FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Zach Herivaux played 37 quality minutes in Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal win over the Philadelphia Union, and more valuable playing time is on the horizon.
The 20-year-old midfielder departed on Thursday for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he’ll join up with the Haiti National Team for a friendly against the Argentine Olympic Team on Sunday. From there, he’ll head to San Jose, California, to play in the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game next Wednesday.
It’s a pair of unforgettable opportunities for Herivaux, but more importantly, the two matches will offer the youngster a chance to play significant minutes against high-quality opposition.
“It’s all about game time,” Herivaux said. “You need game time to improve. Being able to do that at an international stage, or with the Homegrown game, it’s going to be a great experience for me regardless.
“I’m just excited to be able to play in games and [the Open Cup] was a good start to it. I’m going to keep capitalizing this week.”
Herivaux – the New England Revolution’s third-ever Homegrown signing last May – has totaled just 219 minutes of game action this season, with 215 of those minutes coming in the Open Cup and more than half of those minutes coming in the fourth-round win over the Carolina RailHawks.
Herivaux scored the game-winning goal in that victory over Carolina, and head coach Jay Heaps has loved the progression he’s seen through Herivaux’s first 14 months as a pro.
“Zach’s really coming along,” Heaps said. “Early in preseason he really separated himself from last year to this year in his growth. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him as many games as we’d like during the time from the end of preseason to the Open Cup.
“We’re excited for him to be called into the Homegrown game and Haiti. It’s really good for him.”
Herivaux called the decision to join Haiti for the upcoming friendly “a no brainer,” and added that he’s looking forward to being coached by Landon Donovan – “A U.S. legend,” he said – when the MLS Homegrown team takes on Mexico’s Under-20 National Team.
It’ll no doubt be a unique experience for Herivaux, who’ll be the first Revolution player to play in the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game.
“It’s an honor to be able to get called up,” Herivaux said. “It’s going to be a fun trip. I’m going to be able to meet a lot of different guys, a lot of different Homegrowns in the league. It’s going to be a good time.
“Being able to represent New England for the first time is an honor. I’m going to try to do my best and represent the club well.”
