Recap: Revolution II 3 - 2 Toronto FC II
Recap: Revolution II 3 - 2 Toronto FC II
Late heroics from Damian Rivera leads Revolution II to their first win since April 10th!
New England Revolution II returned to action on Sunday night as they faced Toronto FC II at York Lions Stadium on the campus of York University.
Revolution II entered Sunday’s affair in a desperate search for three points, as they secured only one point in their previous four matches. Following their 5-1 win over Philadelphia Union on April 10th, they suffered a 3-0 loss to Crew 2, a 1-0 loss to NYRB II, a 5-5 draw against FC Cincinnati 2, and a 4-2 loss to NYCFC II.
There were four changes from the lineup that suffered a 4-2 loss to NYCFC II as Max Weinstein returned in between the sticks. Colby Quiñónes, Pierre Cayet, Victor Souza, and Tiago Suarez formed the backline as Jake Rozhansky, Ben Awashie, and Marcos Dias comprised the midfield. Malcolm Fry, Jordan Adebayo-Smith, and first-teamer Damian Rivera provided the attack.
Revs II’s recent run of misfortune continued to start the match as a foul from Rozhansky awarded Toronto a free-kick opportunity in a dangerous position in their attacking half. Matthew Catavolo stood over the ball and winded up a perfectly placed right-footed shot that sailed over the two-man wall and into the bottom right corner of the net to give Toronto a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
Jesús Batiz doubled Toronto’s lead in the 39th minute after performing magic on the Revs II offense. Batiz drove down the right flank and cut to his left to generate space between himself and Quiñónes as he drove across the top of the box. Batiz lobbed a left-footed shot to the top-right corner of the goal to give TFC a 2-0 lead.
But a stroke of luck came Revolution II’s way just before half as Rivera found himself on the left side of the box. The 20-year-old attempted to cross the ball centrally but Rivera’s cross deflected off TFC II midfielder Markus Cimermancic as it sailed into the air and crashed into the net to cut the lead in half in the 44th minute.
Revolution II’s first change of the evening came in the 64th minute as Weverton replaced Adebayo-Smith. A double substitution then came in the 80th minute as Brandonn Bueno and Nakye Greenidge-Duncan came on for Awashie and Fry.
With their back against the wall, Revs II amped it up in the 83rd minute as a series of accurate passes led to Bueno laying the ball to Rivera inside the box. The Costa Rican international flashed some footwork as he evaded the TFC pressure and buried a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner to level things at two apiece in the 84th minute.
It was almost a case of déjà vu in the 85th minute as a long ball forward from Pierre Cayet found Rivera inside the box. As he did a minute earlier, Rivera maneuvered around the pressure and buried a right-footed shot into the net to give Revolution II a 3-2 lead.
But there was also a scary moment for Revs II in the 89th as Weverton leaped into the air in an attempt to head the ball. Unfortunately, Weverton bumped into Rohan Goulbourne and the Brazilian striker came crashing down to the ground.
The referee came to check in on Weverton as he slowly began getting up. The referee motioned for TFC to take the free kick, but as soon as TFC kicked the ball forward, a dazed Weverton attempted to stand up but quickly fell back down to the pitch as he clutched his head. The referee promptly blew their whistle as the medical staff ran onto the field to tend to Weverton. Thankfully, Weverton was able to stand up with assistance.
After an on-field check, Weverton walked off the pitch. Ítalo made his season debut for Revs II as he replaced Weverton in stoppage time.
There were some nervy moments for Revs II in the closing seconds of stoppage time as Alec Diaz unleashed a shot on the Revs II goal. Diaz’s shot deflected off the underside of the crossbar and bounced downward. Luckily for Revolution II, the ball did not cross the goal line as Diaz failed to level things for TFC.
Following Sunday’s win over TFC II, Revs II move into third place in the Eastern Conference standings as they hold fourteen points on a 4-3-1 record with one shootout victory. Revs II return to action on Sunday, May 21st, as they travel to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on Philadelphia Union II at 3:00 PM!