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Allen hat-trick leads Red Bulls II past Swope Park Rangers in USL Cup final

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Red Bulls II emerged as the USL’s best team during the regular season, and on Sunday, they cemented their spot as USL champions.

Led by a Brandon Allen hat-trick, Red Bulls II toppled Swope Park Rangers, 5-1, at Red Bull Arena in Sunday’s USL final. The win sees Red Bulls II end the season on a 14-game unbeaten streak to secure the championship trophy in the club’s second season.

It took 18 minutes for Red Bulls II to jump on the Sporting KC affiliate, as Allen played provider to set up Derrick Etienne Jr. for the game’s opener following some calamity in the SPR box. Allen himself got on the scoresheet 20 minutes later on a cross from David Najem, giving the hosts a commanding lead heading into the second half.

The second half was a bit quiet until the 73rd minute, when Tomas Granitto fired SPR back into the match be bringing the scoreline to 2-1. From there, though, it was all Red Bulls II, beginning with Allen’s clincher in the 85th minute. The forward added his third just three minutes later before Vincent Bezecourt fired one more for good measure in stoppage time to seal a 5-1 win.

With the hat-trick, Allen becomes just the second player to score a USL Cup final hat-trick, joining former Orlando City and current Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer.

Check out the highlights from Sunday’s match below:

Comments

  1. When Marsch was interviewed during the game he was asked who he sees contributing to the first team. He mentioned four players and Allen wasn’t one of them. If I was another MLS team I would seriously look at Allen.

    Reply
    • With all the DPs and other competition at forward, where do you see him making his mark? What position and which team.

      Most teams are going with 4-5-1 now.

      He better be Morris-esque to have much of a chance.

      Reply
  2. Just from the highlights, RB2 seem very impressive with their off the ball movement. The goals were top quality too that required skill. That was a masterclass display over SPR. Congrats.

    Reply
    • certainly showed glimpses throughout the evening of being a masterclass, but still a very wide open and at times sloppy game. stylistically they play similar to first team but there is a clear gap between the two teams (RB1 and RB2). not to say certain players can’t make the jump, but there were also players who appear to be maxed out/peaked who won’t be able to make the jump.

      Reply
      • brandon allen will be an interesting one to keep an eye on. fantastic in front of goal, very clean and efficient but was not overly mobile or athletic so it’ll be interesting to see if he can adjust his game to the point where he can be relied upon against MLS opposition. if they can find a way to fit him in or compliment him with a speedster, his nose for goal and clinical finishing ability would be a plus to any mls side

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