New England Weekly Review: June 19, 2024
Getting wins on the board, the accidental midfield renewal, and bangers galore.
While the Euros have started and Revs fans watch Henrich Ravas sit on the bench while Slovakia pulls off surprise upsets, New England offered a more exciting weekend.
The New England Revolution held on for their third win in a row against the Vancouver Whitecaps after Noel Buck, Giacomo Vrioni, and Esmir Bajraktarević scored in the first half.
Revs II beat the New York Red Bulls II 1-0 at home in New Hampshire.
Rhode Island FC gave up a 2-goal lead in stoppage time and drew 2-2 at Memphis 901 FC. Hartford Athletic shot up the table thanks to a Michee Ngalina brace and beat Pittsburg Riverhounds SC 2-0.
In USL League 2, Seacoast United defeated Vermont Green FC 3-1 and watched as the Green drew in a goalless encounter with the Western Mass Pioneers. Seacoast is yet to drop points and top the USL League 2 power rankings.
Miraculous Accidents
Accidents may not always have negative consequences. Legend says that the Italians invented pizza due to a mistake in Marco Polo’s recipe for scallion pie — and Caleb Porter did a similar trick in midfield this weekend.
Under Porter, Mark-Anthony Kaye and Matt Polster remain the starting midfielders for the Revs. However, both missed the game against the Whitecaps and Porter found his miraculous accidents in a midfield pairing of Ian Harkes and Noel Buck.
Porter has aimed to play possession-based soccer at the beginning of his New England adventure with Kaye and Polster at the heart of the field. However, both players fit a more defensive and less technically gifted role.
With Harkes and Buck, the Revs gained a more dominant control of the game. Harkes was heavily involved as he registered 90 touches — more than all but 4 of Kaye and Polster’s performances all season long. The Revs also won in the possession battle and completed 90% of their passes.
Buck not just opened the scoring, but did so in an impressive fashion showcasing his ability to score from outside the box. Following an underwhelming run from Porter’s side, Buck and Harkes’ strong performance may call the head coach to rethink his squad selection.
(Also massive shoutout to Andrew Farrell who came on after Buck got a cramp in the 71st minute and pulled off a John Stones-like performance as a center back in midfield).
Buksa On The Biggest Stage
Despite winning over the hearts of many New Englanders, the high standard of Poland’s forwards — namely Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik — Adam Buksa lacked the opportunities to shine for his country in the last World Cups and Euros.
Against the Netherlands, Lewandowski missed out due to injury, and head coach Michal Probierz looked to the former Revolution striker to make the difference.
Buksa delivered as he rose above the Netherlands’ defenders to bury a header at the front post from a corner kick in the 16th minute.
The Netherlands came back to win 2-1, but Buksa put his country on its feet and gave them a sign of hope for the remainder of the tournament.