Sunday saw Pablo Moreira and his Revolution II side return to action when they traveled down to New Haven, Connecticut, to reignite the regional rivalry between Revs II and MLS NEXT Pro newcomers CT United FC. It was a strong showing away from home that saw New England stand tall and walk away with all three points following a 2-1 victory over CT United.
Pablo Moreira made one change from New England’s 4-1 win over Red Bull New York II. Donovan Parisian got the start in goal behind the backline of Gabe Dahlin, Logan Azar, Eric Klein, and Jake Shannon. Cristiano Oliveira, Judah Siqueira, Carlos Zambrano, and Makai Wells formed the midfield quartet behind the attacking duo of Myles Morgan and Matthew Jean Baptiste.
Alex Monis nearly made his former club pay in the sixth minute when he leapt into the air and attempted a scissor-kick to the right side of the net, but sent it wide.
Azar flexed his muscle in the eighth minute when he found himself in a two-on-one disadvantage, but broke between the two defenders and attempted to laser a shot home, but had his effort deflected out of play. New England capitalized on the ensuing corner kick opportunity when Zambrano curled the ball into the six-yard box, which found the head of Jean Baptiste, who redirected it into the back of the net to notch his fourth goal of the season to give Revolution II an early 1-0 lead on the road.
CT’s Steven Sserwadda became the first player to enter the referee’s book in the 32nd minute after tripping Wells yards outside the box. Wells became the first Revolution II player to enter the book as he received a yellow card in the 37th minute following his challenge on Sserwadda. CT’s Dylan Lacy received a yellow card in the second minute of stoppage time following his foul on Wells.
Pablo Moreira made one change before the start of the second half as Aarin Prajapati replaced Zambrano.
CT United wasted no time leveling things to start the second half as a series of passes led to substitute Cauã Paixão lasering a shot past Parisian and into the upper-right corner of the net to level the match at one apiece in the opening minute of the second half.
Morgan came close to regaining the lead in the 53rd minute when he got on the end of Oliveira’s corner kick and attempted to volley it to the upper-half of the net, but put a little too much on it as it sailed just over the crossbar. After missing moments earlier, Morgan redeemed himself in the 55th minute when he got on the end of a cross from Prajapati and had a few moments to collect himself before rocketing the ball into the bacl of th net to give New England the 2-1 lead and etch his name in the Revolution II history book as he became the fourth player in club history to notch double-digit goals in a single season.
Moreira went to the bench again in the 68th minute as Shuma Sasaki replaced newly-signed Wells. Another New England change came in the 81st minute when Sharod George replaced Jean Baptiste. Revolution II’s final change came in the 87th minute as Joshua Macedo replaced Siqueira.
Paixão came close to notching a brace and leveling things in the first minute of stoppage time when he broke down the right flank and cut inward before lasering a shot goalward that reverberated off the crossbar and out of play. Parisian saved the day in the seventh minute of stoppage time when he dove wide to push Dylan Lacy’s shot away from danger to keep New England’s lead intact.
With the win, Revolution II remain in third place, but find themselves one point shy of second-placed Chattanooga FC and four points away from Crown Legacy. New England will look to shrink that gap when they return to Beirne Stadium on August 16th to host Philadelphia Union II.
