Recap: Revolution II 1 - Columbus Crew 2 3
Revs II fall short at home to close out the 2024 season.
New England Revolution II put the bow on their overall disappointing 2024 season on Sunday when they hosted Columbus Crew 2 inside Mark A. Ouellette Stadium in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
While they’ve been eliminated from playoff contention for several weeks, Revs II came into Sunday’s match with a lot riding on the line. After going winless in their last 14 games, they looked for three points to avoid tying the all-time MLS NEXT Pro winless streak of 15 matches. Revs II also looked to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
Richie Williams had to make one change to the lineup that suffered a 3-1 loss on the road to New York Red Bulls II, as Tiago Suarez served his one-game suspension for the red card he received against Red Bulls II. JD Gunn started in goal behind the back line of Malcolm Fry, Sage Kinner, Victor Souza, and Damario McIntosh. Eric Klein, Cristiano Oliveira, and Olger Escobar comprised the midfield behind the attacking trio of Marcos Dias, Liam Butts, and Alex Monis.
Things got off to a rough start in the 6th minute when Victor Souza was deemed to have taken Gibran Rayo down inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot.
Rayo stepped to the spot looking to get Columbus on the board early. After stepping back, Rayo rocketed a right-footed shot to the bottom-right corner. JD Gunn was all over the shot as he stretched to make the save and keep things level.
Olger Escobar became the first player to enter the referee’s book as he received a yellow card in the ninth minute after fouling Chase Adams. Brent Adu-Gyamfi was Columbus’ first card recipient as he saw yellow in the 24th minute after tackling Malcolm Fry from behind.
A good series of passes led to Columbus finding the net first in the 29th minute. After getting the ball on the right flank, Adu-Gyamfi lobbed a cross into the box that evaded the Revolution II defense and fell to Jayden Da, who tapped the ball into the net to give Crew 2 the 1-0 lead.
Crew 2 would not hold the lead for long thanks to Butts. Like Crew 2, it came from a series of well-executed passes.
After receiving the ball from Fry and some good hold-up play, Butts and Oliveira executed some give-and-go passing that led to Butts finding himself one-on-one with Stanislav Lapkes. Butts slotted the ball to the bottom-left corner and past Lapkes to level the match in the 33rd minute.
Revolution II’s first changes came in the 55th minute as Colby Quiñones and Maciel came on for McIntosh and Escobar.
The day went from bad to worse in the 62nd minute when Da found the net a second time. After a turnover in the midfield, Da got onto the ball and turned on the jets as he found himself one-on-one with the keeper. Da slotted the ball into the upper-right corner to give Crew 2 a 2-1 lead.
The bleeding didn’t stop for Revs II in the 73rd minute. Aboubacar Keita got on the end of Adrián González’s cross and attempted to find the back of the net, but was stopped by a Revs II clearance. Despite the effort, it failed to clear the penalty box as Keita got onto it and headed the ball home to make it 3-1 Columbus.
Joshua Bolma entered the game immediately following Columbus’ third goal as he replaced Oliveira. Another pair of changes came in the 84th minute as Gevork Diarbian and Patrick Leal replaced Butts and Klein.
Despite some strong efforts in the closing minutes, Revolution II failed to break through as they saw their 2024 campaign end with a disappointing 3-1 loss at home.
Feel bad for these kids for the season they had. But congrats to Richie Williams for tying the MLS NEXT Pro winless record.