Every team—no matter how great it is—goes through ups and downs. This year’s Red Bull New York II defied that axiom for the first nine games of the current MLS NEXT Pro season by going unbeaten and posting seven wins, but last Sunday at Montclair State University they lost their first game of the season.
It wasn’t a mundane game either, it was the second Hudson River Derby of the season between the second teams of New York City FC and Red Bull New York. The first one ended in a draw (both team earn a point) and NYC FC won the penalty shootout, which doesn’t get recorded as a loss.
In his first year as a head coach in professional soccer, former Red Bull New York first team assistant coach, Dominik Wohlert has guided this RBNY II group, a mix of over-20-year-old veterans and recent academy products, to a stellar 7-1-3 record over the first 10 games of the season.
During a recent media availability, he revealed his message to the team following last weekend’s loss was not overly critical.
The message was pretty simple. We always talk about our performance. It’s not that we base our opinions about our style of play on results, so it’s pretty clear that we said there was a lot of good things still, even in the loss, but also a few things we want to correct in the upcoming game, so I think it’s really important that we stick to our ideas and that we stick to our style of play.
Red Bulls II can hang their hats on the fact that they still have the second most points in MLS NEXT pro’s Eastern Conference (23) behind only Crown Legacy FC (27). Wohlert’s men have also given up the third-fewest goals (12) in the conference behind only Philadelphia and third place New England.
Their opponent tomorrow is Connecticut United FC, one of three independent clubs currently playing in MLS NEXT Pro. The other two are Chattanooga FC and Carolina Core FC.
Connecticut United are currently 14th out of 16 teams in the conference and have won just two games from nine games this season. However, both of those wins came on the road and one was against Philadelphia Union II, a team that is in 6th place in MLS NEXT Pro’s Eastern Conference.
Red Bulls II rookie midfielder and academy product Deven Cadigan has made nine starts and 10 appearances from 10 possible games this season and he talked about facing the start-up Connecticut United for the first time will be like.
I think we’ll obviously have meetings, and it’s obviously a new team. None of us have played against them, so it’s just trusting our staff that they’ll do the right scouting and get us ready in the training session. So just full trust in everything that the staff says, and just following what they say, honestly.
Although the Connecticut United players will be unfamiliar to most of the players on Red Bull New York II, there are two exceptions: midfielder Ibrahim Kasule and defender Steven Sserwadda.
Sserwadda spent two seasons with Red Bulls II from 2024-25. The Ugandan was a starter in 16 regular season games last season and contributed heavily to the team that won MLS NEXT Pro cup. Kasule is Red Bulls II’s all-time leading goal scorer with 27 goals spread across three seasons from 2023-2025 and also contributed heavily to the championship-winning Baby Bulls last year.
Wohlert discussed this reunion and how it plays into a regular season game where both teams are fighting for three points.
Everyone who’s in our league knows that Stevie (Sserwadda) and (Ibrahiim) Kasule or even Denis Hamlett (former RBNY Sporting Director) or Guti (Daniel Gutierrez, former goalkeeping coach)… are working in that organization now and we really look forward, obviously it’s nice to have another opportunity with these guys to catch up but as soon as the whistle blows, then it’s just competing and it’s all about the three points, it’s all about our performance and after the game, yes, when we’re happy with the flow of the game, then we can have a nice chat, but it’s us against CT United and I also want that our guys approach it the right way.
One of the most important relationships on and off-the-field in terms of chemistry this year has been the one between the central midfielders Nate Worth and Cadigan. That’s because Cadigan is a rookie at the NEXT Pro level and Worth has played four seasons at the USL Championship and NEXT Pro levels.
Another rookie who stepped up recently and started earning more playing time is Sean Baitinger. The 17-year-old RBNY academy product made his debut against NYC FC on May 17 as he was subbed on in the 80th minute and played 18 minutes.
Although they are rookies, Cadigan and Baitinger are very familiar with the Red Bull style of play as they played in Red Bull New York’s academy. Cadigan was with the Red Bull academy from U10 all the way up to U18 last year. He touched on the confidence that the Red Bulls II coaching staff and his teammates have instilled in him to keep building on the success he’s had so far in his rookie season.
I would say everybody around me has just given me the confidence and has pushed me to play how I know I can play at this level. I think the coaches have given me the most confidence I’ve ever been given by a coach to just keep going and keep starting. It’s obviously been really difficult, my first professional season, but the confidence they’ve given me to just keep pushing and pushing, not everything’s been perfect, but to keep trusting me has been great. And then obviously, my teammates, my captain, Nate, who I’ve played with in the midfield for all the games, has just given me the most confidence, just telling me and forcing me to get on the ball. It’s just been a great way, so just keep going, and hopefully other games go really well.
This level of togetherness and mutual support is great for a team of young players adjusting to the third tier (working backwards from Major League Soccer) of American soccer. It’s a feeling throughout the club that is fostered by everyone of the 35-40 players on roster believing that they are contributing and that they matter.
We have really a group of 35-40 players who are in the mix to get minutes, and we really try to have every single individual as a factor and as a main priority, and we always discuss what is best for each player. Is it getting minutes down with the 18s? Is it getting minutes with us? Is it training with the first team, or even playing for the first team? So, I think there’s a lot of player movements, and I think we are doing a decent job in trying to create that pipeline, and it just makes us happy to see our guys stepping up, scoring goals, and being able to compete in the MLS NEXT Pro level. – RBNY II head coach Dominik Wohlert
However, despite their fast start, Coach Wohlert isn’t fully satisfied with his team being second place one-third of the way through the season. He spoke about his and his team’s mindset entering the meat and potatoes of the season—the middle third and the club’s focus on developing players rather than being only results-oriented.
The result is not the only thing which is driving us every day. It’s more about the development. Like we want to develop players, we want to be in an environment where each player can take the next step…so when you ask me if I’m happy with the first three months of the season, about, then I say, yes, but it should be also just the starting point for us. We want to keep the same drive, we want to keep the same motivation, we also want to get better in execution of our style of play but we also want to push each individual up to the next level. So, a lot of things left to do. So far, feels good but it’s also nothing to be super proud of because it’s still a long season and yeah, just a few games are played in the season, so let’s keep pushing.
The Baby Bulls will keep pushing tomorrow when they look to rebound from their first loss of the 2026 season against first-year MLS NEXT Pro club, Connecticut United FC at MSU Soccer Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be watched on OneFootball and MLSNEXTPRO.com.
