FOXBOROUGH, MA— The New England Revolution II (10-5-4, 38 pts.) defeated league leaders Crown Legacy FC Miami CF II (12-3-3, 41 pts) in a 3-1 match on Wednesday afternoon.
The match kicked off at 11:00 a.m. ET at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Wednesday's XI ? pic.twitter.com/0arcDtqxF6
— New England Revolution II (@NERevolution2) July 12, 2023
The team started their lineup in a 4-3-3 formation with goalkeeper Jacob Jackson starting in the net with a backline of (left back) Peyton Miller, (center backs) Pierre Cayet and Santiago Suarez, along with (right back) Victor Souza. The midfield consisted of Colby Quiñónes (left), Marcos Dias (center), and Olger Escobar (right). The forward roles were manned by Ítalo (left), Malcolm Fry (right), and Jordan Adebayo-Smith (central) as the lone striker.
The squad today featured 0 first-team players.
Today's starters ? pic.twitter.com/uF7LNQ6sTV
— New England Revolution II (@NERevolution2) July 12, 2023
The match kicked off with Crown Legacy starting from the center circle. Their forward played the ball backwards to their center back before he launched the ball up the field to begin their attack.
The first 19 minutes of the match featured little-to-no action, until the 19th minute, New England took the early lead.
Marcos Dias scores a BANGER to put the home side in front. ? @NERevolution2 pic.twitter.com/GoGlOfSccc
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 12, 2023
Following a poor touch by Crown Legacy defender #44 João Pedro, Revolution forward Malcolm Fry intercepted the ball and drove toward the Legacy penalty area. He found Marcos Dias whose right-footed shot was low and past goalkeeper #39 Isaac Walker.
This became the major moment in the first half, as once again, there was little-to-no action in the following 25 minutes, and the match entered halftime with the Revolution II leading Crown Legacy FC 1-0.
Up one through 45 ? pic.twitter.com/9beXdCd8At
— New England Revolution II (@NERevolution2) July 12, 2023
The second half kicked off with New England starting from the center circle. Jordan Adebayo-Smith played the ball backward to their center back Pierre Cayet, who then launched the ball up the field into the Crown Legacy defensive third to begin their attack.
Entering the 47th minute, Revolution defender Pierre Cayet was issued a yellow card for a harsh tackle on Crown Legacy midfielder #58 David Poreba.
Crown Legacy’s first chance of the match came in the 50th minute when #79 Iuri Tavares right-footed effort from 35-yards out went high and over the bar.
Just seconds later, New England added to their advantage.
It's Jordan Adebayo-Smith's world and we're just living in it! ?
2-0 @NERevolution2 pic.twitter.com/ZmmCI7PxyI
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 12, 2023
Forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith raced down the pitch and won the foot race versus defender #83 João Guilherme. His right-footed shot went into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper #39 Isaac Walker for the 2-goal advantage.
In the 60th minute, #79 Iuri Tavares had yet another chance to pull one back for Crown Legacy FC, but his effort from 6-yards out went high over the crossbar.
In the 62nd minute, Revolution II head coach Clint Peay made his first and second changes of the match by substituting defender Santiago Suarez and midfielder Colby Quiñónes and replacing them with defender Jacob Akanyirige and midfielder Ben Awashie.
As the match entered the 69th minute, New England added to their 2-goal advantage.
From the U-17s to the Second Team ?
Olger Escobar tallied his first professional assist on Peyton Miller's second pro goal in @NERevolution2's 3-1 victory over Crown Legacy FC yesterday ? pic.twitter.com/BFoswGA57S
— New England Revolution Academy (@NERevsAcademy) July 13, 2023
Midfielder Olger Escobar played a fantastic chip through ball to find wingback Peyton Miller in behind led to a 1-1 with Crown Legacy goalkeeper #39 Isaac Walker, which Miller easily finished for his second career professional goal. He scored his first professional goal last match.
Entering the 72nd minute, Crown Legacy had yet another chance as #61 Gurman Sangha’s left footed shot went just over the crossbar. After the shot, Revolution II head coach Clint Peay made his third and fourth changes of the match by substituting forwards Malcolm Fry and Marcos Dias and replacing them with forwards Brandonn Bueno and midfielder Nakye Greenidge-Duncan.
Eric Klein: The 29th Revolution Academy player to make his pro debut with @NERevolution2 ?
Congrats, Eric! pic.twitter.com/5nJSwfAOSg
— New England Revolution Academy (@NERevsAcademy) July 12, 2023
In the 83rd minute, Revolution II head coach Clint Peay made his fifth and final change of the match by substituting forward Olger Escobar and replacing him with forward Ethan Klein.
Entering the 88th minute, Crown Legacy were given a penalty. Revolution II defender Jacob Akanyirige took down #27 Nimfasha Berchimas inside of the Revolution penalty area and gave up the penalty. From this penalty, Crown Legacy pulled one back.
Poreba places @crownlegacyfc on the board from the spot. ? pic.twitter.com/G8APbYRLhH
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 12, 2023
Midfielder #58 David Poreba stepped up to take the kick and sent Revolution II goalkeeper Jacob Jackson the wrong way for the easy finish to pull one back for Crown Legacy.
After the 90+6 minutes, the Revolution II held on for the 3-1 victory over league leaders Crown Legacy FC.
Wednesday starts with a W ? pic.twitter.com/qnJwREU7fn
— New England Revolution II (@NERevolution2) July 12, 2023
With the victory, the Revolution II move to 3rd place across MLS NEXT Pro, as they trail Crown Legacy FC (41 pts.) and Colorado Rapids 2 (40 pts.).
The New England Revolution II (10-5-4, 38 pts.) now have a two-week window before they head to Chicago, Illinois to face Chicago Fire II (6-6-5, 23 pts). The match is on Sunday, July 30th at Seat Geek Stadium and is set to kickoff at 6:00 p.m. All MLS, MLS NEXT Pro matches will be available through the new MLS Streaming Service on the Apple TV app.
(Editor’s Note: For more of Burt Granofsky’s photos, click on the link)
