Sunday saw Pablo Moreira and New England Revolution II travel north of the border to Toronto’s York Lions Stadium to take on Toronto FC II, as New England looked for three points to inch closer to the top spot in the East.
Pablo Moreira made six changes from the lineup that suffered a 2-1 defeat to Chicago Fire II. Max Weinstein made his fourth consecutive start in goal behind the backline of Jared Smith, Gabe Dahlin, Jake Shannon, and Damario McIntosh. Allan Oyrwoth and Logan Azar sat deeper in the midfield behind the trio of Shuma Sasaki, Javaun Mussenden, and Cristiano Oliveira. Former TFC Academy man Myles Morgan was the lone attacker up top.
The first big opportunity of the match didn’t come until the 26th minute when a dribbling ball forward from Lucas Dawson curled into the path of an advancing Jahmire Nolan, who darted past his defender, got on the ball, and slotted it past Weinstein to give the home side an early 1-0 lead.
Toronto nearly doubled its lead in the 34th minute when Fletcher Bank found the ball at his feet atop the corner of the six-yard box. Instead of taking the easy shot, Bank attempted to slot it back centrally, but the pass attempt somehow evaded the open man in the box and rolled away from danger.
Despite holding the advantage in possession (58% to 42%) and accurate passing (230 to 154), Revolution II were unable to generate much, walking into halftime with a 1-0 deficit.
Revolution II’s first change of the day came before the start of the second half as Joe Buck replaced Logan Azar.
After a rough first-half performance, New England wasted no time making amends. It all began in the 53rd minute when Damario McIntosh worked up the right flank, drove inward, and chipped a ball centrally that led to Jared Smith leaping into the air and heading home his first professional goal to level the match at one apiece.
Another change came New England’s way in the 62nd minute as Jayden Da replaced Shuma Sasaki.
Myles Morgan nearly found the net against his former team in the 75th minute when he received a pass from Jared Smith and attempted to one-time a curling shot to the bottom-right corner. Unfortunately for Morgan and Revs II, Adis De Rosario dove down quickly and pushed the shot away from danger.
Da nearly got Revs II on the board in the 76th minute when some quick build-up led the ball to the forward’s feet. Da rocketed a shot goalward, but aimed it directly at De Rosario, who made the save. Da had another golden chance in the 80th minute thanks to an incredible cross from Jared Smith on the left flank that fell to an open Da in the box, who attempted to slot it past De Rosario, but had his effort saved. Da had a third chance at goal in the 80th minute as he got on the end of another good cross from Jared Smith and attempted to head it home. Unfortunately for Da, his header was just a hair off, bouncing past the left goal post and out.
After a flurry of missed chances, New England finally found the breakthrough in the 87th minute when a cross from Smith led to Da leaping into the air and heading a ball down to Morgan. Despite the bounce, Morgan caught it perfectly with a scissor kick and rocketed it past De Rosario to give Revs II a late lead.
A defensive blunder from Toronto paid dividends for Revs II in the first minute of stoppage time as Da slotted the ball forward to Oyirwoth. An off-target tackle attempt from a Toronto defender led to a clear path to goal for Oyirwoth, who slotted it past De Rosario to give New England a sizeable lead.
It wasn’t the prettiest contest, but it was good enough to get the job done as New England’s three goals saw them secure three points and put themselves within striking distance of Crew 2 and Crown Legacy in the standings.
Revolution II will look to close the gap to the top spot in the East on July 5 when they return to Bryant University’s Beirne Stadium to host Philadelphia Union II.
