RBNY Defeats Hartford Athletic 5-0 in 3rd Preseason Match

In a closed door match at the club's training facility in East Hanover, NJ on Saturday, Jan. 31, Red Bull New York defeated USL Championship side 5-0 in their 3rd preseason match ahead of the 2026 Major League Soccer season. 

It's the second preseason win in a row for Michael Bradley's men after the Red Bulls took care of St. Louis City on Jan. 24 in Bradenton, FL. New York lost its opening match of preseason 3-1 to USL League One side Sarasota Paradise.

New York started Saturday's match with a strong starting eleven, with the most notable exception from the lineup being defender Noah Eile ahead of his imminent move to EFL Championship side Bristol City. Newest signing, goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, started in net for the first time in his new colors, wearing the number 34.

The Red Bulls started the scoring early, with Justin Che, playing as a center back, notching the opener just three minutes in on a right-footed volley in the penalty area. The goal was assisted by Dennis Gjengaar, who featured as right back once again for Bradley.

New York went into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead and brought on Julian Hall to replace Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting before making wholesale changes at the 60th minute mark.

Hall quickly found the net five minutes into the second half, scoring off the rebound of a deflected Rafael Mosquera cross to double New York's lead. Ten minutes later, the rest of the eleven (besides Hall) were swapped for the remainder of the match.

It was initially confusing as to where New York's defenders specifically lined up in the backline, with all four defenders being natural fullbacks. Dylan Nealis likely played as a center back for the third straight match alongside natural left back Raheem Edwards, while Juan Mina and RBNY II's Matthew Dos Santos were on the right and left flanks, respectively.

RBNY added two more goals in the final ten minutes of regulation time, when Andy Rojas found the net on a feed from Wiki Carmona for his second goal of preseason in the 84th minute. Adri Mehmeti would provide another in the 89th minute on a first-time volley from the top of the penalty area.

The clubs decided to play out a 30-minute extra time period, in which Wiktor Bogacz replaced Hall and Aidan Stokes came in for goalkeeper John McCarthy. Bogacz scored the fifth and final goal of the match in the 111th minute on a cross from Mina, securing a dominant 5-0 victory in which just about every player got a run for an hour.

After the match, Bradley spoke highly of the group's work within the week leading up to the match. "Obviously the weather created some challenges, but the players, in every way, responded, and we got really good work. Happy with getting everybody good minutes today, lot of good football, a lot of good actions, lot of good goals. So we continue to move ourselves along in a good way."

Che added similar praise of his and his teammate's performance, saying, "I thought as we progress with the games here you can see the group, the chemistry is getting better and better on and off the ball. Had very good ideas. We had a lot of chances today, scored a lot of goals, so things are coming together."

Notably, center back Tim Parker didn't participate in the match, nor did winger Cameron Harper, as he is still recovering from an MCL injury suffered last year.

The Red Bulls will head to Texas to finish up their preseason at the Torneo de Tejas for matches against FC Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 7, Atlanta United on Wednesday, Feb. 11 and Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Feb. 14.

The Red Bulls will officially kick of the season on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Inter & Co. Stadium against conference foe Orlando City.