Academy

Prematch Reading (April 1) | Top stories to get you ready for Saturday night's clash with NYCFC

9_4_22 Noel Buck vs. New York City FC

Here are five of the week’s top stories to help get you ready for Saturday’s Matchday 6 meeting between the first-place Revolution and Eastern Conference rivals New York City FC. The 7:30 p.m. kickoff on April 1 is available to watch FREE on the Apple TV app or listen on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM) and 1260 AM Nossa Radio. 

Bruce Arena checked in with Zolak and Bertrand on Thursday afternoon and provided an update on Carles Gil’s status for Saturday night, while praising his team’s “solid” start to the season. Arena and Marc Bertrand also discussed the state of the Boston-New York sports rivalry and how the Revolution’s battles with NYCFC has turned up the intensity in recent years. 

This has been a busy week for Noel Buck both on and off the pitch. The Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa spoke to the midfielder, less than a week shy of his 18th birthday, about balancing high school finals and being a starting midfielder in Major League Soccer. 

Ryan Tolmich from Goal.com caught up with the Revolution’s star goalkeeper, who has reportedly been drawing interest from several of Europe’s most prestigious clubs after emerging as one of the league’s elite goalkeepers in his 2022 debut season. Goalkeeper Coach Kevin Hitchcock, who also mentored Matt Turner in New England before his departure to Arsenal FC, praised his new protégé’s commitment to learning and developing with each training session. 

The national acclaim continues for the Revs’ young Buck, who is impressing national pundits through the first five games of his sophomore MLS season. MLSsoccer.com’s Casey Dunau identified the teenager as one of 10 young players on the rise in 2023 after Buck tallied the game-winning goal at D.C. United. 

Matt Langone of the New England Soccer Journal joined in the chorus of praise for the trio of Revolution teenagers in Bruce Arena’s Starting XI in the victory at D.C. NESJ takes a closer look at the group’s path through the club’s acclaimed development pathway and identifies a few other up-and-coming players rising through the ranks, including current Revolution II players Malcolm Fry and Max Weinstein.