Chicago Fire FC II (2-2-0-0, 6 points) fell 3-2 against New York Red Bulls II (3-0-1-0, 10 points) Sunday afternoon at MSU Soccer Park in Montclair, New Jersey. Homegrown midfielder Dylan Borso tallied his first goal of the season, while winger Claudio Cassano scored in his second consecutive match for Chicago.
The hosts struck early. After winning a foul just outside the Fire box, wingback Matthew Dos Santos bent a ball over the wall and into the bottom corner of the goal for the opener in the 14th minute.
As the match turned into a contest of counters, the Fire took advantage shortly after making adjustments at the halftime break. After regaining the ball, Borso played quickly to Chase Nagle, who spotted an open Cassano on the left wing. Once the Italian winger got to the ball, he dribbled before laying off to Sam Williams near the endline. The New Jersey native passed back to the penalty spot, where Borso arrived to finish cleanly for the equalizer in the 49th minute.
New York sought the lead and got it back in the 72nd minute. After recovering a ball, the Red Bulls combined on a series of give-and-go touches that found Julian Hall at the edge of the box. The forward turned around and shot to find the far post and give the lead back to the home side.
Chicago looked for the equalizer again, leaving open spaces for New York to exploit. After conceding a corner kick on one such attack, the Fire defense rejected the initial kick, but Ibrahim Kasule got the rebound and slotted home a half volley in the 89th minute.
The goal looked like the dagger for New York, but the Fire clawed back in stoppage time. Right back Peter Soudan dribbled through traffic and forced a ball to Cassano, who lashed a shot off the far post and in to cut the deficit to one goal. But the Red Bulls clamped down thereafter and finished the match to continue their undefeated run through 2025.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will take a week off before heading south to Alabama on Sunday, April 20 in a rematch against Huntsville City FC. First kick at Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and the match will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
New York Red Bulls II 3:2 Chicago Fire FC II
Goals:
RBNY - Dos Santos (1) (WATCH) 14’
CHI - Borso (1) (Williams 1) (WATCH) 49’
RBNY - Hall (2) (Kasule 1) (WATCH) 72’
RBNY - Kasule (1) (WATCH) 89’
CHI - Cassano (2) (Soudan 2) (WATCH) 90+1’
Discipline:
CHI - Boltz (Yellow Card) 60’
CHI - Calle (Yellow Card) 69’
RBNY - Benedetti (Yellow Card) 83’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los, D Soudan, D Diouf, D Cupps, D Calle, M Konincks (capt.), M Williams (Richards, 81’), M Osorio (Nagle, 21’), F Borso (Hlyut, 67’), F Boltz (Shokalook, 67’), F Cassano
Substitutes not used: GK Stechnij, D Oyegunle, M Montiel
New York Red Bulls II: GK Stokes, D Gutiérrez (capt.), D O’Connor, D Modelo, M Rosborough (Collahuazo, 88’), M Mehmeti, M Jarvis (Sserwadda, 57’), M Dos Santos, F Mosquera (Benedetti, 57’), F Hall (Gallagher, 90+6’), F Rojas (Kasule, 57’)
Substitutes not used: GK Causey, M Schwarz, M Leite, M Sullivan
Stats Summary: RBNY / CHI
Shots: 29 / 7
Shots on Goal: 9 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 83.1% / 82.3%
Saves: 2 / 6
Corners: 9 / 1
Fouls: 13 / 10
Offsides: 1 / 1
Referee: JC Griggs
Assistant Referee 1: Jessica Carnevale
Assistant Referee 2: Justen Lopez
4th Official: Laszlo Sandler