Revolution II Recap: Feisty Affair Sees New England Secure Victory

A hard-fought 90 minutes sees Revs II secure all three points!

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

Monday saw Richie Williams and Revolution II kick off a double game week as they welcomed third-placed Huntsville City FC to town after travel issues postponed their June 29 meeting.

Williams made three changes from the lineup that secured one point against Chicago Fire II on August 31. Donovan Parisian returned in between the pipes behind the backline of Hesron Barry, Gabe Dahlin, Victor Souza, and Damario McIntosh. Eric Klein and Cristiano Oliveira sat deeper in the midfield behind Gevork Diarbian, Marcos Dias, and Malcolm Fry. Damorney Hutchinson was the lone attacker up top.

Things got off to a horrific start for Revs II right out of the gate. The second minute of play saw Souza try to play the ball out of the back. A wayward touch on the ball had him extend his leg into the path of Adem Sipic, who went to ground inside the box and led head referee Velimir Stefanovic to award Huntsville an early penalty kick.

Sipic stepped to the spot looking to give the road side an early 1-0 lead, but came up short as the forward skied the ball over the crossbar and the game remained scoreless. Sipic had a chance to redeem his earlier miss in the 29th minute when he received a line-breaking pass from Alan Carleton and turned goalward. He attempted to slot it to the bottom-right corner, but dragged it just wide.

A poor turnover from Huntsville led to a golden opportunity for New England in the closing minutes of first-half stoppage time. It started when Diarbian ushered the ball away from a Huntsville defender. The forward cut the ball back to =Dias, who executed some give-and-go passing with Fry that led Dias sprinting forward onto the ball. Dias cut the ball centrally, where it found a darting Cristiano Oliveira, who struck it past Erik Lauta to net his third goal of the season.

Revolution II’s first changes of the night came in the 65th minute as Joe Buck, Sharod George, and Javaun Mussenden replaced Oliveira, Fry, and Hutchinson.

Parisian came up big to keep the donuts and clean sheet intact in the 72nd minute. After getting the ball, Tyshawn Rose slipped a ball forward into the path of Gunnar Studenthofft, who attempted a close-range effort that Parisian deflected out of play to end the chance.

The goalkeeper came up big once again in the 87th minute. It started with Gio Miglietti slipping a ball to Tyshawn Rose, who attempted to rocket the ball into the upper-left corner. Parisian threw his hands up and deflected the ball up and over the net to put Huntsville’s chance to bed.

Just as it looked as if Revolution II would walk away with the 1-0 victory, things changed in stoppage time. A poorly cleared ball following a long throw-in fell to the feet of Damien Barker John. Baker John attempted to maneuver around Eli Ackerman, but the two ended up colliding inside the box as Stefanovic pointed to the spot.

Carleton stepped to the spot, looking to avenge his earlier mishap and draw the game level. He attempted to send a shot to the left side of the net, but Parisian dove correctly and got his hands to it. Moisés Véliz tried to get on the rebounded penalty, but put his attempt to equalize over the bar.

While the referee’s whistle drew play to an end, the action wasn’t over. Damario McIntosh and Ethan O’Brien appeared to exchange words after Véliz’s miss that led to O’Brien shoving McIntosh from behind as he went to celebrate with Parisian. O’Brien walked over to the celebrating Revolution and threw another shove in before Gabe Dahlin gave O’Brien one of his own. Velimir Stefanovic attempted to intervene, but it was too little too late as both sides continued their shoving match until tempers cooled down.

A thrilling evening of action saw Revs II walk away with all three points as they now find themselves in third place in the Eastern Conference. New England will look to carry the momentum of a five-game unbeaten run into the final match of a double game week when the second team hosts Toronto FC II on Friday afternoon.