Ben Mines had always imagined his first goal. He also knew how he would celebrate — by dedicating it to his mom.

Mines became the third-youngest Red Bull to score, behind Eddie Gaven and Jozy Altidore, according to Elias, Saturday night when the Red Bulls’ reserve squad trumped the Portland Timbers 4-0 at Red Bull Arena.

After Mines connected on Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra’s cross, he raced on the byline before lifting his hand up to his ear like a telephone and pointing up in the stands.

“She always calls me before every game, texts — whatever,” Mines said about the celebration. “She’s always there for me.”

As she was Saturday night, along with Mines’ dad, who watched their son make a historic debut after signing as a Red Bulls’ homegrown player Jan. 8.

“It was kind of what I imagined,” he said describing the moment he scored. “To hear the roar and the fans, it’s everything you dream of. You just lose yourself in the moment.”

Head coach Jesse Marsch said captain Luis Robles told him Mines was the best player in the first part of preseason training game, and he agreed with him.

“If Ben got a couple looks, that he was probably going to be able to bury one, and obviously he got a little bit of an easy look but he put himself in a really good spot,” Marsch said. “It may seem like a stretch to predict that but if you’ve watched him for the last month, month and a half, you’d see that he’s dangerous and he’s clever and he’s always good around the goal.”

Marsch said he knew a week ago that Mines was going to start against the Timbers.

“For a 17-year-old in a man’s world, he’s fit right in. He’s not intimidated. He’s ready for this challenge,” Marsch said.

While Marsch gave several Red Bulls reserve types starts Saturday, newly acquired defender Tommy Redding oddly didn’t feature in the 4-0 win.

Redding, who came along with Carlos Rivas in the winter blockbuster trade for Sasha Kljestan, was the jeweled piece in the trade and is largely considered one of the best young American center backs.

“Tommy is doing fine,” Marsch said. “We’re just trying to continue to integrate him the right way. We had him on the roster and we were evaluating.”

Marsch opted to use veteran Aurelien Collin and Fidel Escobar in front of Luis Robles, a somewhat surprising combo given that Marsch talked up Redding when the team acquired him.

“He’s just got to — when you come into our system, especially as a center back, it takes a little time to integrate to understand the speed and aggressiveness at which we play. He’s adapting and he’s committing to it every day and I think he’ll continue to get better and better,” Marsch said.