Panayotou’s lone goal in the 7th minute earns the Revs Academy silverware
The New England Revolution Under-19 squad returned to action Sunday evening as they faced the San Francisco Glens inside a scorching Toyota Stadium in the Under-19 MLS NEXT Cup Final.
The U19s had an incredible run leading into the finals. A pair of goals from Jack Panayotou and Malcolm Fry led to a 4-1 victory over IMG Academy in the Round of 32. A 2-1 victory over Real Colorado propelled the U19s to the quarterfinals, where Malcolm Fry’s goal and assist led to a 3-2 comeback win for the Revs. Jack Panayotou’s brace earned the U19s a 2-1 victory over a historically impressive FC Dallas Academy and a spot in the finals against the San Francisco Glens.
The Revs offense wasted no time as Brandonn Bueno lobbed the ball forward from the midfield in the 7th minute as Triton Beauvois got onto it. Beauvois turned towards goal as he continued driving down the left side of the pitch. He then cut inwards past the defender and towards the goal line. As the defense homed in, Beauvois cut the ball back to tournament standout Jack Panayotou, who laid the ball into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the tournament and put the Revs up 1-0.
San Francisco never recovered from Panayotou’s early goal as the Revolution U19s held on to take a 1-0 victory.
After the match, Revolution Technical Director Curt Onalfo said “We have put in a tremendous amount of hard work to transform the New England Revolution Pro Player Pathway, with the goal of transforming our Academy program into one of the best in the league…We are so proud to have delivered them a national championship tonight and are excited to see how far we can take our Academy program in the future.”
You have to applaud the U19s effort in this tournament, it’s not easy to play five games over an eight-day span, especially in youth soccer, but the Revs stood tall and delivered as they return to New England with silverware.