Revolution II Extend Unbeaten Run to Three
Revs II held off Chicago to secure their second straight victory!
Richie Williams and New England Revolution II returned to action Saturday afternoon as they traveled to Bridgeview for a meeting with Chicago Fire II as they looked to keep their undefeated streak alive.
Sunday saw Williams make one change from the lineup that handed Crew 2 a 2-1 loss on July 5. JD Gunn started in goal behind the backline of Hesron Barry, Gabe Dahlin, Javaun Mussenden, and Damario McIntosh. Eric Klein and Cristiano Oliveira started deep in the midfield behind Gevork Diarbian, Marcos Dias, and Malcolm Fry. Liam Butts served as the lone attacker up top.
Revolution II wasted no time finding their first opportunity of the match. After a poor turnover from Chicago, New England regained possession and worked the ball up to Butts. The striker shielded the ball atop the box before passing it to an advancing Oliveira who slotted a shot through a sea of red jerseys and past Patryk Stechnij to find the opening goal less than a minute into the game.
New England wasted no time doubling its lead also. Another poor Chicago giveaway led Revs II working the ball up to Gevork Diarbian on the left. After driving up the left flank, winger attempted to send it centrally. Despite his pass deflecting off a Fire II defender, the ball fell into a pocket of space inside the box that Fry raced to. The Revolution Homegrown beat his defender to the ball and slotted it between the legs of Stechnij to give New England an early 2-0 lead.
Things took a turn nine minutes into the game when the head referee awarded Fire II a penalty kick after Gevork Diarbian committed a foul on Peter Soudan inside the box.
Dylan Borso stepped to the spot for Chicago as he looked to claw his side into the game. He did so by drilling a shot to the left side of the net.
Despite their rocky start, Chicago Fire found themselves level thanks to an incredibly placed free kick. After Oliveira’s foul on Dean Boltz, Harold Osorio restarted play by lobbing the free kick opportunity into the box. Osorio’s ball found Oluwaseun Oyegunle, who volleyed a shot to the right side of goal and in to level the match at two apiece.
Revs II found another chance in the 37th minute thanks to. Despite getting an awkward touch on Klein’s lobbed ball forward, the Revolution Homegrown composed himself. After juking his defender, McIntosh sent the ball across the face of goal that evaded the grasp of Stechnij and found Butts who volleyed the ball into the roof of the net to regain the lead for New England.
After having a free kick opportunity blocked, Revs II regained composure and generated a golden chance in the 53rd minute. After getting on the cleared ball, McIntosh passed the ball forward to Fry who took a couple of steps forward and surveyed the box before whipping a cross in. Fry’s cross took an inch-perfect bounce inside the box as it rose to the head of Butts who got onto the ball perfectly as he headed it home to find his second goal of the day to add to New England’s lead.
Revolution II’s first changes came in the 73rd minute as Michael Tsicoulias, Aarin Parjapati, and Joe Buck replaced Hesron Barry, Gevork Diarbian, and Malcolm Fry.Another change came in the 85th minute when Damorney Hutchinson replaced Liam Butts.
Despite their attempts at a comeback, New England Revolution II withstood the heat from Fire II as they headed home with all three points following the 4-3 victory.
Revs II will look to build on their undefeated streak when they return to Gillette Stadium to host Orlando City B on July 20th.