Recap: Revs II Clinch First Playoff Birth With SO Win Over TFC II
Recap: Revs II Clinch First Playoff Birth With SO Win Over TFC II
With a spot in the playoffs set, Revs II will now look to capture the top spot in the East after
New England Revolution II traveled to York Lions Stadium to face Toronto FC II on Friday night, a match that would send the Revs into the playoffs no matter the outcome. Nico Campuzano, Ítalo, Noble Okello, Patrick Leal, Jordan Adebayo-Smith, and Peyton Miller returned to the line-up for the match.
Toronto looked to have the majority of the momentum in the opening twenty-five minutes of tonight’s match, putting up a flurry of opportunities as the Revs were forced to play more defensively. In the 24th minute, Okello was able to get the Revs their first opportunity of the match, having a go with a strike from distance as his shot bounced just wide of the net and went out for a Toronto goal kick. Five minutes later Adebayo-Smith came within inches of finding the opening goal as Toronto’s keeper was able to stop the close-range header.
New England made their first pair of substitutions in the 63rd minute, swapping Malcolm Fry and Leal for Ben Awashie and Colby Quiñónes. The Revs made their second set of changes for the night in the 72nd minute as they continued to push for that opening goal, with Olger Escobar and Brandonn Bueno entering the match for Okello and Miller. New England made their final sub in the first minute of extra-time as Jacob Akinyirige replaced Ítalo.
Toronto was denied the opportunity to win the game in extra time as the New England defense was able to turn away a last-minute bicycle kick, sending the game into a shoot-out.
Thanks to an athletic save from Campuzano and a hit crossbar, the Revolution were able to defeat Toronto on penalty kicks, with Adebayo-Smith being the one to put the nail in the coffin. Campuzano was rightfully named the man of the match for tonight.
With the win, New England Revolution II punched their ticket to the MLS Next Pro playoffs for the first time in history and will now focus on closing the gap with Crown Legacy FC as they look to finish at the top of their conference.
“It's amazing,” defender Pierre Cayet told The Blazing Musket after the shootout win. “It’s an amazing feeling. It's been three years I have been playing with Revs II so being able to accomplish this with a couple games left and the team that we've had, it's just an amazing feeling. I feel really proud of the boys just being able to keep pushing for more because at the end of the day, we're not done yet. It's just the first step towards our goal.”
With tonight’s shoot-out win the Revolution improved to a 12-5-7 record on the season with 48 points, now just two behind Crown Legacy FC. Despite being held scoreless during regulation of the match, New England currently has 50 goals on the season, the second most in the league behind Colorado, who have 55.
The Revs will hit the road again as they travel to Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania to face off against Philadelphia Union 2 on August 27th. The game will be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30.