Revs II Recap: Tough Showing On The Road Ends In Defeat
A rough second half sees Revs II head home empty handed.
Richie Williams and New England Revolution II wrapped up a two-game road trip Sunday evening when the club paid a visit to NKU Soccer Park in Highland Heights, Kentucky, to square off against 13th-place FC Cincinnati 2.
Sunday saw six alterations and a formation change from the lineup that picked up a 3-1 win over New York City FC II. After using a mix of the 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations throughout the season, Williams went with a 4-4-2 against Cincinnati.
JD Gunn made his first start in goal since August 24. Chris Mbaï-Assem, Victor Souza, Gabe Dahlin, and Damario McIntosh formed the backline.
Michael Tsicoulias, Joe Buck, Cristiano Oliveira, and Alex Monis formed the midfield quartet. Sharod George and Liam Butts formed the attacking duo up top.
New England came close to finding the first goal in the 16th minute when Tsicoulias drove up the right flank and cut the ball back to Butts. The striker attempted to find his elusive record-tying 12th goal of the year, but he directed his shot right at Slade Hall, who made the save. Monis tried to redirect the rebounded shot from Butts in, but a Cincinnati player got into the ball's path and deflected it away.
Revolution II's counterattacking ability paid dividends in the 43rd minute. After winning the ball, Butts pushed upfield before dishing the ball to Tsicoulias on the right. Tsicoulias got on the ball and sent it far post, past Hall, and in to give New England Revolution II the lead just before halftime.
Cincinnati wasted no time getting things started in the second half. A corner kick in the 49th minute led to Kenji Mboma Dem whipping a ball to Gilberto Flores inside the box, who leapt into the air unchallenged and headed a ball to the left side of the net and in to level the game at one apiece.
After finding the equalizer in the 49th, a lucky deflection led to Cincinnati finding the go-ahead minutes later. It started with Ademar Chavez driving along the left flank and attempting to find the upper-left corner. Gunn leapt and got his hands to the shot, but the ball ricocheted off his hand and fell to an open William Kuisel, who rocketed a shot on target. Gunn attempted to make the save, but it deflected off his hands and into the goal to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.
Three changes came in the 58th minute as Marcos Dias, Gevork Diarbian, and Hesrob Barry replaced Tsicoulias, Mbaï-Assem, and Butts. Two more changes came in the 71st minute as Damorney Hutchinson and Javaun Mussenden replaced George and Dahlin.
If Cincinnati had not sealed the game already, it put the nail in the coffin in stoppage time when Yamir del Valle slotted the ball to Stefan Chirila on the left, who slotted it in to make it 3-1 Cincinnati.
Despite heading into halftime with the lead, a horrid second half saw Revolution II fall short on the road as a 3-1 loss ended their three-game winning streak and seven-game unbeaten streak.
Williams and Revs II will look to get back on track when they return to Gillette next Friday, when they host Crown Legacy FC in the club’s regular-season home finale.