MLS NEXT Pro New England Revolution II

Revolution II Battle Chicago Fire II to 2-2 Draw

Published on June 11, 2023 under MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
New England Revolution II News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - New England Revolution II (7-4-2; 25 pts.) played Chicago Fire II (3-5-4; 13 pts.) to a 2-2 draw before winning the penalty shootout, 4-3, to secure the additional point on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. New England remains unbeaten at home, 2-0-2, since April 21 and stands in second place in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago found the score sheet first with Noeh Hernandez's tally in the 14th minute. Revolution Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou tallied the equalizer in the 17th minute with forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith earning the assist on the Cambridge native's second goal of the season. Adebayo-Smith gave New England the lead shortly after, netting his fifth goal of the season in the 21st minute following a Chicago turnover. Adebayo-Smith joins Revolution Homegrowns Damian Rivera and Esmir Bajraktarević, and Marcos Dias in a four-way tie for the team lead in goals scored this season (5).

After going down a man in the 52nd minute, Fire II scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute as both sides battled to a 2-2 draw to round out the match, forcing a penalty kick shootout. Revolution goalkeeper Jacob Jackson made two saves in the shootout with New England's Marcos Dias, Jake Rozhansky, Weverton, and Esmir Bajraktarević all capitalizing on their opportunities to secure the additional point for Revolution II.

Revolution II returns to action on Wednesday, June 14 to host New York City FC II at Gillette Stadium. The 5 p.m. match will stream live on MLSNEXTPro.com.

New England Revolution II 2 (4), Chicago Fire II 2 (3)

June 11, 2023 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou tallied his second goal of the season in his fifth appearance for Revolution II. The Cambridge native has now scored in back-to-back appearances for the first time in his professional career.

Revolution II forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith scored his fifth goal of the season and tallied an assist on Panayotou's first half equalizer. The East London native recorded his second multi-goal contribution performance of the season with his previous coming on April 10 vs. Philadelphia Union II.

Adebayo-Smith also becomes the team's joint top goal scorer this season (5) alongside Revolution Homegrown midfielders Damian Rivera and Esmir Bajraktarević and Revolution II forward Marcos Dias.

With his tally in the shootout, Dias has now converted on all six penalty kick opportunities taken in both regulation and shootouts this season.

Revolution goalkeeper Jacob Jackson made two saves in the penalty shootout, marking his first shootout victory of 2023 and improving his 2023 record to 2-1-1.

Revolution Academy defender Peyton Miller played the full 90 minutes for the first time since April 30 vs. FC Cincinnati 2.

Forward Weverton led Revolution II with three shots in his 13-minute appearance.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Thomas Snyder

Assistant Referees:Tom Felice, Justen Lopez

Fourth Official: John Luk

Weather: 69 degrees and sunny

Scoring Summary:

CHI - Noeh Hernandez 14'

NE - Jack Panayotou (Jordan Adebayo-Smith) 17'

NE - Jordan Adebayo-Smith 21'

CHI - Robert Fleming (Harold Osorio) 62'

Misconduct Summary:

NE - Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Yellow Card) 31'

NE - Joshua Bolma (Yellow Card) 45'+1

CHI - Noah Egan (Yellow Card) 48'

CHI - Noah Egan (Second Yellow Card, Red Card Ejection) 52'

New England Revolution II: Jacob Jackson; Colby Quiñones, Pierre Cayet, Victor Souza, Tiago Suarez (Marcos Dias 70'); Ben Awashie; Peyton Miller, Jack Panayotou (Esmir Bajraktarević 46'), Joshua Bolma (Jake Rozhansky 70'), Malcolm Fry (Weverton 78'); Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Brandonn Bueno 78')

Substitutes Not Used: Nico Campuzano, Nakye Greenidge-Duncan, Ítalo, Jacob Akanyirige.

Chicago Fire II: Mihajlo Miskovic; Charlie Ostrem, Andreas Ueland, Noah Egan; Justin Reynolds, Harold Osorio, Henrique Gallina, Richard Fleming, Javier Casas (Eric Leonard 75'); Noeh Hernandez (Luka Prpa 75'), Victor Bezerra (Missael Rodriguez 46').

Substitutes Not Used: Carlos Nevarez, Alex Monis, Michael Nesci, Patrick Los, Edson Rocha, Michael Flores.

New England Revolution II Team Statistics Chicago Fire II

12 (4) Shots (on Target) 11 (4)

5 Blocked Shots 2

2 Saves 2

3 Corner Kicks 6

3 Offsides 2

17 Fouls 14

387 (80.6%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 436 (83.0%)

47.1% Possession 52.9%

POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution II 2 (4) vs. Chicago Fire II 2 (3)

Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay

On the team's performance:

Peay: "I think Chicago [Fire II] is a very good team; makes it very difficult for you to play, and our guys, I thought, in the first half kind of struggled figuring out the balance between wanting to play and exposing the space that Chicago gave. I thought in the second half, at least at the start, we were better. And once they got the red card, I think it became a little bit more challenging. They're very good about finding spaces and I think it became a little bit more challenging for us to move the ball, only because I think their effort was good and ours was not as good as it needed to be basically."

On second half adjustments after Chicago's red card:

Peay: "I think, really, it's just being better with the ball. You have more time and space now in theory to keep the ball, and it just comes down to guys being more comfortable. The game plan has to change, and I think it took too long for our guys to realize that they had more space out there on the field, and that we had to be simpler with the ball, but in doing that, we could possess it and advance the ball in an easier way than we had been in the first 60 minutes of the game."

On combination plays from the team:

Peay: "Decent. I think it could be better at the end of the day, but I thought when we made the changes, the guys gave us a big boost late in the game there. And we were more confident keeping the ball, moving the ball, being able to create more opportunities."

On the quick turnaround to Wednesday's match vs. New York City FC:

Peay: "I think it's difficult. We'll kind of try to recover and take stock of where we are physically and prepare for New York [City FC II]. Sometimes it's easier for the players. It's almost like a normal cycle on the week for training to play midweek, so I think we'll be alright."

Revolution II Forward Malcolm Fry

On his assessment of the match:

Fry: "If you had to give me a definition of a crazy game, that was it. I know you had multiple players who I know are going to be disappointed, me included, by making mistakes that led to a goal today, but that's just what happens. That's soccer. It's how you respond, and we're young and we're going to learn. That's what Revs II is for. Obviously, for a few minutes I was really disappointed after my mistake, but it's just how you respond from it, and I thought it wasn't exactly how I wanted, but in the end, I'm growing, I'm only 18, and that's what this league is for."

On what was said in the team huddle after conceding an early goal:

Fry: "That's exactly it. It's not just me who's making the mistake and coming back. We have amazing leaders in this group. I know you [Jeff Lemieux] did the whole thing on Pierre [Cayet] this week. Like, spot on. It was him who called the meeting. It was him who led the huddle out there, and he was just normal Pierre. Nothing changed, same encouragement that we had before the game. It's exactly what I said, that's what this team is for, making mistakes, learning from them, and having the older guys there to sometimes get on us, sometimes put their arm around our shoulder, and that's what Pierre did in the moment, so yeah, big ups to him."

On getting the extra point from the shootout:

Fry: "I think it's big. I'm thinking back to the Toronto game where we go down a goal, we come back and win. I'm thinking back to the Philly game where we come back and win. Obviously, you wish that when you make a mistake you can always have those responses, but you know, it's football. Sometimes that doesn't happen, and the fact that we were still able to have some sort of response today is good. Last season, I think we don't perform as well. We perform like we did tonight, and we probably come out with a loss. So, I think the community that we have within this group is helping us not just in the locker room, off the field, but also in moments like these where we're not going to do everything perfectly, but yeah, we're going to come out with two points."

On the quick turnaround ahead of Wednesday vs. NYCFC II:

Fry: "I tell you what. I'll tell you what I said earlier. I'm 18, I just want to play soccer. I love it. You tell me two days, one day, I love it. So, in my room, I have my bed and I prop up all these pillows and I put my legs up, and that's my hack. I could play in 30 minutes if I get a good sleep out of that. I'm joking, but I'm excited. It'll be important for us to kind of come down from the emotion of this. For me, obviously it was an up and down game, so yeah, just put my legs up and come back ready to go again tomorrow."

Revolution II Defender Colby Quiñones:

On the team's performance:

Quiñones: "I thought it was good. I think the biggest takeaway is when we go up a man, we need to dominate the ball more. I feel like the last time we went up a man, it was a similar scenario where it was almost like they had the advantage, so I feel like in that aspect, we need to hold ourselves more accountable and be able to get the win with that much time left. But overall, I thought we created good chances. It was just unlucky on our part."

On the team's mindset after a slow start:

Quiñones: "It was a slow start, but after getting together as a group, we just needed to remind ourselves to play our own game, stick to our principles and not get too down on ourselves after going down a goal like that."

On the boost a shootout win gives the team:

Quiñones: "It's always nice to win the shootout, especially at home. So, I think even though the 90 minutes didn't go the way we wanted it to, coming out with the extra point was big for us."

On bouncing back to for the upcoming midweek match:

Quiñones: "It'll be good. It's a quick turnaround, but I think playing against them [New York City FC II], we have something to prove now against them in a few days. So hopefully we can get the win and separate us from the team."

Check out the New England Revolution II Statistics

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