Revs II Recap: Revolution II 3 - Crown Legacy 5
Despite an electric second half, a thunderstruck first half did Revs II in.
New England Revolution II returned to action Sunday evening as they looked to secure their second back-to-back win of the season, as they hosted Crown Legacy FC inside Mark A. Ouellette Stadium.
Richie Williams made three changes to the lineup that secured a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls II. J.D. Gunn started in goal behind the backline of Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi, Eric Klein, Tiago Suarez, and Damario McIntosh. Luka Borovic, Maciel, and Olger Escobar comprised the midfield behind the front three of Gevork Diarbian, Patrick Leal, and Alex Monis.
As projected, weather hindered Sunday’s proceedings as thunder in the area forced the game into a weather delay before kickoff. After a staggering 63 minutes, soccer finally kicked off in Hooksett as both teams took the field.
Crown Legacy wasted no time generating offense as they lined up to take a free kick yards outside the box. Aron John took it as he smashed a ball in the upper half of the net and past JD Gunn to give CLFC an early 1-0 lead.
Julian Bravo went on to double Crown Legacy FC’s lead in the 14th minute after he got on the end of a bouncing cross inside the box and drilled a shot into the back of the net.
A near opportunity for Leal in the 23rd minute when he got on top of a ball sprung up the left flank. Nicholas Holliday was alert to the danger and came off his line. Leal evaded the pressure from Holiday and looked to turn toward an open CLFC goal, but his touch on the ball had too much on it as it rolled out.
Revolution II’s night went from bad to worse to dreadful in the 24th minute when JahLane Forbes got on the end of his own blocked shot and proceeded to drill a ball past JD Gunn and in to extend Crown Legacy’s lead to three.
Woes continued in the 31st minute when Dylan Sing rocketed a shot from distance and into the back of the net to give CLFC a 4-0 lead.
Forbes found himself a brace in the 38th minute after he got on the end of Dylan Sing’s saved shot and slotted the ball in to give Crown Legacy a 5-0 lead.
Williams had to make a change right before the end of the first half as Borovic had to come off as he came up limping following a collision with a Crown Legacy FC player. First-teamer Malcolm Fry entered the match to replace Borovic.
Fortune swayed Revolution II’s way in the 64th minute when Monis got on the end of Leal’s cross from the left flank and proceeded to head the ball past the keeper and in.
Two substitutions came in the 67th minute when Joshua Partal and Joshua Bolma came on for Escobar and Diarbian. It marked Partal’s debut with the club.
Another change came in the 77th minute when Marco Dias replaced Leal. It marked Dias’ first appearance since May 26th’s 3-3 draw and shootout win over NYCFC II.
Maciel entered the referee’s book in the 79th minute after he was issued a yellow card after fouling Filip Mirkovic.
CLFC’s Jack Neeley saw his night come to an early end after he was issued a straight red card after fouling Joshua Bolma to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Revolution II closed the gap in the 82nd minute when Suarez got on the end of Bolma’s corner kick to shrink the deficit.
The gap shrunk even smaller in the 86th minute when Monis got on the end of a loose ball in the box and drilled it to the bottom left corner to shrink the deficit to two.
Despite the valiant effort, Revs II fell short of the comeback as Crown Legacy secured a 5-3 victory.
Revolution II will look to get back into the win column on June 30th when they hit the road to face FC Cincinnati 2 at 6:00 PM ET.