FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (3-2-1; 11 pts.) played FC Cincinnati 2 (2-1-2; 8 pts.) to a 5-5 draw before winning the penalty kick shootout, 5-4, to secure the extra point. Marcos Dias and Damian Rivera both notched braces while Jordan Adebayo-Smith tallied his third goal of the season in the match.
“I think at the end of the day, we were fortunate or they [FC Cincinnati 2] were fortunate. I don't know what to say. We weren't very good in terms of executing some moments, and I thought we gifted them a few goals where I felt like we earned our goals," Head Coach Clint Peay said of the high-scoring match. "Obviously, they had some other chances, but the goals they did score, we made some mistakes that cost us. We've got to obviously do better as we move forward.”
Rivera found the scoresheet first burying a right-footed shot from the left side of the box in the 16th minute with fellow Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou distributing the assist on the tally. Dias doubled New England’s lead three minutes later, scoring on a penalty kick opportunity for his first of the season.
Cincinnati scored two of its own in the 22nd and 31st minutes to even the scoring, but Adebayo-Smith netted New England’s third goal of the match and his third of the season just before halftime, sending a left-footed shot into the center of the goal with Rivera adding on an assist to his night.
Cincinnati tied the score again in the 53rd minute and took the lead in the 61st minute as the back-and-forth action continued. Rivera evened the score back up in the 75th minute with another right-footed shot sent into the left side of the net to secure the second brace of his career with Revolution II.
Adebayo-Smith drew a penalty in the box in the 85th minute as Dias would step up to take his second penalty kick of the night to secure a brace of his own. In the 90th minute, Pierre Cayet attempted to block a cross in the box from Cincinnati, but the ball bounced off his foot and into the back of New England’s net, giving each team five goals apiece heading into the penalty kick shootout.
Dias, Adebayo-Smith, Panayotou, Peyton Miller, and Ben Awashie all tallied as Max Weinstein made the stop on Cincinnati’s Nicholas Samways to secure Revolution II’s first shootout victory of 2023. With a combined 10 goals between both teams, tonight’s match becomes the highest scoring game in MLS NEXT Pro history to date.
“A lot of positives. We scored five goals, that’s a big positive," Adebayo-Smith said of the takeaways from the match. "We made a couple mistakes trying to play out of the back [against] a high press team, but I feel like we can learn from that, looking to the video and then take that into the next game knowing that if a team is going to press us high, we have different solutions to break out.”
New England now begins a three-game road stretch, returning to action on Saturday, May 6 with a visit to New York City FC II at Belson Stadium. The 5 p.m. match will stream live on MLSNEXTPro.com.
New England Revolution II 5 (5), FC Cincinnati 5 (4)
April 30, 2023 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
- Homegrown midfielder Damian Rivera tallied twice for the second brace of his career with Revolution II and added on his second assist of the season on Jordan Adebayo-Smith’s goal. The Cranston, R.I. native recorded a team-high six shots with four on target.
- Forward Marcos Dias scored two penalty-kick goals, recording the sixth brace in team history, and recorded an assist on Rivera’s second goal.
- Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou earned his second assist of the season on Rivera’s first goal.
- Goalkeeper Max Weinstein made six saves in the match.
- Academy defender Peyton Miller made his first start with the team since his call-up to the U-17 USYNT, recording four shots and tallying New England’s fourth goal in the shootout.
- Midfielder Ben Awashie scored the final goal to secure the shootout victory after coming into the match as a substitute in the 63rd minute.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Abdou Ndiaye
Assistant Referees: Justen Lopez, Robert Cordrey
Fourth Official: Kenneth Rojas
Weather: 54 and rain
Scoring Summary:
NE – Damian Rivera (Jack Panayotou) 16’
NE – Marcos Dias (PK) 19’
CIN – Quimi Ordoñez 22’
CIN – Quimi Ordoñez 32’
NE – Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Damian Rivera) 41’
CIN – Salim Adams (Jesús Castellano) 53’
CIN – Kai Thomas (Jordi Govea) 61’
NE – Damian Rivera 75’
NE – Marcos Dias (PK) 85’
CIN – Pierre Cayet (OG) 90’
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Ben Awashie (Yellow Card) 72’
IN – Stiven Jiminez (Yellow Card) 79’
New England Revolution II: Max Weinstein; Peyton Miller, Pierre Cayet, Tiago Suarez (Colby Quiñones 71’), Victor Souza; Josh Bolma (Ben Awashie 63’), Damian Rivera, Jack Panayotou; Marcos Dias, Malcolm Fry, Jordan Adebayo-Smith.
Substitutes Not Used: Nico Campuzano, Jacob Akanyirige, Jake Rozhansky, Nakye Greenidge-Duncan, Brandonn Bueno, Weverton.
FC Cincinnati 2: Paul Walters; Jordi Govea (Haroun Conteh 77’), Isaiah Foster, Kai Thomas, Joey Akpunonu; Bret Halsey (Nicholas Samways 63’), Stiven Jiminez, Salim Adams; Dado Valenzuela (Benjamin Stitz 77’), Jesús Castellano, Quimi Ordoñez.
Substitutes Not Used: David Garcia, Hunter Morse, Darrell Turcios.
