FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Rookie midfielder Kelyn Rowe scored a pair of goals and Supplemental Draft selection Michael Roach tacked on a third in the closing stages as the New England Revolution claimed a 3-0 win over Boston College on Friday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
It was the Revolution’s second win in as many preseason games following a 2-1 victory over FC Tucson two weeks ago in Casa Grande, Ariz. The Revs will play four more preseason matches from Feb. 22 – March 3 in the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup, which will also feature the LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake. New England opens its regular-season schedule on March 10 against the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Rowe opened the scoring in the seventh minute with the first real chance of the game for either side. Benny Feilhaber began the sequence with a perfectly weighted ball to spring Rowe down the left wing and after a few touches the rookie struck his shot across the face of goal and inside the far post.
New England played down a man for approximately 10 minutes in the middle of the first half as Sainey Nyassi went off injured in the 20th minute, to be replaced by Alec Purdie in the 29th minute. More substitutions followed at halftime as Zack Schilawski and Blake Wagner replaced Rick Smith and Chris Tierney, respectively.
Purdie put his name on the score sheet in the 54th minute, setting up Rowe for his second of the afternoon. Fernando Cardenas started the counterattacking move by spraying the ball wide right to Purdie, who surveyed his options before sliding the ball across the top of the box to Rowe. The U.S. Under-23 National Team midfielder made no mistake with his first-time effort, curling his shot inside the right post.
Rowe almost turned provider in the 60th minute after combing well with Feilhaber to send Schilawski into the box, but the third-year forward was pressured into directing his shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Head coach Jay Heaps opted for mass substitutions at the 70-minute mark as the rest of the starting group exited and Roach made the most of his opportunity, closing out the scoring with a workmanlike effort in the 89th minute. After seeing his initial shot saved, Roach corralled the rebound and blasted a close-range shot into the empty net.
Although rarely tested, Revolution goalkeepers Matt Reis and Bobby Shuttleworth combined for the shutout.
New England Revolution: Matt Reis (Bobby Shuttleworth 46), Chris Tierney (Blake Wagner 46), A.J. Soares (Gabe Mercier 71), John Lozano (Stephen McCarthy 71), Darrius Barnes (Ryan Kinne 71), Kelyn Rowe (Tyler Polak 71), Benny Feilhaber (Kenny Mansally 71), Shalrie Joseph (Clyde Simms 71), Sainey Nyassi (Alec Purdie 29, Michael Roach 71), Fernando Cardenas (Zak Boggs 71), Rick Smith (Zack Schilawski 46)
Boston College: Justin Luthy (Keady Segel 86), Ryan Dunn, Nick Corliss, Chris Ager, Patrick Chin (Stefan Charter 71), Diego Medina-Mendez, Conor Fitzpatrick (Christian Johnson 68), Colin Murphy, Amit Aburmad (Kevin Mejia 66), Kyle Bekker, Charlie Rugg (Patrick Chin 82)
Scoring Summary:
NE – Kelyn Rowe (Benny Feilhaber) 7
NE – Kelyn Rowe (Alec Purdie) 54
NE – Michael Roach (unassisted) 89
Misconduct Summary:
NE – John Lozano (caution) 20
NE – Fernando Cardenas (caution) 64
Notes: Diego Fagundez was ill and did not train today … Kevin Alston underwent a minor procedure on his wrist yesterday and did not play … Ryan Guy continues to rehab a calf injury suffered in Casa Grande.
Photos
Video: Goals
