Just five appearances into his Revolution career, left back Will Sands is already slotting right into the team. Assisting both of New England’s goals in their first-ever matchup with St. Louis CITY SC, Sands has earned himself a spot on the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi for Matchday 31.
Sands’ helpers went to midfielder Carles Gil and winger Luca Langoni, the latter of whom scored on his Gillette Stadium debut and both of whom made the weekend’s TotM bench. With the home draw against CITY SC, the Revs have climbed one place up to 12th in the Eastern Conference, still five points out of the crucial last playoff spot as the stretch run continues to heat up.
Sands was making his third straight start on Saturday, and split outside back duties with defender Peyton Miller for the first time this season. Marauding up and down the left all night, Sands’ first goal involvement came in the 28th minute, when a fluid passage of play saw Langoni making a run on the left wing. Sands quickly played in La Langosta, who then easily shook former Revs defender Henry Kessler before calmly slotting home between the legs of CITY SC keeper Roman Bürki.
Sands nearly had his second assist in the 39th minute, when a low cross in the box to winger Dylan Borrero led to a shot that agonizingly deflected off the upright. Just one minute later, though, another break down the left gave Sands the opportunity to find Gil wide open at the edge of the box, and the captain’s ensuing shot was perfectly placed to bounce off the inside of the post and into the back of the net.
Head coach Caleb Porter had initially touted the depth Sands would bring to the left back position alongside Miller when the former Crew defender was brought in back in July. However, a minor injury to Miller handed Sands the opportunity to jump right into the starting lineup, and now the successful experiment of putting both players on the pitch while fellow outside back Brandon Bye continues to recover only adds a further dimension of depth the New England’s defense going forward.
While the goalkeeper position is naturally more restrictive for “Best XI” lineups like this TotM – between the starting lineup and the bench, there’s only room for two – an honorable mention must go to Revolution keeper Aljaž Ivačič. After recording a season-high eight saves last weekend against Real Salt Lake, the Slovenian shot-stopper went ahead and topped himself again, making a staggering nine saves against St. Louis and doing more than his part to keep New England in the game on a night when a number of things were not going their way.
The Revolution will be back in action this coming Saturday, September 14, hitting the road to face Orlando City SC before making a quick turnaround to host CF Montréal midweek.
