Red Bull New York II (7-4-3) will look to snap a five-game winless streak when they host Toronto FC II (6-5-3) on Sunday at MSU Soccer Park.
Since suffering their first loss of the season on May 18, the Baby Bulls have lost four of their last five games (including two in a row) and have dropped from first to fifth in the MLS NEXT Pro eastern conference standings.
The main obstacle Red Bulls II have faced in recent weeks is that many of their starters were called into national team camps and missed the last two games. Eight Red Bulls II players, including goalkeeper Aidan Stokes and leading goal scorer Roald Mitchell, spent the last week and a half on international duty.
This has given players who have not played a lot of minutes this year a chance to start and given academy players, like 15-year-old Bradley Castro a chance to gain experience playing at a higher level.
Red Bulls Academy product Christian Gallagher has made the most of this opportunity by scoring two of his three goals this season in the last three games.
Red Bulls II head coach, Dominik Wohlert, explained how Gallagher’s game has progressed since the start of the season.
He always had his style of play, and his style of play is really working, working hard, and being someone who can put real pressure on the ball, and especially in our idea that that’s great, that’s fantastic, that’s what we definitely value, but Christian was able in the last couple of weeks and months to push his own game a little bit to a next level. – RBNY II head coach Dominik Wohlert
The 18-year-old Gallagher, who is signed to an academy agreement, described how he feels about his role on this Red Bulls II team.
I’m happy that he trusts me. First off, and you know, I’m happy to make an impact with the team, so it’s not just me, it’s the team. So I’m appreciative that he trusts me, and the team trusts me. So I’m grateful, happy. – RBNY II forward Christian Gallagher
Another player who recently made their first start of the season is Austin Causey. Last season, the veteran goalkeeper didn’t play much until number one goalkeeper Aidan Stokes had to go play in the U-17 World Cup in Qatar. Causey became the starting goalkeeper in the second round of the playoffs and handled the pressure well all the way through the MLS NEXT Pro final where he made the final-clinching save in the penalty shootout.
Red Bulls II head coach Dominik Wohlert described how the 24-year-old Causey has influenced the team this year, even when he’s not playing.
Austin is a big voice for the group, and keeps everyone accountable, and yes, is in his own way a real leader for that group, and I think that’s important. I’m always impressed. It’s always difficult to be a good leader when you are not actually on the field most of the times, but yeah, I have even more respect to see him putting all his effort in every day to make the guys around him better.
The last time Red Bulls II played against Toronto FC II, the Red Bulls II took a 2-1 win on the road. Since that game, Toronto FC II have gone 3-1-1 but lost their most recent game. Their recent form includes a 2-0 win over Connecticut United, who beat Red Bulls II 3-1 on May 24.
Wohlert added his thoughts on Toronto FC II’s style of play.
What I have seen so far is that they have a clear idea, clear identity they want to play, they want to be dominant in ball possession. They really like to have high ball possession games where they’re able also to break the first line, they’re able to break through and to create chances. And we have to be ready for that.
Toronto’s top two players in terms of goal contributions are Jahmarie Nolan and Felix Bank. Nolan leads their team with 5 goals and Bank leads the team in assists (5) and goal contributions (9). They are two players that Red Bulls II will need to pay attention to on Sunday.
Defending will be key for Red Bulls II on Sunday but to earn three points they will have to score and goals have been hard to come by for Red Bulls II recently. After scoring 22 goals in their first nine games of the season, Wohlert’s team have only produced five goals in their last five games.
Gallagher explained what the team is doing to get back to the form they had earlier in the season.
Just staying together, focusing on the match, taking it one game at a time, and not looking at the past results as that’s who we are, you know what I mean, because that’s not who we are. So just focusing one step at a time, one game at a time, and focusing on what’s ahead and not the past.
The Red Bulls II square up with Toronto FC II at MSU Soccer Park tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Coverage will be available on OneFootball and mlsnextpro.com.
