RECAP: New York Red Bulls II Win 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup, Down Colorado Rapids 2 in PKs, 3-3 (3-1)
The New York Red Bulls II are the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro champions, beating the Colorado Rapids 2 -0 on Saturday night.
Sports Illustrated Stadium welcomed 9,095 fans for the match, an MLSNP Cup record.
A decently packed lower bowl saw Rafael Mosquera notch a brace and Roald Mitchell find the back of the net.
The 3-3 draw led to a penalty kick shootout, where Austin Causey made the last save in the 3-1 win.
Red Bulls II have their first-ever MLSNP championship, adding a star over their crest. It’s also the first championship for former U.S. Men’s National Team captain Michael Bradley. He took over as the team’s head coach midway through the season from Ibrahim Sekagya.
Bradley is one to let people know how he feels. After the match, he mentioned that a trophy isn’t something that he spent a lot of time thinking about in the day-to-day motions as a head coach.
This is his first time as a head coach after serving as an assistant for multiple organizations.
“There’s always an end goal. But you don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about that. It’s the work every day. It’s the process, the environment that gets created, the training sessions, how you challenge and engage the players, like how you try to help them all individually improve so that the team can get better,” Bradley said.
“When we’re the last team standing, and when we’re the ones who get to hold up the trophy – It’s a sense of calm and a sense of pride. Just to be able to watch the players and see the smiles on their faces. To see how much it means to them, the joy, the happiness. I’ve been in the game for a long time, but tonight was the first time that I got to experience that. And so that was really special.”
Historic Extra Time & Penalty Kicks
This season marked the fourth time an MLS NEXT Pro champion was crowned. The game on Saturday night marked the first time the cup final needed both extra time and penalty kicks.
New York opened ET fast with four attempts in the first seven minutes. A trio got blocked in the box by a resilient Rapids defense, while the fourth by Curtis Ofori went over the crossbar.
Rapids 2 tried their best to counter but couldn’t get clean looks. Mamadou Billo Diop had a chance ten minutes in, but his header went wide of the post.
In the second extra time, New York once again outshot the visitors. Both Rafael Mosquera and Andy Rojas had chances early. But a failed clearance in the 115th set up Mijahir Jiménez for a shot in the box. An excellent save by Colorado’s Campagnolo is the only reason this game needed penalty kicks.
The shootout was tense. A year and five days ago, goalkeeper Carlos Coronel had a legendary penalty kick shootout win over the Columbus Crew to help the first team advance in the playoffs. Now, with Aiden Stokes playing with the US Under-17s in the World Cup, Austin Causey would have his moment.
The first man up for Colorado was Anderson Rosa, who hit the right post with the ball, hitting the back of Causey to stay out. He said after the game that he still considers that a save. New York midfielder and mid-season acquisition Nate Worth converted, shooting right with Campagnolo going the opposite way, to put Red Bulls II ahead.
In the next round, Causey dived and watched as Billo Diop’s attempt hit off the top of the crossbar and flew into the stands. He jumped to his feet and motioned to the South Ward in celebration. Mijahir Jiménez converted for New York, making it 2-0.
The third round saw Antony García finally get his team on the board. His shot went high and to the left, just getting past the extended hands of Causey. It had been three rounds, and officially, the young keeper had not stopped a shot. New York went into match point thanks to a successful attempt from Andy Rojas.
As Alex Harris stepped up for Colorado in the fourth round, the television cameras panned to a hunched-over Causey. Smiling. Talking. Saying things to the opposing player that he probably heard, despite the crowd.
“It was mostly trying to get into their head as much as I could. I told the guys going into the penalty shootout, ‘I need you to put your head down, focus on your kick, bury it. I just need one.’”
Harris shot low and to the left. Causey dove to the left and blocked it. The save had just secured New York its first-ever MLS NEXT Pro Cup.
From In Control to Spiraling in the First Half
The fact that the MLS NEXT Pro Cup even reached extra time, let alone New York Red Bulls II winning the cup, felt like a long shot after the first 45 minutes of the game. The home side trailed 2-0 heading into the break despite looking the better for a majority of the first half.
In the eighth minute, forward and first-team player Roald Mitchell had back-to-back attempts in front of the net. A pass from Nate Worth set up Mitchell in the box with only one defender by his side. Campagnolo blocked the shot from point-blank range. The ball went in the air, where Mitchell headed it in over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, a shot by Nate Worth got past the keeper but was cleared off the line by Rapids 2 defender Stevie Flores. In the 18th, a build-up play ended with a just wide right header by Mitchell.
By the half-hour mark, New York Red Bulls II were looking the better of the two teams. In total, Baby Bulls lead in shots 10-3 (3-1 on target). But the game was slowing down. That gave R2 the chance to strike.
Rapids 2 sent a long ball down the right to Stevie Flores. He crossed into the box where Mamadou Billo Diop slid and seemed to misdirect the ball into the air. Austin Causey dove, which put him far away from the ball, which now chipped him and fell into the net.
A weird goal to open a championship game, and New York struggled to recover from it.
In stoppage time, R2 struck again off an Alex Harris throw-in. The ball sailed from near the corner flag into the box, over the heads of two Red Bulls players. It fell at the feet of James Cameron (the soccer one, not the movie one). He fought off NYRB II players and buried it to make it 2-0.
Both Teams Fight in the Second Half
As the final 45 in regulation got underway, neither team made a sub. New York came out with possession, earning two corner kicks, but couldn’t threaten. The first scare came in the 59th when a Billo Diop from point blank was saved by Austin Causey.
New York brought on left back Curtis Ofori in the 60th minute, who helped break through. NYRB II played the ball from the back as Andy Rojas played the ball into the left side of the box. He made a quick pass to an overlapping Ofori, who sent the ball towards the middle to Nate Worth. Bobbling for a moment, he passed it off to Rafael Mosquera, who slotted the ball into the left corner to make it 1-2.
Two minutes later, in the 67th, the dam was confirmed to have burst.
A pass up the middle from captain Adri Mehmeti found Nehuen Benedetti near the top of the box. He quickly one-touched the ball to an onside, attacking Roald Mitchell. He beat Campagnolo to the left side of the goal. The game, now tied 2-2, was on.
Colorado nearly struck back in the 69th when a Billo Diop header near the right post forced a superb save from Causey. Campagnolo responded with a great save of his own in the 73rd, denying Worth from point-blank range.
R2 made two subs in the 77th, bringing on Wayne Frederick and Antony Garcia. The latter paid off a minute later. Garcia picked up a loose ball near midfield and drove into the New York end. His low shot from the top of the box seemed to catch Causey off guard, and it rolled in past the diving keeper. The young goalkeeper could not dive to his right fast enough to catch the rocket from 20 yards out.
New York still didn’t quit, as noted by Causey jumping up after the goal and immediately motioning plays to his teammates. In the 80th minute, a chance at a goal saw Nate Worth taken down in the box by center back Charlie Harper for a penalty kick. Mosquera stepped up to the spot and scored his second goal of the night, sending Campagnolo the wrong way, to tie the game again.
The Night
In 2017, Michael Bradley won the MLS Cup with Toronto FC. Eight years later, he is now an MLS NEXT Pro champion as a head coach.
Coach Bradley is certain that Saturday night is right up there with many of the other accomplishments he’s had in his decades-long career.
“It is right up there. It’s the part of when you’re on the inside of something with a group of people, with your teammates and your coaches. Now as a coach, It’s your players and your staff and your support staff. It is the part of feeling that there is a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging, and that part, that’s the beauty of a team sport,” Bradley said.
“It’s the beauty of football. And looking in, if you’re not into sports, it’s the part of doing things with people you care about and trying to do something really special together. And that part makes everything more fun.
“As a young coach, having the opportunity to come into a club like this, and coach a group of players and work with them every day and challenge them and try to help them. You try to take them individually and collectively to the next level. In the end, when you get a big reward and you get to share a night like this together, that goes up there with any moment in my career.”
Red Bulls II lifting the trophy in Sports Illustrated Stadium, with captain Adri Mehmeti lifting the cup on the stage with his team, is a return to glory. The organization, once known for its academy and youth players, has been losing that title to other teams. Philadelphia, FC Dallas, and even some USL sides have been producing bigger names. New York winning a league with its reserve team is a step in the right direction.
The same direction it went in when Red Bulls II won the United Soccer League Cup back in 2016. That game, also at the Red Bull Arena, saw NYRB II beat Swope Park Rangers. That squad included the likes of Tyler Adams, Derrick Etienne Jr., Ryan Meara, and more. Two years prior, the Under-23 squad won the National Premier Soccer League over Chattanooga FC in Harrison, too.
Red Bulls II had to lose that star over the crest when it jumped from the USL Championship to MLS NEXT Pro. But now it’s back.
The team is now the first club ever to win both the USLC and MLSNP titles.
“It’s crazy feelings, a lot of emotions,” Mehmeti said after the game.
“A big moment for me, obviously, and for Ibra (Sekagya) and Michael (Bradley) to have the trust in me, to make me Captain at 16 years old, at such a young age. It’s a big responsibility, and I think I’ve handled it very well, and that’s going to give me a lot of experience going forward.”
On a night where 9,000-plus fans jammed into Sports Illustrated Stadium to watch a reserve team, it shows the club has both future prospects and a culture.
Despite the first team not making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, the love was shown, whether that was casual fans, diehards, families, or academy players watching on.
“For me, honestly, it’s one of those games you don’t need too much motivation for,” midfielder Nate Worth said after the game.
“Every kid dreams of playing finals. And Sports Illustrated Stadium with (9,000) people, so it’s pretty cool. Being in this kind of atmosphere, there’s not much more that I need to, you keep me pushing till the final whistle.”
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