Recap: Revs II Defeat NYRB II to Advance to Eastern Conference Finals

Goals from Malcolm Fry and Victor Souza saw Revs II punch their ticket to the conference finals as they continue their historic 2023 campaign.

Photo by John McGloughlin

Revolution II were back at Gillette Stadium on Friday night to take on New York Red Bulls II in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference Semifinals. The fourth meeting between these two clubs in 2023, and easily the most important.

Revs II made just two changes to their starting eleven from their quarter-final match against Philadelphia as Victor Souza and Malcolm Fry were named to the line-up.

Fry opened the scoring for the hosts in just the 12^th minute after being played into New York’s box and creating separation from his defender that allowed for him to get the shot off, beating the keeper to the lower left corner of the goal.

Jacob Jackson faced a bit of a scary situation in the 35^th minute when the ball slipped out of his hands inside his own box, but he was able to recover before any Red Bulls player had the chance to capitalize.

The Revs made their first substitution of the game in the 63^rd minute with Patrick Leal replacing captain Jake Rozhansky, who passed the captain’s armband to Pierre Cayet.

In the 69^th minute, Victor Souza doubled the lead for New England after putting away Jack Panayotou’s free kick, beating the Red Bull keeper with a strong header at the back post.

The visitors were able to cut the lead in half just three minutes later off a dangerous counterattack inside New England’s defensive third, as Julian Hall slotted the ball past Jackson.

In the 78^th minute New England made a pair of changes that saw Noble Okello and Olger Escobar check into the game for Tiago Suárez and Marcos Dias. Revs II made their final change of the match in the 87^th minute, swapping Malcolm Fry with ítalo.

In the 89^th minute, Italo almost made an instant impact as Colby Quiñónes found him inside of New York’s box, but his shot was ultimately saved by the keeper.

With their first victory over New York Red Bulls II in 2023 — and ultimately their most important win so far — Revolution II punched their ticket to the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference Final. Revs II now await the result of Sunday’s match-up between Crown Legacy and Columbus Crew 2 to find out who they will face.