USL Final: Allen hat trick powers NYRBII to big win

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Oct 24, 2016

Former Georgetown star Brandon Allen scored three goals and added an assist as New York Red Bulls II defeated the Swope Park Rangers, 5-1, in the 2016 USL Cup final. NYRBII became the first MLS-owned USL team to win the USL title.

Allen, a finalist for 2016 USL MVP after a 15-goal regular season, finished with six goals in the playoffs for NYRBII, which finished the season with a 14-game unbeaten streak (13-0-1) dating back to early August.

"I was a little bit tired," said Allen, who signed with the Red Bulls as a Homegrown Player, "but I knew in the second half they were going to break down and towards the end of the second half chances started to come, and that's how I got an extra two goals. That's how the chances to come, when they started to break down. There were a lot of gaps in their back four, and that's how we created chances."

USL Champions:
2011: Orlando City
2012: Charleston
2013: Orlando City
2014: Sac Republic FC
2015: Rochester
2016: NY Red Bulls II

Haitian international Derrick Etienne Jr., who left Virginia after his freshman year to sign a Homegrown contract with the Red Bulls, opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a shot just inside the right post from 19 yards.

Allen then scored the first of three straight goals for the Red Bulls, slotting home a David Najem cross deflected by Swope Park's defense. After Swope Park midfielder Tomas Granitto scored on a free kick to cut Red Bulls II lead to 2-1, Allen scored twice in three minutes to make it 4-1. Frenchman Vincent Bezecourt finished off the scoring in stoppage time.

"Anytime you're up two and you give up one," said Red Bulls II coach John Wolyniec, "there's a moment of uneasiness, but that's probably one of the proudest moments I have of this season. In a tough situation where it would have been easy to get a little tight and be concerned, our guys were aggressive and proactive and went after the game in a way that said we're not giving this away."

Most of the players on Red Bulls II are former college players, but they included two 17-year-old starters -- Kevin O'Toole and Tyler Adams -- from their academy program.

Oct. 23 in Harrison, N.J.
NY Red Bulls 5 Swope Park 2. Goals: Etienne (Allen) 18, Allen (Najem) 39, Allen 85, Allen (Bonomo) 88, Bezecourt (Etienne) 90+2; Granitto 74.
NY Red Bulls -- Meara; O'Toole (Plewa, 66), Long, Carroll, Najem; Metzger, Adams, Bezecourt; Etienne (Mines 90+), Allen (Schmoll 89), Valot (Bonomo 81).
Swope Park -- Zendejas; Alvarado, Ballo, Didic, Grant (Barrett); Duke (Molano 89), Appiah (Granitto 46), Ayrton (Gonzalez 61); Pasher, Kelly, Tyrpak.
Att.: 5,574.