RECAP: Red Bulls Lose Home Final to Cincinnati, Reserves In Playoffs, 1-0
With the New York Red Bulls’ playoff hopes gone, the team must now play out the rest of its season.
They did just that, with an emphasis on play, as the team lost to FC Cincinnati, 1-0, in the final match at Sports Illustrated Stadium this year.
The loss to New York City FC a week ago might have felt like the final dagger. But it really came when Chicago Fire beat Inter Miami CF last Wednesday to officially clinch the final playoff spot in the East.
RBNY’s run of 15 straight appearances in the playoffs ends with only last year’s run to the final to show for it.
The first team has a lot of questions to ask itself. But the second team is at least doing well.
More below.
A Dreadful Home Finale
Against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the New York Red Bulls looked like a team without bite on Saturday.
In the 12th minute, Kevin Denkey took a pass from Brenner da Silva on a break, launching a shot from the top left corner of the box into the opposite corner of the net. A few minutes later, FCC nearly scored again, but the shot went wide.
This one-sided affair continued into the second half. The game felt pointless, and the two dozen away supporters for FC Cincinnati felt like double that for how loud they sounded. Cincy’s Lukas Engle got on a break off a bad RBNY pass and ran towards the box. But once again, the shot went wide.
In another moment of time, this could be a game where New York came from behind to get a point. But the closest RBNY came to tying the match was an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting chance in the 69th minute that was saved off the line by Samuel Gidi.
The moment of the night, possibly a perfect visual indication of the season, came with just under 10 minutes to go in regulation. Wiki Carmona took the ball from a corner kick, but hit the right post. Julian Hall jumped on the rebound, but his shot was denied by the same right post. Hall was close to a cobra-like surrender stance as the shock of missing washed over him.
A clear chance to make an impact in a game, foiled.
Most of the announced crowd of 25,017 (no chance that is factual) had left long before the final whistle. The “Fan Night” felt on the nose, a bucket hat, and a sense of emptiness that has lingered around this team for the last few months. The players did their job, they tried, and they stuck around for photos and autographs. Part of this wasn’t on them. But the feeling of disappointment and uncaring will linger.
The team has one more game to go. A Decision Day match against the Columbus Crew on the road in Ohio.
That game is in two weeks after the FIFA International Break window.
Reserves Bound for Playoffs
I won’t sugarcoat it; things are bleak in New York Red Bulls land. What I am about to talk about probably won’t make a fair number of fans feel better. But there is a silver lining over at Montclair State University. The New York Red Bulls II, the reserve team that competes in MLS Next Pro, is currently having a stellar season and is heading into the playoffs.
On Sunday, NYRB II beat Toronto FC II, 2-1, to clinch both the top seed in MLSNP’s Eastern Conference and win the Northeast Division Championship.
This is New York II’s second Eastern Conference regular season title since the 2016 side, which won the USL Championship Eastern Conference. This is their first regular-season Eastern Conference title in MLS NEXT Pro, which the team joined back in 2022.
This has been a stellar season for the II team. A total of 17 wins is tied for the second most in team history in a single season. The season total of 58 points is also now the second most ever recorded by the team in its ten seasons of play.
NYRB II will now host another team in the MLS Next Pro Conference Quarterfinals. The group will be able to pick who they face, with the options being the teams that finished 5th through 8th.
The New York Red Bulls organization has won multiple titles via men’s leagues in years past.
This includes a National Premier Soccer League title with the U-23 team, the 2016 USL Regular Season Championship, and the 2016 USL Cup.
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