TUCSON, Ariz. – The New England Revolution played to a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids in their second game of the 2015 Desert Diamond Cup on Saturday night at the Kino Sports Complex. Diego Fagundez scored the Revs only goal of the game in the 54th minute, canceling out a Gabriel Torres strike to earn a share of the points for the Revs.
The Revs are now 0-1-1 in the tournament and 1-2-1 so far in the preseason. As a result of other scores in the competition, the Revs will enter Wednesday night’s game against Seattle in fifth place in the Desert Diamond Cup, though they will be able to go into the final day of the competition anywhere from second to sixth place.
Daigo Kobayashi had the best chance of a scoreless first half when he got on the end of a Kelyn Rowe cross, only to see his header palmed away by Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin from six yards out. Teal Bunbury and Kevin Alston also had chance for the Revs but were unable to put their shots on frame. At the other end of the field, Bobby Shuttleworth saved and held a Gabriel Torres free kick in the 33rd minute while Juan Ramirez and Marcelo Sarvas each sent shots wide of the Revolution goal.
While the first 45 minutes was scoreless, the second half burst to life just more than two minutes after the restart as the Rapids broke the deadlock. A long punt up field from Clint Irwin found the head of rookie Dominique Badji who flicked the ball forward for Gabriel Torres who slipped behind Jose Goncalves and angled a low shot past the slide of Shuttleworth, giving the Rapids a 1-0 advantage. That goal was the first allowed by the Revs’ first choice central defensive pairing of Goncalves and Andrew Farrell so far in the preseason.
Badji would have a chance to double the Colorado lead two minutes later, only for Shuttleworth to make the save. That would prove to be key as Fagundez, who was playing wide on the left after coming on for Kobayashi at halftime, equalized for the Revs just six minutes after Torres’ opener. Following a Goncalves interception near midfield, he played a short pass to Andy Dorman, who passed forward to the feet of Juan Agudelo. Agudelo was able to hold off the challenge of Rapids defender Jared Watts and poke the ball into the path of Fagundez who dribbled past another Colorado defender and clipped a shot over the on-rushing Irwin, tying the score at 1-1. That was the first goal of the preseason for Fagundez, who began training with the club this week following a stint with the Uruguay U-20 national team.
A number of substitutions for both sides over the middle third of the second half took some of the flow out of the game, but each side had quality chances to steal the victory late on. In the 85th minute, Deshorn Brown was played through by Dillon Powers, but his shot from the edge of the area was off target. Then, late in second half stoppage time, Fagundez scooped a pass into the box for Steve Neumann, who stayed onside but had his shot saved by Irwin, keeping the score tied at 1-1.
New England will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 25 when the club takes on Seattle Sounders FC in the third of four games at the Desert Diamond Cup. That game, which will be streamed live on revolutionsoccer.net will be played on the Kino North Grand Stand and kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
New England Revolution 1, Colorado Rapids 1
February 21, 2015 - Kino Sports Complex – Stadium (Tucson, Arizona)
Scoring Summary:
COL – Gabriel Torres (Dominique Badji, Clint Irwin) 48’
NE – Diego Fagundez (Juan Agudelo, Andy Dorman) 54’
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Andy Dorman (Yellow Card) 24’
COL – Axel Sjoberg (Yellow Card) 25’
NE – Kevin Alston (Yellow Card) 36’
COL – Nick LaBrocca (Yellow Card) 83’
New England Revolution:
Bobby Shuttleworth; Darrius Barnes (Jeremy Hall 46’), Andrew Farrell (London Woodberry 73’), Jose Goncalves (Zachary Herivaux 80’), Kevin Alston (Marco Fenelus 71’); Scott Caldwell (Tyler Rudy 78’), Andy Dorman (Steve Neumann 58’); Teal Bunbury (Timi Mulgrew 67’), Daigo Kobayashi (Diego Fagundez 46’), Kelyn Rowe (Sean Okoli 65’, Justin Rennicks 87’); Charlie Davies (Juan Agudelo 46’).
Subs Not Used: Brad Knighton.
Colorado Rapids:
Clint Irwin; Marlon Hairston (James Riley 65’), Jared Watts (Bobby Burling 71’), Axel Sjoberg, Michael Harrington (Marc Burch 71’); Lucas Pittinari (Sam Cronin 71’), Marcelo Sarvas (Nick LaBrocca 71’), Vicente Sanchez (Dillon Serna 57’), Juan Ramirez (Carlos Alvarez 57’), Gabriel Torres (Dillon Powers 71’); Dominique Badji (Deshorn Brown 71’).
Subs Not Used: John Berner, Grant Van De Casteele, Wes Knight, John Neeskens, Francisco Flores, Ben Newnam, Oscar Montoya, Caleb Calvert.
