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MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Defeat Orlando City SC, 2-1

September 25, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution (19-4-5; 62 pts.) defeated Orlando City SC (10-8-8; 38 pts.), 2-1, on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Forward Adam Buksa netted the opening goal of the night on a right-footed strike in the ninth minute. Orlando's Darryl Dike delivered an equalizer for the visitors nine minutes later, before the Revolution reclaimed the lead via an own goal in the 35th minute. Goalkeeper Matt Turner denied Nani's penalty-kick attempt in the 75th minute to preserve the 2-1 victory.

With tonight's club-record 19th win of the season, the Revolution have eclipsed the 60-point threshold for the first time. The result guarantees the Revs a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference, ensuring they will open the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs at home. New England remains the winningest home team in MLS at 11-1-2 this season, moving within one home victory of the club's all-time mark. Through the end of Saturday's MLS action, the Revolution hold an 18-point lead atop the Eastern Conference table, with a 16-point edge in the race for the Supporters' Shield.

Buksa scored his 12th goal of the season to move into a tie with Gustavo Bou for the Revolution team lead. The Polish international has scored eight goals in his last 14 MLS appearances. Bou contributed the primary assist on Buksa's opening goal, delivering a pinpoint cross to the Pole's left foot after a streaking run from near midfield. Bou's six assists are third most on the squad, while Tommy McNamara also provided a helper on the play.

Turner recorded his 25th career win at Gillette Stadium and remains an unbeaten 10-0-2 in Foxborough this season. The sixth-year goalkeeper made two saves tonight, including his 75th-minute penalty-kick denial. Since 2018, Turner has saved four of 10 penalty kick attempts in the regular season or playoffs, giving him the league's second-best save percentage on penalties during that span. Turner now owns a career-high 14 wins on the year.

Meanwhile, defender Brandon Bye submitted his 100th MLS appearance. The fourth-year pro led New England with team highs in possession gained (9), tackles (4), and interceptions (3). New England's defense has conceded one goal or fewer in four of the last five matches.

Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena improved his career record to 237-135-110, including a 35-14-21 (.650) mark through 70 games with New England. With six games remaining, Arena is now three wins away from matching Sigi Schmid (240) for the most regular season victories in MLS history.

New England will visit CF Montreal on Wednesday, September 29. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution 2, Orlando City SC 1

September 25, 2021 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Team Notes:

The New England Revolution defeated Orlando City SC, 2-1, on Saturday night in front of a season-high crowd of 23,506 at Gillette Stadium to improve to 19-5-4 (62 pts.).

New England's 19 wins and 62 points both represent club records.

Through Saturday's action, the Revolution lead the Eastern Conference by 18 points and hold a 16-point advantage in the Supporters' Shield standings.

The Revolution's 2.21 points per game through 28 matches keep the team on pace to challenge the MLS records for points (72 - LAFC, 2019) and points per game (2.13 - LA Galaxy, 1998).

With Saturday's victory, New England secured homefield advantage for its opening game of the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, as the Revs are now guaranteed at least a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference.

New England's all-time regular season record against Orlando City SC improves to 5-2-5, including an unbeaten 5-0-1 mark at Gillette Stadium.

The Revs' 53 goals and 28 first-half tallies both lead the league, while the team's +20 goal differential is currently tied for the best mark in MLS this season. New England is two goals away from matching the most goals scored in a season in club history (55).

New England's home unbeaten streak now stands at eight games (6-0-2) as the Revs' home record improves to 11-1-2. The winningest home team in MLS this season, the Revs need one more home win over the final three games to tie the club record (12 - 2017).

The Revolution remain on course to set a new club record for fewest losses in a season (7 - 2005).

Individual Notes:

Bruce Arena improved his career record to 237-135-110, three shy of Sigi Schmid's all-time MLS record of 240 regular season victories. Arena's record with New England also climbed to 35-14-21 (.650).

Adam Buksa scored his 12th goal of the season, tied for the team lead with Gustavo Bou. Buksa, who has scored 11 times in his last 15 games across all competitions with New England and the Poland National Team, also notched a team-high four shots. He is now 11 shots away from setting a new single-season mark for the club (Wolde Harris - 101, 2000).

Gustavo Bou recorded an assist on Buksa's opening goal, his sixth of the season, to mark his second consecutive match with a helper. Bou ranks third on the team with six assists and added a team-high three key passes on the night.

Tommy McNamara recorded a secondary assist on Buksa's opening goal, giving him four on the year. McNamara completed 90 percent of his passes to go along with seven recoveries and three tackles.

Matt Turner notched his career-best 14th win of the season, two shy of the Revolution single-season record for a goalkeeper, as he remains unbeaten in Foxborough this year (10-0-2).

Turner secured the win with two saves, including denying Nani from the penalty spot in the 75th minute. With four saves in 10 career penalty attempts faced across the MLS regular season and playoffs, Turner owns the second-best penalty save rate in the league since 2018 behind Kansas City's Tim Melia.

In the last meeting with Orlando in the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Turner also preserved a 2-1 lead by denying Nani from the penalty spot in the 74th minute.

Brandon Bye made his 100th MLS appearance, all with New England, and marked the occasion with team highs in recoveries (9), duels won (7), tackles (4), and interceptions (3).

Carles Gil had a team-high 80 touches on the night, creating two chances and completing 92.9 percent of his passes.

Matt Polster completed a team-high 55 passes and added seven recoveries.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Rosendo Mendez

Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas (AR1), Jeremy Kieso (AR2)

Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo

Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kelly

Weather: 68 and cloudy

Attendance: 23,506

Scoring Summary:

NE - Adam Buksa 12 (Gustavo Bou 6, Tommy McNamara 4) 9'

ORL - Daryl Dike 4 (Mauricio Pereyra 10) 18'

NE - Rodrigo Schlegel (Own Goal) 35'

Misconduct Summary:

ORL - Benji Michel (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 19'

ORL - Robin Jansson (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 39'

NE - Tajon Buchanan (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 80'

New England Revolution Matt Turner; Brandon Bye, Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, DeJuan Jones; Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara, Carles Gil ©, Tajon Buchanan (Arnór Traustason 84', Jon Bell 90+7'); Gustavo Bou (Teal Bunbury 90+3'), Adam Buksa

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, A.J. DeLaGarza, Christian Mafla, Scott Caldwell, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Luis Caicedo

Orlando City SC: Pedro Gallese; Ruan, Joao Mutinho, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel (Kyle Smith 87'); Sebastian Mendez (Silvester van der Water 70'), Mauricio Pereyra ©, Junior Urso, Andres Perea (Tesho Akindele 87'); Daryl Dike, Benji Michel (Nani 57')

Substitutes Not Used: E. Mas, Tesho Akindele, Alexander Alvarado, Raul Aguilera, Rio Hope-Gund, Adam Grinwis

New England Revolution Team Statistics Orlando City SC

13 (1) Shots (on Target) 13 (3)

5 Blocked Shots 5

2 Saves 0

4 Corner Kicks 3

2 Offsides 1

13 Fouls 10

474 (83.5%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 403 (83.9%)

54.1% Possession 45.9%

POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution vs. Orlando City SC

Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena

On 16 of the team's 19 wins being by one-goal margins:

Arena: "Have you seen many soccer games in your career? Soccer is a low-scoring sport and often teams win by a goal. I don't know if you realize that. That's not anything tremendously unique in this sport. We won 19 games. Why are we worrying about if we're winning by one goal or not?"

On Matt Turner coming up in big moments with his penalty kick save against Nani in the 75th minute:

Arena: "Sure, obviously a big save. A foolish penalty to give away in a game where we were really in control of the game. So, that part is disappointing, but obviously, Matt did an outstanding job."

On the team's mentality and how he manages the team to not let them get too comfortable:

Arena: "Well, they're not [too comfortable], so there's nothing to manage. They understand what they need to do and they have a good approach to everything."

On if he is concerned by only having one shot on target:

Arena: "It's fine. Everything is fine. Don't worry about your analytics in the sport of soccer. This isn't baseball. We controlled that game. We created some really dangerous situations. I thought tonight was actually a pretty good performance going forward."

On Gustavo Bou's performance and his overall improvement as a player:

Arena: "I think he's buying into being a team player. I think his previous background was a little bit different and we're trying to make him into more of a striker on a full-time basis. He doesn't always agree with that kind of thinking, but he's getting there. Tonight, he did a wonderful job creating the first goal. He's had a good approach to everything for two years here. We're really pleased with Gustavo, and another good effort tonight. He was dangerous throughout the night, I think a little unlucky not pulling off the final play to get the third goal. He's done well. He's a more complete player now."

On if he is trying to get this starting group as many minutes together as possible before the playoffs:

Arena: "I haven't put any thought to that. Every game, we're putting the team on the field we think can get us a result and not thinking about the minutes. We didn't think there was a need to make a change tonight, because the group was playing pretty well. So, that's why we kept with them for a long period of time."

On Adam Buksa's performance tonight:

Arena: "I thought he played one of his best games since he's been here tonight. It was pretty complete. He held balls up. His passing at times was pretty good. He was dangerous. He helped us defensively. He had a real good game tonight."

New England Revolution Midfielder Tajon Buchanan

On setting up the game-winning goal:

Buchanan: "Just wanted to take it with confidence, and the coaches are telling me to go out and one-v-one and just play my game. When the opportunity came upon me, I just wanted to be aggressive. Yeah, it's one of my strengths when a guy's one-v-one and I was able to put it in a dangerous spot. Yeah, credit to Adam [Buska]. He had a lot of guys frozen in the in the six-yard box and we're happy went in."

On goalkeeper Matt Turner's performance tonight:

Buchanan: "Yeah, best goalkeeper in MLS. I think we all know that. He's been saving us a lot in situations like that. So yeah, I'm super happy for him and obviously super happy that he's on this team."

On whether he's gained confidence after his transfer to Belgian side Club Brugge:

Buchanan: "I guess you could say that a little. I'm kind of just playing my game right now, trying to finish the season strong because it is my last season here. Just trying to do what I can every game to be a difference maker and help this team win games. We have a long stretch coming up and hopefully we can keep winning games and I can keep helping the team."

On where he feels most comfortable on the field:

Buchanan: "Obviously, I feel more comfortable on the wing, on the right side. That's my position. I kind of have the freedom to go find the game, and drift off to that right side. You guys might see on whatever the graphic is that I'm in the center but I'm really not playing my wing position. I'm kind of just finding the game from a more central aspect on the field. But I feel more comfortable on the wing."

On the energy gained from the home crowd and how much that will help the team in the playoffs:

Buchanan: "It was huge. Great crowd tonight. [The fans] stuck with us throughout the whole game. And when it comes down to these last stretches of games, and come the playoffs, they're going to be helpful. Hopefully we can get all home games come the playoffs and host a MLS Cup."

On the team's ability to win close games and stay focused for 90 minutes:

Buchanan: "We know what it takes to win games. We have to be focused for 90-plus minutes and we've been doing that all season. So yeah, we're just grinding out results right now. There's a lot of teams fighting for playoff position, so these games are tough and they're just going to get tougher come playoffs. We just have to keep playing our game and try and stay focused for 90-plus minutes. Hopefully that will help us win a lot of games this year."

On the teams' mood after tonight's win:

Buchanan: "It's huge. It's a big three points. Orlando is a good team. They're a team that's probably going to be in the playoffs. Yeah, it's honestly a big win for us. So yeah, we're all happy."

On Gustavo Bou's performance tonight and his ability to create quality chances:

Buchanan: "Yeah, obviously he's an excellent player. He helps us. He's one of the best players in MLS, one of the top goal scorers also. He's been having a good season and like I said with Matt Turner, I'm very happy that he's on this team."

New England Revolution Goalkeeper Matt Turner

On his mentality facing penalty kicks:

Turner: "Yeah, [Nani] has been changing his run-up in his past few penalties, so I know that he's trying to wait and wait and wait until the keeper makes his move. Fortunately, I did bite a little bit early, but I was able to hold my momentum enough to cover the middle and he had it low enough where I was able to make a save on it. So, it's a good save, an important moment, but you know the best thing of all is three points."

On his walk around the field with honorary captain Malia Jusczyk:

Turner: "Yeah, it was honestly just a magical night. It had that sparkle to it. It had that playoff feel. The fans were great and I'm just so grateful for all the people that stuck around to cheer [Malia] on and bring a smile to her face because it makes my job when I'm walking her around a lot easier. So, it was just an amazing night, and this is why I love what I do. To be able to give back, to be able to put things into perspective as well because it's no secret the past couple games have been rough for me. I've been struggling to keep the ball out the back of the net to be frank. So, just to put things into perspective of what's really important, why we do this, and also to have that penalty save to sort of get some confidence back. It was just a really good night for me."

On the team's feeling after a win:

Turner: "I haven't even stepped foot in the locker room yet, but I know guys were relieved. To be able to defend some set pieces there down the stretch in important moments to clear the ball, I think that's all really important for us because we've surrendered a lot of goals on set pieces this season. So, to be able to do that was really nice and I know guys were just finding ways to win and guys are riding that high. We have a lot of areas where we can clean up and do better if we want to be the best team we can be."

On the energy from the crowd on Saturday:

Turner: "Oh, it's massive. I can't speak enough to how important it is to have the fans turnout to games here at Gillette [Stadium] and cheer on the team. Through tough moments, whether it be the last game when we played Columbus and it was 1-1 and we're just pushing and pushing and pushing for that goal, or it's 2-1 and we're sort of on the backfoot and they have corner kick and set pieces and we're not really defending that well and just to sort of keep us going in the moment, it's huge. It can sometimes influence referee decisions inside penalty areas. So, it's huge to have the support and it means so much to us players. We've been working really hard all season so to have the support that we've been getting is huge and we feel it."

On his fitness with a packed schedule:

Turner: "Yeah, physically I feel all right. It's no secret it's been a grind. I've been playing a lot of games. When things are going really well and games are coming thick and fast, you have no time to think so you just kind of keep going. The hard part is when things aren't going so well, you might not have as much time on the training field as you might like to sort of correct some things. So, I was able to feel like I corrected a few things. Technically and unfortunately, sometimes things happen and when it rains it pours. So, as a goalkeeper you live on that fence. A good play, a bad play, can be a game changing moment. So right now, sort of in the midst of some serious peaks and valleys in this past game in particular. It just is what it is. My teammates have picked me up from tough moments and that just speaks to how this team is. It's always been the next man up. Everyone's picking each other up when someone makes a bad play, someone else makes a good play, to ride it. You don't win 19 games by accident. Yeah, it's just time, I'll be fine."

On winning so many one-goal games:

Turner: "I would love some breathing room, but would that be fun for the fans? I'm not really sure it would be. We just like to keep it exciting. I couldn't really tell you why it is the way it is but again, I don't think that's an accident either. I think that we've been able to make enough plays in games to keep games one goal wins. Rather than maybe in the past, those one-goal wins would turn into draws or maybe even losses. So, we've been able to sort of steady the ship after maybe a few nervy moments and get out of places with a win."

On the maturity of the team:

Turner: "We're a battle-tested team and we're a team that has made some good runs in tough places. We played pretty well in the [MLS is Back Tournament last summer]. Let me just go back to 2019 because this group has been pretty consistent since 2019 in terms of who's playing and who's not. So, 2019 our backs are pretty much against the wall in May, we need to start winning and we're able to put together results. By the end of the year in 2019 we're playing really well, and we give Atlanta a really tough game in the playoffs, thinking maybe we deserved a little bit more out of that one. Then 2020 comes around the pandemic poses some challenges obviously. Our best player gets injured, and we have to just find a way to sort of get through the season, put ourselves in the playoffs and then we got him back. Then I think from there our team sort of all came together and you saw us in the playoffs last year at our strongest. Fast forward to this year, Bruce has done a great job of just managing everybody physically, mentally, and emotionally and been able to kind of get guys to start the season strong which we never have done since I've been in New England, and we just sort of kept that rolling. When you got good locker room guys like [Andrew] Farrell, Teal [Bunbury], Scotty [Caldwell], everybody, but those guys in particular, it sort of keeps the mood light and it keeps us going and rolling. It's been a great season, but we have nothing to hang our hats on just yet."

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