New England Revolution U-19s Secure Back-To-Back MLS NEXT Cup Championships
New England Revolution U-19s Secure Back-To-Back MLS NEXT Cup Championships
First-year head coach Brad Knighton can add a trophy to his resume
The New England Revolution Under-19 squad returned to action Sunday morning as they faced FC Delco inside Toyota Stadium in the MLS NEXT Cup Final.
There were no changes from the lineup that secured a 3-0 win over FC Dallas in the semifinal, as Max Weinstein started in net while Steban Lopera, Jack Burkhardt, Garrett Holmen, and Alex Parvu comprised the backline. Tyler Flowers, Brandonn Bueno, and Gabriel Chavez were in the midfield as Jason Zacarias, Bryce Flowers, and Marco Dos Santos provided the attack.
FC Delco got their first big chance in the 18th minute as they cut the ball into the box and got ahead of the backline. Just as it looked like Delco had the opportunity to shoot, Alex Parvu stretched out to place a perfectly timed tackle to dispossess Delco. In the 26th minute Delco again pushed their way into the box. The Revs defense again made the tackle to dispossess, but Delco found the ball again as they ripped a shot on goal, but Garrett Holman deflected the ball away.
Jack Burkhardt was the first Revs player to enter the book as he received a yellow card in the 42nd minute following a crunching tackle.
Disaster struck in the 44th minute as the freekick from Burkhardt’s foul bounced freely in the box. Holman could not clear the ball as Kaio Reis tapped the ball past Max Weinstein and into the net as FC Delco took a 1-0 lead moments before halftime.
Brad Knighton made three changes at halftime as Alexi Karalis, Peyton Miller, and Gianluca Armellino came on for Garrett Holman, Steban Lopera, and Gabriel Chavez.
Armellino looked to get the Revs offense rolling in the 48th minute as he drove down the left flank and looked to send a cross centrally. Armellino’s cross deflected out of play for a corner kick.
Revolution Homegrown Peyton Miller came to the Revs rescue in the 50th minute as Marco Dos Santos cut the ball back from the top of the box to Miller. Miller ran onto the ball and drilled it from a distance into the goal to level the score.
Miller came close to setting up another goal in the 65th minute as he cut a ball centrally to Jason Zacarias. Despite the pressure from Delco, Zacarias attempted the close-range shot, but somehow Delco’s keeper made the save while on the ground.
Two substitutions came in the 67th minute as Olger Escobar and Alex St John came on for Jason Zacarias and Bryce Flowers.
Burkhardt came up with a timely challenge in the 71st minute as FC Delco pushed their way into the box and found themselves one-on-one with Weinstein, but the tackle dispossessed Delco before they got a shot off. Disaster came for the Revs in the 78th minute as Jack Burkhardt received his second yellow card, which left the Revs down a man for the closing 12 minutes.
Substitute Alex St John put the Revs on his back in the 79th minute as he got onto a cross into the box and tapped the short-range shot into the goal to give the 10-manned Revs a 2-1 lead late in the game.
FC Delco nearly found the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time as their long-distanced shot reverberated off the crossbar and into the box. Delco quickly got onto the rebound and looked to find the net, but their shot was wide as it sailed out of play.
A valiant effort by Knighton and his U-19 squad as the New England Revolution U-19s becomes the first team in MLS NEXT Pro’s brief history to win back-to-back titles.