Revs II secures one point as they fall short in the shootout.
New England Revolution II returned to action Saturday evening as they hosted Jamie Vardy’s Rochester New York FC.
Revs II entered Saturday’s match in second place of the Eastern Conference record with 24 points on a 7-2-2 record. Revs II secured all three points in their previous outing against Orlando City B as goals from Noel Buck and Marcos Dias secured a 2-1 victory.
Rochester came in looking to return to winning ways after having their five-game winning streak snapped by a 1-0 defeat to Cincinnati in their previous outing.
Saturday was the second meeting between Revolution II and Rochester. Their first meeting came on April 3rd as a trio of goals from Michel Costa da Silva, Sean O’Hearn, and Damian Rivera led to a 3-1 victory.
There was one change to the lineup from Revs II’s last match as Trevor Zwetsloot relaced Jake Rozhansky in the midfield.
Rochester’s offense got rolling in the 23rd minute as defender Jacob Akanyirige found himself with the ball right at the halfway line. Akanyirige looked up the field as he spotted Gibran Rayo running up the right side of the pitch. Akanyirige zipped a through ball up the right flank as it skipped past José Ítalo and into a gaping pocket of space to the right of the box. Ítalo and Cayet darted back to the Revs II box, but it wasn’t enough as Rayo got onto the ball and drove right at Jacob Jackson. Rayo whipped in a left-footed shot to the near post. Jackson got an arm to it, but it was not enough to redirect the ball as it sailed into the back of the net.
José Italo received the first booking of the night for Revs II as he got a yellow card in the 30th minute.
Marcos Dias had two great chances to equalize in the 40th and 44th minutes, but the 6-foot-6 Caíque Luiz Santos da Purificação made the save on both shots.
Ítalo gave Ryan Lima the perfect birthday gift in the 59th minute as Ítalo lobbed a ball into the box right at Lima. Lima Leapt into the air and headed a ball from a far distance. Lima’s header sailed to the top left corner and into the back of the net. After the game, Lima said he had to “Thank God and also my teammates for helping me score on my birthday.”
Lima’s long-distance header provides the equalizer for @NERevolution2!
Pick that one out! pic.twitter.com/Dl6pI8E0W0
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 19, 2022
A pair of substitutions came in the 71st minute as Meny Silva and Jack Panayotou came on for Ryan Lima and Esmir Bajraktarević.
The final substitution came in the 80th minute as Jake Rozhansky replaced Trevor Zwetsloot.
Ninety minutes was not enough to separate both sides as things remained level at one apiece. Meaning Revs II was heading to a penalty shootout for the third time in 2022.
Rochester netted all five shots as they secured the shootout victory.
Revolution II returns to action on June 26th as they travel to SeatGeek Stadium to take on Chicago Fire II at 5:00 PM ET on mlsnextpro.com.