Dave Romney Starts Second Consecutive Game

Porter: “I thought Dave Romney was excellent today."

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

Dave Romney got his second consecutive start on Saturday, helping the New England Revolution secure a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.

Romney, who played every minute last season, started the first six of seven league games in 2024 before moving to the bench for six straight.

He returned to the starting lineup against Nashville SC while Henry Kessler was unavailable due to yellow card accumulation. Romney paired with Xavier Arreaga in the 2-1 win.

The duo remained together one week later.

When asked about Arreaga, head coach Caleb Porter said he’s “a very good defender” who “positions himself the right way.” He noted that Arreaga and Aljaz Ivacic “were excellent” on Saturday.

Porter then spoke about Romney.

“I thought Dave Romney was excellent today,” Porter said. “I opted to go with him for a few reasons. Obviously, he had a good performance the last game, but also, I felt because of the way that Red Bull were going to play – very direct, balls in behind – that his athleticism and his aerial play would benefit us today. I thought it was a great performance out of him as well.”

It’s never easy to see a reduction in playing time, but close friend Ema Boateng said Romney handled it gracefully.

“Dave is great,” Boateng said. “He’s a very strong guy. Initially when that happened and he went to the bench, his sole mindset was like, ‘I’m going to work as hard as I can in training for the opportunity. When there’s a chance for me to play, I will be ready.’ And that’s what he did. He stepped in the last two games and played really well.”

The Revs have won their last two games with Romney and Arreaga anchoring the defense.

Kessler started in the two other wins, partnering with Jonathan Mensah in the 1-0 win over Charlotte and Arreaga in the 1-0 win over Chicago. Mensah only played 44 minutes in the first game before suffering an injury that led to him being replaced by Romney.

While the backline and goalkeeper are primarily responsible for keeping the ball out of the net, Porter noted that Saturday’s win—the Revolution’s fourth of the season—came down to team-wide defending.

“I thought we won the game today because we defended well from start to finish,” Porter said.

He later added, “There have been some games this year where it’s been 0-0 and we don’t find the goal and we give up the goal, so I was really proud of our defensive performance today, and that’s not just the goalkeeper and the backline, it’s everybody. Everybody dug in, battled in a difficult game, so real proud of that.”