bulls II signed him in March.
Causey came into the Baby Bulls’ most recent match and played very well, conceding just one goal and making two saves. The 23-year-old spoke to the media recently about the experience of coming in cold off the bench and helping his team win.
“That’s just the role, you know, as the job, being a keeper a tough position, whether you’re starting or not and you just kind of have to always be ready in that sense. Pretty much my mindset going into that was just prepare as best I can, as if I’m going to play. If you’re going to play, if you’re not, the mindsets got to be the same. So when Aidan (Stokes) went down, honestly, didn’t have too much time to think. Pretty much jumping right in there and have to do what I have to do at the end of the day. I trust the guys in front of me. And everybody played very well, got the three points and left happy. So happy to play my role. And, whatever is needed me, I try to give the best I can.” – NYRB II goalkeeper Austin Causey
Last Sunday was Bradley’s first match as a head coach after spending the last year and a half as an assistant with Norwegian club, Stabaek. He comes from an illustrious soccer family that includes his father Bob Bradley who managed both the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2006-2011 and the NY/NJ Metrostars.
Bradley spoke about what he saw in last Sunday’s match and what he’s looking forward to about this Sunday which will be his first home match as a head coach.
“At the end of the first week to go to go down to Carolina and play against a good team, especially at home, challenges you, challenges you, in terms of, now, some of their build up ideas, the way they spread themselves out, the way that they’re good at hitting diagonals across the field, and, you know, certain movements with their 10s who come underneath. And so it was a really, a really good start for me. But again, it’s not about me, it’s about the group, and the group continuing to grow and continuing to develop in all the right ways. And obviously this last period has been a really good one. And I thought the match in Carolina was a good continuation of that. We talked at halftime about a few things we talked about now in a game like that, really needing to make sure that this we raised our level in the second half and push the game even more. I thought all the players responded in a really good way. And yeah, like I said, happy and just really excited to be here, really excited to continue working with the players, and excited now for my first home game.”
FC Cincinnati may be coming into Sunday in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference, but they also just defeated Chattanooga, the second place team, 8-7 on penalties. Despite having only two wins on the season, one of them was a 3-1 handling of NYRB II on April 20.
That was a different Baby Bulls team and a different FC Cincinnati 2 team and Causey discussed what it’s like to play against a team the second time around.
It obviously helps to have played a team previously, just because you kind of have a better sense of their players and what they’re trying to do as well as looking at their most recent games as well. Trying to pick up any like synchronicities, trying to try to figure out how they might play, how we can benefit from our style of play, how we can impose what we want to do on them, find any weaknesses and take advantage of that. It’s always good to now take them in at our home field and just go out and give the best we can and hopefully get the result this weekend.
The Baby Bulls have won six in a row and that is no easy feat. The longest winning streak they had in 2024 was five games.
But what has been going on behind the scenes that has led to such a historic season so far? Causey, who is a veteran at 23 years old compared to the average age of this club (19) shed some light on how he and his teammates have been able to put together consistent results.
You know everybody, whether them starting 11 or not. Whether they’re getting rostered or not. Everybody’s putting as much as much effort as they can on and off the field. I think we have a really good mentality, good mindset. It’s been awesome working with Coach Ibra [Sekagya] for the first bit of the season and now moving on to Coach Bradley. It’s a good group that we got, and it’s fun to be a part of. And everybody feels that same way. There’s a good connection, both on and off the field. I feel like, guys get along. Guys demand a lot of each other. And everybody is up for the challenge. I think that we’ve been on a good run of form lately, and the mindset is just to keep that going, kind of one game at a time. And just put our best foot forward each and every day. And I feel like we’re all bought into that and luckily it’s translated into results as well.
The Baby Bulls will look to make it seven consecutive wins when they take on FC Cincinnati 2 on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at MSU Soccer Park on the campus of Montclair State University.
