FOXBOROUGH, MA— The New England Revolution II finished up their 2023 campaign with a (14W-6L-8D, 6SOW, 56 pts.) record and have progressed passed Philadelphia Union 2 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs. They are now set to face New York Red Bulls II in a Eastern Conference Semifinal match on Friday, October 5th at 7:00p.m.
I spoke with Revolution defender #37 Victor Souza about the team’s focus, Sunday’s result versus the Philadelphia Union 2, how they look to prepare for their playoff clash against the Red Bulls, and what they anticipate for Friday’s contest.
Souza, 20, who was drafted #39th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft has been a standout player for the Revolution II this season. Souza finished 1st in minutes (2448), 2nd in passing percentage (89.6%), T-8th on the team for goals (1), 6th in interceptions (20), and 2nd in successful duels (60.8%). In 2023, Souza has started all but one match (was a substitute on 4/16).
Victor Souza, 20, was drafted #39th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Image Courtesy of Major League Soccer.
When discussing the regular season, Victor stated team chemistry was a key factor that led to the team’s overall success.
“We had a really good season, we all know that.” Stated Victor. “We were shooting for the #1 spot, and unfortunately, it didn’t happen… but we obviously put ourselves in a good position. A lot of that is due to our team chemistry and how well we work together and for each other — that is why we were as good as we were during the season and why we ended up having a good season.”
Victor continued on by stating, “We laid a very good foundation during the season and felt comfortable. Against Philly we felt very comfortable. We were very confident going into the match. obviously they are a good opponent, but we did well against them in the regular season, so we knew what to expect.”.
As he mentioned above, The Revolution II defeated the Philadelphia Union II in dramatic fashion. The team held complete control of the match with a 3-0 lead up until the 78th minute, where they allowed 2 goals in just 4 minutes.
Victor stated, “In the end we made it harder on ourselves than it should’ve been and we could’ve done better closing the game out but a win is a win in the playoffs, and that’s all that really matters.”
Building off of that thought, Victor discussed the aspects of what was going through his own mind and of some of the players around him
Victor Souza poses in a New England Revolution Jersey for the first time. Image Courtesy of New England Revolution
“After the second goal, it kind of felt like the game was slipping. The second goal was two minutes after the first and they came from silly mistakes… because of that, we really thought we had to do anything to do win.”.
Victor continued on by saying that leadership and grinding through results pushed this team over that small lapse of judgement, which led to getting a result.
“Its tough, but that’s when leadership shows, we at the back, me, Pierre, we kind of just felt ‘ lets do whatever we can to win’ and that’s what we ended up doing.”
throughout this time, the Revolution two went through a coaching change after Clint Peay was promoted from the second team up to the first team for the remainder of the season. Due to this, I asked Victor if there were any differences in preparations for game days as well as if the changes of staff affected the unit.
“Our weeks have been pretty similar throughout the season. This is a quick turn-around too. We had off on Monday… First day is a re-entry and a scout where we talk about things. I would say they’re similar, but we need to be aware of what the opposition is good at but our game doesn’t change much bare a few tweaks.”
“It’s similar to what we’ve been doing while being a little more detail oriented, but everything else has been the same.”
Revolution II defender (37) Victor Souza looks to make a pass in an MLS NEXT Pro Quarterfinal matchup versus the Philadelphia Union 2. Image Courtesy of MLS NEXT Pro.
Looking ahead, the Revolution II are set to face the New York Red Bulls II who went 0W-2L-1D (2 losses, 1PK Loss) versus the New England this season. Victor discussed their team as a whole and how confident the squad feels going into this weeks matchup.
Victor stated, “They’re a good team. They’re hard to play against, but we feel very confident. The results didn’t go our way during the season… Away was very tough with a 4-1 loss, but the two games at home could’ve gone either way and came down to details. In the second time, we conceded in stoppage time and lost in penalties, and in the first game we lost due to a penalty but also missed a penalty of our own.”
“I feel good, the team feels good, Obviously we know they aren’t going to be easy to play against, but we’re a tough team to beat at home and we feel good about it.”
When discussing the Red Bull attack, they have had four different goal scorers, including Oladayo Thomas (2), Julian Hall (1), Ronald Donkor (1) & O’Vonte Mullings (1), with their top goal scorer this season, Ibrahim Kasule (15) with no goals against the Revolution this season.
I asked Victor is this worried the unit at all, with the different goal scorers & consistent attacking threat that Red Bull poses to the group.
Victor’s focus wasn’t on Red Bull, and was more focused on the Revolution II’s focus overall. He stated, “The biggest thing against them is to limit mistakes against their high pressing team. I think we’re a difficult team to score against in the run of play, but we need to be aware of the counter and taking risks. We respect their players and their team, but we feel confident and I feel confident we’ll get a win tomorrow.”
Revolution II defender (37) Victor Souza is all smiles after defeating the Philadelphia Union 2 in an MLS NEXT Pro Quarterfinals match at Gillette Stadium. Image Courtesy of MLS NEXT Pro.
Closing up, I discussed how social media is reacting to how the Revolution II’s season has gone & how some fans are looking to head to the playoff match, and how some were also quick to write off the squad prior to the playoff match due to their regular season results against Red Bull.
Victor stated, “We as a team love having fans at our games. We love the support of the fans. The best feeling is playing in front of people who are passionate about the game. Whoever can come make the trip, I promise we will not let you guys down.”.
The New England Revolution are set to face New York Red Bulls II in an MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference semifinals match at Gillette Stadium on Friday, October 6th. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. All MLS, MLS NEXT Pro matches will be available through the new MLS Streaming Service on the Apple TV app.
Revolution II FLEX tickets are available for season ticket members. The tickets are in their Ticketmaster account.
All other tickets are available at revolutionsoccer.net and Ticketmaster.com
