HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – New England Revolution II (8-5-4; 32 pts.) battled Huntsville FC (4-7-4; 19 pts.), to a 0-0 draw on Sunday night at Joe Davis Stadium, earning the additional point with a 5-4 shootout win. Goalkeeper Jacob Jackson collected his third penalty shootout win in New England’s fourth clean sheet performance of the season.
“It was a difficult match. They [Huntsville FC] are a good team, but I thought that we had a slow start to the first half, were a little bit timid in our approach and allowed them to gain confidence," Head Coach Clint Peay said postgame. "And so, we had a good conversation at halftime, and I felt the effort in the second half was much better played in their end for most of the half, created some decent chances and probably lucky to get out of there with two points, but at the end of the day, they persevered and were resilient and found a way to kind of manage the game.”
Jackson had another solid performance in net for Revolution II, making his sixth start of the season. The 23-year-old made eight saves including a game-saving stop in the 87th minute to deny a breakaway opportunity from Huntsville’s Adem Sipic, keeping the game level. In the penalty shootout, Jackson made one save while New England converted all five spot kicks with goals coming from Marcos Dias, Jacob Akanyirige, Jake Rozhansky, Jordan Adebayo-Smith, and Brandonn Bueno.
New England’s defense collected eight blocked shots in the match en route to its fourth shutout performance of the season. Adebayo-Smith led the attack for Revolution II, tallying three shots across a complete 90-minute shift.
Alongside Bueno, New England welcomed back several members of the Revolution Academy’s U-19 MLS NEXT Cup Championship squad to the matchday roster including Revolution Homegrown Peyton Miller and Academy forwards Gianluca Armellino and Olger Escobar.
New England returns to action on Sunday, July 9 against Inter Miami FC II at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The 6 p.m. match will stream live MLSNEXTPro.com.
New England Revolution II 0 (5), Huntsville FC 0 (4)
July 2, 2023 – Joe Davis Stadium (Huntsville, Ala.)
- Revolution II earn their fourth clean sheet of the season and first since a 1-0 victory against NYCFC II on June 14.
- New England remains unbeaten in shootouts this season, holding a 4-0 record.
- Revolution goalkeeper Jacob Jackson recorded his second clean sheet of the season in an eight-save performance. The goalkeeper earned his third shootout win of the season, tallying one stop.
- Forwards Marcos Dias and Jordan Adebayo Smith, midfielders Jake Rozhansky and Brandonn Bueno and defender Jacob Akanyiridge all converted from the spot in the shootout to secure the additional point.
- Adebayo-Smith led New England with three shots across 90 minutes.
- Alongside Bueno, Revolution Homegrown Peyton Miller, and Revolution Academy forwards Gianluca Armellino, Olger Escobar all returned to the matchday roster following the U-19’s MLS NEXT Cup Championship victory last weekend.
- Escobar made his first appearance since June 4 against New York Red Bulls II as a substitute playing 21 minutes.
- Defender Ítalo earned his third consecutive start of 2023, playing 69 minutes and tallying one shot.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Katherine McCormick
Assistant Referees: Sarah Gaddes, Kevin Huet
Fourth Official: Donovan Eubank
Weather: 80 degrees and cloudy
Misconduct Summary:
HNT - Chrisnovic N’Sa (Yellow Card) 39’
NE – Tiago Suarez (Yellow Card) 45’+1
HNT – Cyrus Rad (Yellow Card) 50’
NE – Ítalo (Yellow Card) 59’
NE – Victor Souza (Yellow Card) 72’
New England Revolution II: Jacob Jackson; Colby Quiñones (Jacob Akanyirige 90’+1), Pierre Cayet, Victor Souza, Tiago Suarez (Peyton Miller 58’); Jake Rozhanksy; Ítalo (Olger Escobar 69’), Marcos Dias, Ben Awashie (Brandon Bueno 69’), Malcolm Fry (Nakye Greenidge-Duncan 69’); Jordan Adeabyo-Smith.
Substitutes Not Used: Nico Campuzano, Gianluca Armellino, Cristiano Oliveira, Eric Klein.
Huntsville FC: Elliot Panicco; Joseph Skinner, Cyrus Rad, Sean Suber, Chrisnovic N’Sa; Joshua Drack, Kemy Amiche, Nicky Law (Ahmed Longmire 89’); Oliver Wright (Nebiyou Perry 58’), Azaad Liadi (Adem Sipic 73’), Jonathan Bolanos (Shaun Joash 90’).
Substitutes Not Used: John Berner, Tyler Freeman, Joseph DeZart II, Eli Wachs, Perrin Barnes.
