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:
