The New York Red Bulls II (12-4-4, 42 pts) defeat Columbus Crew 2 (9-6-4, 33 pts) 2-1 on Thursday night at Historic Crew Stadium.
Red Bulls II goalkeeper Austin Causey made a huge save in the fifth minute when he stepped up and blocked a one-on-one opportunity from Columbus midfielder Kevin Gbamble.
New York opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Midfielder Aiden Jarvis played a ball wide to midfielder Andy Rojas. Rojas dribbled at his defender and took a two lateral touches inside the box and curled a right-footed shot into the top right corner of the net.
In the 44th minute, Red Bulls II defender Juan Gutierrez ran into Columbus midfielder Quinton Elliot and was given his second yellow card, resulting in a red card to put New York down a man.
New York doubled their lead in the 48th minute. Defender Marcelo Morales whipped in a corner kick into the six-yard box that was headed into the back of the net by Jarvis.
Columbus got on the scoresheet in the 54th minute. Midfielder Anthony Alaouieh played a lateral pass to midfielder Ibrahima Sy who took two touches and laced a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.
In the 75th minute, Morales took a low bow elbow from Columbus forward Chase Adams. Adams was given a straight red card to even the match to 10 against 10.
Causey made six saves on the day, which is the most made by a New York goalkeeper this season.
Causey made his second career MLS NEXT Pro start.
Rojas scored his second goal of the season.
Jarvis scored his second goal of the season and second MLS NEXT Pro goal of his career.
Jarvis tallied his third assist of the season, moving him tied with Ibrahim Kasule for the second-most on the team this season.
The Stonecrest, Georgia native tallied his first career multi-goal contribution match in MLS NEXT Pro play.
Gutierrez made his 61st career appearance with the club and is tied with Vincent Bezecourt and Steven Sserwadda for seventh-most appearances in club history
Gutierrez made his 53rd career start with Red Bulls II and is tied with O’Vonte Mullings for the third -most starts by a defender in club history.
Midfielder Steven Sserwadda made his 61st career appearance with the club and is tied with Vincent Bezecourt and Juan Gutierrez for seventh-most appearances in club history
Sserwadda made his 53rd career start with Red Bulls II and passed Jared Stroud for third-most starts by a midfielder in club history.
With 89 minutes played, the Kampala, Uganda native moved to 4,655 career minutes played which passed Dan Metzger for fourth-most minutes played by a midfielder in club history
With the win, New York improves their road unbeaten streak against Columbus to four matches.
Following Thursday’s match, New York will return home to face off against Philadelphia Union 2 at MSU Soccer Park on Monday, August 11. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET with coverage available on Apple TV on MLS Season Pass.
