New England Revolution II (7-2-2; 24 pts.) remains at home this weekend when the club hosts Rochester New York FC (4-4-2, 16 pts.) on Saturday, June 18 at Gillette Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET and will stream on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Revolution II collected a 2-1 victory over Orlando City B in its most recent match last Saturday. Homegrown midfielder Noel Buck gave New England a swift lead, opening his 2022 account just five minutes into the contest. Brazilian striker Marcos Dias added to the scoring in the 56th minute, helping New England secure its seventh win of the season. Dias’ third goal of the year ties him for the team lead with Homegrown midfielder Damian Rivera. In net, Jacob Jackson made two saves and continues to lead the league in saves percentage at 85.5%. Last Saturday’s victory boosted New England’s home record to 5-1-0 on the season.
“You know, we weren’t as successful in preseason – I have to be completely honest – but with that, we just learned together,” Revolution II defender Mike Deshields said of how the team’s grown so far this season. “We get more experience, and we see what our tendencies are. A lot of these guys played together, and a lot of these guys like myself are very new, so just getting used to the environment, getting used to each other and finding our stroke, finding our rhythm, we’d get there eventually and we did very early in the season. That’s a credit to the coaching and just all of us working hard together.”
New England and Rochester previously met on April 3 at Gillette Stadium where Revolution II secured their first win of the season with a 3-1 triumph. Both Michel and Sean O’Hearn scored their first career goals in the match with Rivera sealing the win in the 64th minute. Jackson made eight saves on nine shots faced. Academy midfielder Jack Panayotou became the 20th Academy product to make his professional debut in the victory as Brazilian midfielder Ryan Lima also made his first appearance with New England’s second team.
“We talk a lot about balance and rhythm and changing the rhythm of the game and I think the guys are slowly starting to figure that out with the ball, going fast or slowing down,” Head Coach Clint Peay stated of what the team’s improving on. “And defensively changing the rhythm, how can we dictate the tempo of the game by pressing when it makes sense for us, but also having the sort of the intelligence and the understanding of knowing when to maybe absorb a little pressure and be a little bit more conservative to save our energy and kind of get ourselves, our battery recharged to go again, so I think in that regard, the team has done a better job of recognizing those moments and maturing into that.”
Revolution II Season Memberships and single-game tickets are on sale now. For more information, email tix@revolutionsoccer.net or call 1-877-GET-REVS.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR AGAINST ROCHESTER NEW YORK FC:
· Goalkeeper Jacob Jackson improving on his league-leading 85.5 save percentage.
· Midfielder Ryan Lima adding to his team-leading 23 shots, including eight on target, this season.
· Forward Marcos Dias adding to his three goals this season, tied with Damian Rivera for the team lead.
· Defender Pierre Cayet making a 36-minute appearance to reach 2,500 minutes played with Revolution II.
· Academy graduate Meny Silva making his 30th professional appearance with New England’s second team.
· New England adding to the 38 players – and 21 Revolution Academy products – who have made their professional debuts with Revolution II thus far.
