Sunday saw New England Revolution II return to action inside Beirne Stadium as the club looked to build off the momentum generated from its win on the road in its previous outing. Unfortunately for New England's second team, it suffered a 4-0 defeat.
Pablo Moreira made two changes from the lineup that secured victory over Toronto FC II on June 28. Max Weinstein made his fifth consecutive start in goal behind the backline of Jared Smith, Jake Shannon, Gabe Dahlin, and Damario McIntosh. Shuma Sasaki, Javaun Mussenden, Joe Buck, and Cristiano Oliveira formed the midfield quartet behind the attacking pair of Myles Morgan and Carlos Zambrano.
New England’s first big chance came in the third minute of the match when Jared Smith drove the ball downfield before pinging a cross into the center of the box, where it met the head of Carlos Zambrano, who unfortunately headed the ball just wide of the top-left corner.
Disaster struck in the 17th minute as a long ball up the right flank from Finn Sundstrom fell into the path of an advancing Ed Davis, who breezed past his defender and darted toward goal before unleashing a shot past a diving Weinstein and into the far corner as the road side took the early 1-0 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Revs II in the 23rd minute when Gabe Dahlin and Jake Shannon got caught trying to close down Óscar Benítez, but the midfielder sensed the danger and tapped the ball perfectly forward into the path of an open Kellan LeBlanc. Despite efforts from Dahlin and Shannon, the duo could not catch up as LeBlanc slotted the ball past Weinstein to double Philadelphia’s lead.
Carlos Zambrano nearly drew one back for New England in first-half stoppage time when he got on the end of a poor clearance and cut centrally along the top of the box before attempting to snipe the bottom-left corner that narrowly bounced wide of the post.
Zambrano nearly found the net again in the 50th minute when a spin move outside the box created a pocket of space inside the left side of the box. Zambrano attempted to rocket the ball home and draw one back for Revs II, but he struck it right at Pierce Hollbrook.
Myles Morgan nearly got New England on the board in the 52nd minute when he got under Cristiano Oliveira’s corner kick from the right side and attempted to head the ball to the left side of the net, but could not strike it accurately as it sailed just wide of the post.
Moreira’s first changes came in the 58th minute when Jayden Da and Academy prospect Matthew Jean Baptiste replaced Buck and Sasaki.
Things only got worse for Revs II in the 65th minute when Andrew Craig diced through the New England midfield before tapping a ball forward into the path of an advancing Ed Davis, who outran his defender and slotted the ball far post to notch his second goal of the day and give Union II a commanding 3-0 lead on the road.
Morgan nearly stopped the bleeding in the 74th minute when he got his body low with his back toward goal and managed to flick the ball goalward, which forced Hollbrook to quickly react to stop.
Ed Davis capped his day by finding the hat trick in the 84th minute when a counterattack led to Willyam Ferreira lobbing a ball forward that led to Davis evading Smith and McIntosh to find himself one-on-one with Weinstein before sending a shot that deflected off the leg of Weinstein and in as Philadelphia took a commanding 4-0 lead.
Moreira made his final two changes following the goal as Chris Mbai-Assem and Academy prospect Grant Emerhi replaced Zambrano and McIntosh.
Despite having nearly 70% possession, outshooting Union II 32 to five, and having 66 touches in the opposing box, Revolution II couldn’t generate anything as Philadelphia walked away with all three points following a commanding 4-0 victory.
Revolution II will look to get back on track when they return to Beirne Stadium to host Columbus Crew 2 on July 15 at 7:00 PM.
