New England Weekly Review: April 9, 2024
Taking a look at defensive performances, Vermont Green FC's left side of the field, and a big bag of popcorn.
Caleb Porter fulfilled his promise that the Revolution would get their first MLS win of 2024 against Charlotte FC. Thanks to a Carles Gil strike from inside the box the Revs won 1-0 in a match overshadowed by the press conference comments leading up to the game.
Last Wednesday, Vermont Green FC had their U.S. Open Cup run come to an end when they lost to Carolina Core FC 1-2 at Virtue Field.
Hartford Athletic returned to winning ways beating Miami FC 3-2 in a game that saw two goals scored in the second half stoppage time.
Rhode Island FC drew at home 0-0 against last year’s USL Championship runner-ups Charleston Battery.
Revs II did not play this weekend, but will face FC Cincinnati 2 in an away game at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
With the weekend coming to a close, here are my stand-out points:
A Weekend of Clean Sheets
With the Revolution and Rhode Island struggling at the back this season, their clean sheets this weekend gave a new look into their defensive play.
For the Revs, a more astute and simple approach saw them make 23 clearances compared to the average of 11.6 clearances a game recorded in the first five games of the season. As Seth Macomber also pointed out during the game, the Revs also looked cleaner at playing out from the back and avoided costly mistakes in build-up following a Henrich Ravas slip-up in the seventh minute.
Slovakian international goalkeeper Ravas came up big saving both of Charlotte’s shots on goal. With his shot-stopping, Ravas secured the Revs’ first clean sheet in the MLS this year.
Rhode Island FC got the club’s first-ever clean sheet this weekend against the Charleston Battery.
Rhode Island’s trend of slowing down the pace of the game finally seemed to work as they made the game scrappy. Charleston also ended up giving in to the foul-fest and committed 22 of their own fouls.
However, Rhode Island paid the price for their aggressive game after Conor McGlynn got his second yellow card in the 70th minute.
Despite being down to 10 men, Rhode Island FC battled their way through and persevered to see the game end without conceding.
In the absence of captain Koke Vargas, Jackson Lee started once again for Rhode Island, making six saves. Coming from conceding four goals last week, Lee put in a much improved performance with regards to his shot-stopping.
Vermont Green Display Exciting Left Flank
Despite losing in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup, Vermont Green F.C. gave fans a preview of the creative power they could put to use this season in the USL League 2.
In the first round, Nick Lockermann showed his precision on set-pieces as he assisted off one. In the match against Carolina Core FC, a fan with a megaphone got the crowd excited every time the German left-footer stood over a set-piece. Having usually played in midfield, Lockermann showed-off his ability to come inside and create from behind while playing at left-back.
Ahead of him, Pearse O’Brein started in his first appearance for the club and earned himself plaudits. The West Hartford, Connecticut, native and former Hartford Athletic winger played 68 minutes proving a constant threat down the left wing.
In one sequence of play, O’Brein cut back onto his right foot sliding between two defenders and nutmegging one of them. In another play, O’Brein got on the end of a Jacob Labovitz cross, but put the ball wide.
The two linked up nicely throughout the game providing good entries into the final third.
Boston College’s left winger Xavier O’Neil also featured down the left-hand side towards the end of the game, but did not contribute as much. Vermont Green FC haven’t announced anything regarding O’Neil, but he could end up spending his summer in Burlington, Vermont.
O’Neil led BC in goal contributions and in dribbles completed this past NCAA season.
With a month left until Vermont Green FC kick-off their USL League 2 campaign, their left side of the pitch seems to be a dangerous component to their attack.
Paul Walters Heroics Help Hartford Secure 3-2 Win
While Hartford’s fast-paced, vertical attack has been the center of attention, goalkeeper Paul Walters put on another solid display to help the Athetics stay ahead throughout the second half.
Walters has already kept two clean sheets this season and despite conceding two goals this weekend, his five saves ensured that Hartford took the three points.
His first major intervention came in the 58th minute as he steadied himself and got both hands up to tip a shot from Miami FC attacking midfielder Allen Gavilanes.
In the 64th minute, Walters jumped up and swung his right arm back to tip a shot from Andrew Booth that seemed to be dipping into the goal.
Four minutes after, Booth attempted another shot from outside the box after Miami intercepted a pass while Hartford were playing the ball out the back, but Walters dived to his left and pushed the ball away from goal with both hands.
In the 72nd minute, Walters took a yellow card for time-wasting on a goal-kick.
Walters eventually conceded in the 76th minute while Hartford were leading 2-0 as a half-volley was placed into the bottom left corner by Gabriel Cabral Leal de Freitas.
Miami FC kept the pressure as they attempted to equalize through Frank Lopez going one-on-one with Walters. Walters stepped off his line and calculated Lopez’s run to make it virtually impossible for the striker to put the ball past him.
After Enoch Mushagalusa put Hartford Athletic up 3-1, Walters conceded an own-goal from Hartford Athletic center-back Jospeh Farell after fellow center-back Thomas Vanacaeyezeele sent a goal-line clearance off him.
Walters is on loan from FC Cincinnati and the 19-year-old goalie has established himself as a the Latic’s starting keeper.
Carles Gil’s Popcorn Bag of Dreams
Having scored in the Revolution’s first MLS win of 2024, Carles Gil was named man of the match. The 2021 MLS MVP was rewarded with an unusual gift for a man of the match performance.
The Revs posted via X a post that read “Tonight’s Player of the Match” along with a bucket of popcorn emoji. The post also showed a picture of Gil with a bag of popcorn as big as the captain’s upper-body.
While the reward will certainly force Gil to binge-watch any classic movie series, it makes sense in the context of the match.
As the game was dubbed “El Promisico” and then popularized by Tom Bogert’s tweet on the situation, the reward came in reference to the noise around Caleb Porter’s “promise” to win last Saturday’s game.
Later, Charlotte FC Head Coach Dean Smith responded to Porter’s promise in his pre-match press conference by saying that “he shouldn’t make promises he might not be able to keep.”
Even though Porter clarified the context of his original quote, Charlotte FC posted on the club’s official X account the bucket of popcorn emoji referring to the entertainment caused by the drama leading up to the game.
As a response, Gil was given the huge popcorn bag as a reward for his role in “El Promisico.”