Revolution II Recap: Depleted Squad Drops Two Points
Things didn't go to plan for Revs II during Sunday's outing.
Richie Williams and New England Revolution II returned to action Sunday afternoon when they hosted Chicago Fire II inside Gillette Stadium.
A slew of regulars being unavailable led Williams to make four changes from the lineup that secured a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union II the week prior. Donovan Parisian returned in goal behind the backline of Hesron Barry, Gabe Dahlin, Javaun Mussenden, and Josh Macedo. Cristiano Oliveira, Joe Buck, and Marcos Dias formed the midfield three behind the attacking trio of Gevork Diarbian, Malcolm Fry, and Damorney Hutchinson.
Parisian came up big in the 19th minute as he fully extended to get both hands to Emir Herrera's shot from distance that looked poised to find the upper-right corner of the net.
After a few solid attempts, Chicago Fire II broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute thanks to a deflected ball. It all started when Charles Nagle passed the ball forward to Jhoiner Montiel, who had his back to the net. After withstanding pressure, Montiel attempted to curl a diagonal ball, but it deflected off a Revs II defender and fell right into the path of Nagle inside the box. All alone, Nagle drew Parisian off his line and slotted it in to give Chicago an early lead.
Despite falling behind early, Revs II remained determined, and it paid off in the 33rd minute. Mussenden played a ball forward into the path of Fry atop the box. Chicago’s defense did poke it away from Fry, but Dias was at the right place at the right time as he ran onto the loose ball in the box and rocketed it past Dowd to level the game.
Revolution II kept their foot on the gas pedal as they found the go-ahead minutes later. A series of passes inside the box led to Dias dishing it to Hutchinson, who got open on the right side of the box and drilled it past Dowd to give New England a 2-1 lead in the 38th.
Revs II wasted no time getting things started in the second half. It started when Macedo laid a crunching tackle that led the ball to Hutchinson, who cut the ball out wide to Fry. He drove along the goalline and attempted to send the ball centrally, but a defender intervened to end New England’s chance.
Two changes came in the 56th minute as Michael Tsicoulias and Chris Mbaï-Assem replaced Fry and Buck. It marked Mbaï-Assem’s Revolution II debut.
In a stunning move, Chicago received a lifeline back into the game in the 58th minute. Vitaliy Hlyut appeared to have stumbled on his own inside the box as the head referee pointed to the spot and awarded the road team a penalty kick.
Trip Fleming was the one to step to the spot for Chicago as he looked to level things. Something he did after sending a right-footed shot to the left side of the net and over a diving Parisian.
Dias came close to nudging Revs II ahead in the 70th minute when he unleashed a shot from atop the box. A shot that Dowd swatted away, and the Fire II defense cleared away.
Two more changes came in the 85th minute as Academy prospects Aarin Parjapati and Makai Wells replaced Macedo and Diarbian. It marked Wells’ Revolution II debut.
After a hard-fought 90 minutes of action, both sides walked away with a point following a 2-2 draw and looked to secure a second in the shootout.
Sharod George stepped to the spot needing to convert to keep New England’s hopes alive in the fourth round. George attempted to send a right-footed shot to the bottom-right corner, but Bryan Dowd dove the correct way and made the save to secure Chicago the extra point following a 3-1 shootout victory.
It was an overall rough outing for Revs II as they let the lead slip between their fingers. They will look to get back on track when they welcome Huntsville City FC to town on September 8.