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.
“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," forward Malcolm Fry said postgame. "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.”
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.
“I thought it was good. I think the biggest takeaway is when we go up a man, we need to dominate the ball more," defender Colby Quinones said. "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.”
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.
