Red Bull New York Dominates in Rout of San Diego

Published: Sunday, October 11, 2026

by Jake Marcial

In a match between two playoff hopefuls, Red Bull New York (10-6-12) made a statement in a 4-1 victory over San Diego FC (8-8-12) at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday.

 

It was Noche Latina in Harrison, and New York paid tribute to its players and fans of Latin heritage during pregame festivities.

 

Red Bull came into the night on the heels of a 3-0 loss against St. Louis City on September 30, and clinging onto a wild card spot in the Eastern conference table. On the other side, San Diego was winless in their last five matches, most recently drawing at Austin FC after giving away a 3-0 lead in the final 20 minutes.

 

The first 10 minutes were evenly matched, with San Diego notching the first shot on goal, which was saved by Red Bull’s goalkeeper Ethan Horvath. New York took possession back for the next few minutes and made it count in the 15th minute, when Jorge Ruvalcaba found Julian Hall running free in the box to slot home the first goal of the match, putting New York up 1-0.

 

Hall is fresh off his first U.S. national team call-up, where he scored three goals in his first three international matches. It was his 11th goal of the season.

 

There was hardly any time to breathe, as RBNY won a corner kick after San Diego goalkeeper C.J. Dos Santos deflected a shot over the goal. Cade Cowell floated a perfect ball into the box, and defender Devin Padelford flew in from the top of the box to head the ball past Dos Santos, giving New York a 2-0 lead and Padelford his first goal of the season.

 

San Diego tried to get one back with a couple free kicks, but New York was not satisfied with just two. After assisting the first goal, Ruvalcaba had the ball near the right endline when he flicked the ball past Dos Santos at a tight angle into the top of the net, giving Red Bull a 3-0 lead less than 30 minutes into the match.

 

Down 3-0, San Diego’s biggest chance came in the 42nd minute, when Julian Bazan fouled Marcus Ingvartsen in the box. Bazan was shown a yellow card, and San Diego had a chance to get a goal back. Anders Dreyer stepped up to the spot and tried to find the bottom right corner, but Horvath guessed correctly and saved it to maintain the 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

 

Even with the large lead, Red Bull stayed aggressive, pushing the ball deep into San Diego’s third and looking for more opportunities in the 18-yard box.

 

San Diego wouldn’t go down quietly. At the hour mark, Dreyer floated a ball into the box, finding the left foot of Cedric Bakambu, who put it past Horvath to cut the lead to 3-1.

 

RBNY responded with more intensity. They outshot San Diego 16-7 in the second half, with six of them being on target.

 

San Diego had a few near-goals that were saved by Horvath, and Red Bull wrapped it up in the 90+3rd minute when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting tapped a ball into the bottom left corner after subbing on late to give New York their three-goal lead back, which is where it stayed.

 

It was New York’s best offensive showing since April 22nd, a 4-4 draw with DC United. Red Bull took 28 shots in total, 12 on goal, and almost doubled San Diego’s touches in the opponent’s box with 39.

 

Red Bull New York sits 9th in the East with six games remaining, looking to get back into the playoffs after missing them last year. They will be back in action on Wednesday in Washington DC to face DC United, a rematch of the 4-4 thriller earlier this season. 

 

Jake Marcial can be reached at jacob.marcial@student.shu.edu

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