Revolution II Earns Road Win at Union Omaha, 2-0
September 19, 2020 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
New England Revolution II News Release
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - New England Revolution II (2-6-2, 8 pts.) picked up their first road victory of the year, handing fellow first-year club Union Omaha their first home loss of the season, 2-0, at Werner Park in Papillion, Neb. on Saturday night.
A pair of Homegrown Players and Massachusetts locals provided the scoring on the night. Revolution Academy product Justin Rennicks (South Hamilton, Mass.), on loan from the first team, put Revolution II ahead in the 11th minute with his first goal of the season, slotting home a pass from Orlando Sinclair who picked up his first assist of the year. Nicolas Firmino (Somerville, Mass.) added a second goal deep into second-half stoppage time, his second of the season.
Goalkeeper Joe Rice made four stops, keeping his third clean sheet of the season and raising his league-leading tally in saves to 42. Defender Collin Verfurth returned to the starting lineup, adding nine clearances to his league-leading tally of 47 on the season.
New England will continue its four-game road swing next Saturday, September 26 with a trip to face Orlando City B for the second-ever meeting between the two teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET on ESPN+ in the United States.
Union Omaha 0, New England Revolution II 2
September 19, 2020 - Werner Park (Papillion, Neb.)
Rennicks Opens His Account in USL League One
- Forward Justin Rennicks scored his first goal for Revolution II in his second appearance, slotting home a pass from Orlando Sinclair in the 11th minute for his second tally as a professional.
- Rennicks, who was subbed out during second-half stoppage time, finished the night with three shots, including two on target, while completing 81 percent of his passes.
Mendonca Has Another Strong Night Defensively
- Mendonca made his second consecutive start, this time in central midfield, playing 90 minutes and registering a pair of shots on target in the victory.
- The midfielder led the team with 72 touches while putting in a strong shift defensively with 11 possessions gained, six clearances, three tackles, and two interceptions.
Firmino Leads Midfield in Victory
- Nicolas Firmino scored his second goal of the season, adding three more shots to his team-leading 17 on the year, including two on target.
- Firmino, who had a goal disallowed off a free kick early in the second half, led the team winning 13 of his 20 duels including five aerials while recording 47 passes including 34 in the opposing half.
Verfurth Returns to the Starting Lineup
- Defender Collin Verfurth made his return to the starting lineup after going as an unused substitute on Sept. 16 at Tucson. He recorded nine clearances on the night.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Jon Freeman
Assistant Referees: Justin Mack (AR1), Esad Omanovic (AR2)
Fourth Official: Brittney Hageman
Weather: 72 degrees and partly cloudy
Scoring Summary:
NE - Justin Rennicks (Orlando Sinclair) 11'
NE - Nicolas Firmino (Ryan Spaulding) 90'+8
Misconduct Summary:
NE - Orlando Sinclair (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 57'
OMA - Tyler David (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 60'
OMA - John Scearce (Yellow Card- Bad Foul) 88'
OMA - Ethan Vanacore-Decker (Red Card- Serious Foul) 90'+1
New England Revolution II: Joe Rice; Ryan Spaulding, Collin Verfurth, Jon Bell, Colby Quinones; Maciel, Tiago Mendonca, Nicolas Firmino; Orlando Sinclair (Damian Rivera 70'), Justin Rennicks (Mayele Malango 90'+5), Connor Presley.
Substitutes Not Used: Keegan Meyer, Nathan Metsack, Ryo Shimazaki, Michael Tsicoulias, Meny Silva.
Union Omaha: Rashid Nuhu; Nathan Aune, Lucas Hauswirth (Ferrety Sousa 64'), Abdul Illal Osumanu, Jake Crull; Tyler David (John Scearce 64'), Devin Boyce (Elvir Ibisevic HT), Sebastián Contreras (Daltyn Knutson 74'), Evan Conway; Ethan Vanacore-Decker, Elma N'For (Austin Panchot 80').
Substitutes Not Used: Sam Howard, Christian Molina.
Union Omaha Team Statistics New England Revolution II
19 (4) Shots (on Target) 9 (6)
4 Saves 4
7 Corner Kicks 0
2 Offsides 7
15 Fouls 12
396 (72.0%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 344 (65.4%)
54.8% Possession 45.2%
POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution II 2 at Union Omaha 0
Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay
On competing for a full 90 minutes in the victory over Union Omaha:
Peay: "It's something we've been talking about. We've had some good moments and stretches in games but obviously have had some lapses where we've conceded so it was a point of emphasis. I thought the guys did a great job in a very difficult situation against a challenging team."
On taking a lead into halftime:
Peay: "We talked about it in the week how important it is to put the other team under pressure and not having us always play catch-up and chasing the game ourselves. That was critical and it helped the confidence with the guys and allowed us to kind of defend and know that we would have moments to get after them in transition."
On defending as a team:
Peay: "They did an excellent job. I thought we were fairly compact and limited their opportunities on goal and through the run of play. And I thought defensively through set pieces the guys did a great job."
On limiting the team's substitutions:
Peay: "It's a cool night here, it's a small field, and we thought the team was playing well. We pushed the starters a little longer and the subs at the end were somewhat tactical but also to give some fresh legs to some of the guys that worked hard up top for us."
On preparing for Orlando City B next week:
Peay: "We're not really thinking about Orlando right now to be honest with you. We're just trying to celebrate the win. We'll look at Orlando this week and try to focus on them but we know they're a good team. They've got some MLS guys who have come down so that will help them be a stronger group so if anything, like every game, we know it's going to be a battle and it's going to be a hard game for us."
Revolution II Forward Justin Rennicks
On scoring his first goal for the club:
Rennicks: "It's really what I've needed. I didn't come down here just to play games, I came down here to score goals. That's my job, I'm a number-9 so I came out there and I told myself 'I've got to at least get one goal, we've got to get this win' because we haven't gotten many wins. But tonight we got that and everybody's happy."
On building chemistry with his teammates:
Rennicks: "It's still new. I haven't played many minutes with [Orlando Sinclair and Connor Presley] but it's definitely going somewhere. It could be something very special from what I've seen. But me and Nicolas Firmino have been playing together since the [Revolution] Academy days so that's one player I can connect really well."
On preparation for Omaha after a midweek game:
Rennicks: "We came off a loss against FC Tucson and we told ourselves coming out to this game that we don't care who we're playing but we're putting everything we got out there and we get our first goal then do everything we can to seal the game. That was 90 minutes all around the field, the whole team, putting in everything they have. It was awesome to see and really special to be a part of something like that."
On the team's confidence:
Rennicks: "It's definitely better than it was before. So it's something we've got to keep going with. We can't just go into the next game with mindset of we won our last game so we'll win this one too. We've got to go out and do the same thing we did tonight to get another win. It's not going to be easy but we know it can happen."
Revolution II Midfielder Nicolas Firmino
On the midfield battle:
Firmino: "I thought we won the midfield battle from the jump. Tiago [Mendonca] and Maciel were really holding it down back there but I thought it was full team effort. We were pressing them when we could, we were compact in our lines when they had the ball so I felt it was great team effort."
On the team's confidence:
Firmino: "It's huge. We've been getting unlucky with results but this gives us the confidence that we can play with anybody in this league and we can beat anybody in this league, especially a good team on the road. It gives us some more confidence heading into the next game with Orlando City B."
On preparing for Orlando City B next week:
Firmino: "Same mindset we always have - to go out and win and go out and compete. We got unlucky the last time against Orlando going down a man 30 minutes in but we'll look to be better and we'll watch film to see what areas to exploit against Orlando."
United Soccer League One Stories from September 19, 2020
- Fort Lauderdale CF Falls 1-2 against South Georgia Tormenta FC - Fort Lauderdale CF
- North Texas SC Ties up FC Tucson - FC Tucson
- North Texas SC Earns 1-1 Draw with FC Tucson at Globe Life Park - North Texas SC
- Los Buhos Fall 2-0 in Tense Match against New England Revolution II - Union Omaha
- Revolution II Earns Road Win at Union Omaha, 2-0 - New England Revolution II
- Tormenta FC Defeats Fort Lauderdale CF 2-1 on the Road - South Georgia Tormenta FC
- Greenville holds off Chattanooga with a second half strike - Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
- Triumph Edge Red Wolves 1-0, Sweep Season Series - Greenville Triumph SC
- Final Stretch of the Gauntlet - Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
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