Saturday saw Pablo Moreira and New England Revolution II begin their quest for the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Cup Title as they traveled to ScottsMiracleGro Field in Columbus to face Crew 2 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.
Moreira made zero changes from their 3-1 win over Toronto FC II on Decision Day. Donovan Parisian started in goal behind the backline of Jared Smith, Tylon Smith, Jake Shannon, and Gabe Dahlin. Makai Wells, Logan Azar, Javaun Mussenden, and Damario McIntosh formed the midfield behind the attacking duo of Cristiano Oliveira and Myles Morgan.
Smith nearly got New England on the board in the third minute when a cross from McIntosh on the right flank pinballed between New England and Columbus players before falling to Smith. He attempted to sail the ball into the roof of the net, but put a little too much on it as it reverberated the crossbar.
Disaster struck in the 12th minute when some give-and-go passing between Chase Adams and Brent Adu-Gyamfi led Adams to slot the ball forward to Adu-Gyamfi, leading the midfielder to tap the ball past Parisian and into the net to give the home side an early 1-0 lead.
Smith nearly got New England on the board again in the 18th minute when he intercepted the ball in Revolution’s attacking half and took a few touches forward before lasering a shot that deflected off a Crew 2 body and dribbled out of play.
After a plethora of near chances, New England Revolution II finally knocked down the door in the 24th minute when Wells got on the end of a poor clearance from Columbus outside the box and rocketed the ball past Luke Pruter and into the net to level the match at one apiece.
Just as it looked as if we were heading into the halftime interval level, things changed in the 45th minute when Nico RincĂłn broke past the defense, evaded Smith, Smith, and Dahlin, and drilled the ball into the back of the net to give Columbus the lead.
Disaster nearly struck for Revs II in the 64th minute when Gabe Dahlin chested down a long ball forward from Columbus inside his own box and had it intercepted by a lurking Kevin Gbamblé. Gbamblé failed to capitalize, keeping New England’s hopes alive.
Moreira’s first change came in the 71st minute when Shuma Sasaki replaced Jared Smith. Another change came in the 77th minute as former Columbus Crew 2 man Jayden Da replaced Cristiano Oliveira.
Sasaki nearly leveled things in the 88th minute when he ran onto a headed ball from Da and tried to smash it into the roof of the net, but put too much on it as it reverberated off the crossbar before being cleared away.
Despite their best efforts, it just wasn’t New England Revolution II’s day as their playoff run ended as quickly as it started following the 2-1 defeat on the road. With the 2026 season in the rearview mirror, Revolution II shifts its focus to the 2027 sprint season before adopting a summer-to-spring calendar.
