MLS NEXT Pro New England Revolution II

Revolution II Battle Orlando City B to 1-1 Draw

Published on September 7, 2023 under MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
New England Revolution II News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - New England Revolution II (14-5-8; 56 pts.) played Orlando City B (12-10-4; 41 pts.) to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. Victor Souza tallied his first professional goal, while goalkeeper Max Weinstein made two saves in the penalty kick shootout to secure two points for New England. Tonight's result extends the team's record unbeaten run to 12 consecutive matches.

Revolution II found the scoresheet in the first half with Souza capitalizing on a corner kick taken by Jake Rozhansky via header. The 14th-minute tally marks the Boston College product's first professional goal. With the helper, Rozhansky now sits tied for the team lead in assists with Jordan Adebayo-Smith at five each.

Orlando's Jack Lynn equalized in the 65th minute to send the match to the penalty kick shootout. New England's Patrick Leal, Olger Escobar, and Marcos Dias all tallied while Weinstein made two saves to secure an additional point with a 3-2 shootout victory. Revolution II now stands on top of MLS NEXT Pro with six shootout wins on the season.

In his second consecutive appearance with New England's second team, Weinstein made four saves in regulation to lead the defense. Dias led the attack with four shots, two of them on target, in the match.

Revolution II now prepares for their final regular season match against Crown Legacy FC next Sunday, September 17. The match kicks off at 5:00 p.m. ET and streams live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

New England Revolution II 1 (3), Orlando City B 1 (2)

September 7, 2023 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

With the draw, New England extends its unbeaten streak to 12 straight matches, a team record, and improves to 8-1-5 at Gillette Stadium this season.

After a 3-2 victory in the shootout, Revolution II now lead MLS NEXT Pro with six shootout wins on the season.

Defender Victor Souza tallied his first professional goal in the 14th minute with a header off a corner kick.

Midfielder Jake Rozhansky earned his fifth assist of the season on Souza's tally, tying him for the team lead in assists with forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith (5).

Goalkeeper Max Weinstein made four saves in regulation and picked up two more saves in the shootout.

Forwards Marcos Dias and Olger Escobar and midfielder Patrick Leal all buried their penalty kick opportunities to secure the additional point for Revolution II.

Dias led his team with four shots, two on target in the match.

Orlando's 65th minute tally ended Revolution II's shutout streak at 405 minutes.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: José Carlos Rivero

Assistant Referees: Andrew Charron, Eric Schreiber

Fourth Official: Andrew Porada

Weather: 88 degrees and sunny

Scoring Summary:

NE - Victor Souza 1 (Jake Rozhansky 5) 14'

ORL - Jack Lynn 18 (Unassisted) 65'

Misconduct Summary:

ORL - Abdim Salim (Yellow Card - Foul) 37'

ORL - Juniho (Yellow Card - Foul) 41'

NE - Noble Okello (Yellow Card - Foul) 45'+1

ORL - Nabilai Kibunguchy (Yellow Card - Foul) 48'

NE - Tiago Suarez (Yellow Card - Foul) 52'

NE - Patrick Leal (Yellow Card - Persistent Infringement) 74'

NE - Jake Rozhansky (Yellow Card - Foul) 76'

New England Revolution II: Max Weinstein; Colby Quiñones, Pierre Cayet, Victor Souza, Tiago Suarez (Jacob Akanyirige 90'+1); Noble Okello (Patrick Leal 66'); Damian Rivera (Ítalo 46'), Marcos Dias, Jake Rozhansky (Ben Awashie 78'), Joshua Bolma (Olger Escobar 46'), Jordan Adebayo-Smith.

Substitutes Not Used: Ryan Carney, Brandonn Bueno, Nakye Greenidge-Duncan.

Orlando City B: Javier Otero; Moises Tablante, Abdi Salim, Nabilai Kibunguchy, Jorge Almaguer; Jack Lynn (Cristofer Acuna 85'), Juninho, Cristian Medina, Alexander Freeman (Zakaria Taifi 85'); Shakur Mohammed, Wilfredo Rivera (Franco Perez 46').

Substitutes Not Used: Thomas Bowe, Thomas Williams, Tahir Reid-Brown, Dominic Pereira.

New England Revolution II Team Statistics Orlando City B

17 (7) Shots (on Target) 16 (6)

4 Blocked Shots 5

4 Saves 5

6 Corner Kicks 9

1 Offsides 1

13 Fouls 8

432 (86.6%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 454 (89.0%)

48.5% Possession 51.5

POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution II 1 (3), Orlando City B 1 (2)

Revolution II Assistant Coach Marcelo Santos

On the team's performance:

Santos: "I thought we played okay at times. I thought in the first half, the guys made it very difficult for them to play, and I thought we could capitalize on a few opportunities, and we didn't. We know in this weather the game is going to be difficult. We're playing against a very good team, and I think we let our concentration down a little bit, and the game was a lot harder than it should be."

On team's play in the second half of the game:

Santos: "Give credit to Orlando [City B]. In the beginning of the second half they were pressing, almost like man-to-man, really hard and made us play. And of course, that's uncomfortable so we started to do things that are not familiar to us, and they had a lot more of the game. But I think after midway through the second half, we started to get our way back a little bit, and we could have had a goal at the end. It wasn't our best game for sure."

On Victor Souza scoring his first professional goal:

Santos: "It is nice. I think in training we see him [Victor Souza] scoring on set pieces, and I think he's been rewarded because he's been really good. He's been good with the ball and also as a leader, as a defender. So, it's been great to see him score and I'm sure he's happy about it."

On what he told Max Weinstein before the shootout:

Santos: "In our league, we have the opportunity to go through these so many times; this is our eighth time. We just tell the goalkeeper to hold and wait to the last second to make a decision, because most of the players are actually watching. And since it's not a pressure situation, like you would be in a full house, they are much more comfortable to see what is happening in front of them. So, if you go too early, you basically give them the goal. So, I think that's what Max [Weinstein] did. We're glad that he saved two."

On mindset going into the final regular season game against Crown Legacy FC:

Santos: "I think those games, that's what we prepare ourselves for. I have watched them [Crown Legacy FC] in their last few games and they are very good. No doubt why they are at the top of the standings right now. They are an experienced team, well coached. I think for now we're trying to recover. We have about three days off, and we're going to start thinking of them when we can."

Revolution II Defender Victor Souza:

On team's performance:

Souza: "Obviously, I'm happy with my goal, but I don't think that overall the team is happy about how we played. I thought we could have been much better going forward, and we conceded on a set piece which is never ideal. It is what it is now. We move on and we're thinking about Crown [Legacy FC] now, but I'd say we know it wasn't our best performance and we need to learn from it."

On scoring his first professional goal:

Souza: "It was a great feeling. I don't often get to score. I hadn't scored for about five years now, so it was a great moment for me personally. I was very happy. It came off the side of my face. I kind of just threw myself at it and just hoped for the best, and it worked out."

On Max Weinstein's performance in net:

Souza: "Max [Weinstein] was huge. I missed my penalty shot; I was praying he'd come up big for us and he did. Super happy with how Max played."

Check out the New England Revolution II Statistics

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