Revs II Recap: Revs II 0 - FC Cincinnati 2 1

Revolution II's rough patch continues with another loss away from home.

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

Richie Williams and New England Revolution II returned to action Sunday night as they looked to secure their first win on the road as they squared off against FC Cincinnati 2.

Revs II came into Sunday’s contest licking their wounds and looking to turn the page following their last outing that saw Revs II concede five times in the first half in a 5-3 loss to Crown Legacy.

JD Gunn started in between the posts behind the backline of Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi, Tiago Suarez, Eric Klein, and Damario McIntosh. Patrick Leal, Maciel, and Olger Escobar started in the midfield behind the attacking trio of Gevork Diarbian, Alex Monis, and Malcolm Fry, who made his 50th MLS NEXT Pro appearance.

A turnover in the midfield nearly led Revs II to find the opening goal in the 10th minute. After intercepting the ball, Maciel lobbed a ball upfield to a dashing Monis who ran onto the open ball and looked to slot one past Paul Walters but Brian Schaefer came up huge for Cincinnati and poked the ball away from Monis from behind to end the potential chance.

On the flip side, a turnover in the defensive third nearly cost Revs II in the 19th minute when Guilherme Santos unleashed a shot toward goal. Luckily for Gunn and Revs II, Santos’ shot was off target.

Revolution II got extremely lucky in the 24th minute. After receiving the ball atop the box, Ben Stitz cut the ball to the right flank to an open Kenji Mboma Dem, who found himself one-on-one with Gunn. By an absolute miracle, Mboma Dem failed to capitalize on the easy chance and sent it over the goal as the game remained in a scoreless deadlock.

Mboma Dem’s impressive month of June continued in the 34th minute when he found himself one-on-one with McIntosh. After generating an inch of space, Mboma Dem rocketed a left-footed shot to the upper right corner and in to put FC Cincinnati 2 up 1-0.

Williams’ first changes came in the 57th minute as Marcos Dias and Alex Parvu replaced Escobar and McIntosh. Dias nearly leveled the match in the 64th minute when he got on the end of Monis’ cross into the box. Despite the effort, Walters stretched to make the save and maintain Cincinnati’s lead.

Gunn came up huge to keep Revs II's hopes alive in the 85th minute. After a poor turnover, Guilherme Santos found himself one-on-one against Gunn with the chance to put Cincy up 2-0, but Gunn stretched out to make the save.

Despite producing numerous chances, the game-tying goal evaded New England Revolution II as FC Cincinnati 2 secured a 1-0 victory. Sunday’s loss pushed Revs II’s road record to a bleak 0-7-1. It also marked the club’s fourth loss in the last five contests.

Williams and his squad will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when they host Eastern Conference front runners Philadelphia Union II in New Hampshire.