TUCSON, Ariz. – The New England Revolution suffered their first defeat of the preseason, falling 2-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday afternoon at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. After a goalless first half, Vancouver forward Octavio Rivero scored twice in a five-minute span to earn the victory. The Revs are now 1-1-0 so far in the preseason, with four more games to be played in Tucson later this month.
Both sides threatened in the first half, with Charlie Davies and Jose Goncalves spurning chances from close range for the Revolution while Vancouver’s Kekuta Manneh and Mauro Rosales each had opportunities for the Whitecaps, only to fire their shots over the bar, sending the game into the half scoreless.
The game opened up in the second half as both sides made wholesale changes, though it was the Whitecaps who came out the more aggressive of the two sides. Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton was called into action in the 53rd minute to tip a Tim Parker header onto the post before the ball was cleared. However, Vancouver would break the deadlock four minutes later when Matias Laba dribbled at the New England defense before sliding a pass through to Rivero who held off a Revolution defender before finishing past Knighton.
Vancouver doubled its lead five minutes later, when Rivero again found himself free behind the Revolution defense after being played clear by Nicolas Mesquida. Rivero took a touch around the onrushing Knighton and calmly side-footed the ball into the empty net to put the Whitecaps up 2-0.
New England pushed forward attempting to pull a goal back, with trialists Tim Mulgrew and Tyler Rudy each testing Vancouver goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi, who denied the Revs on both occasions to post the shutout.
The Revolution will return to New England on Friday for a week of training at the Dana-Farber Field House at Gillette Stadium before heading back to Tucson to take part in the Desert Diamond Cup on Sunday, Feb. 15.
For up-to-the-minute information on the Revolution, visit the team’s official website at revolutionsoccer.net, or join the conversation and interact with fans on any of the team’s social platforms.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, New England Revolution 0
February 4, 2015 – Kino Sports Complex (Tucson, Arizona)
Scoring Summary:
VAN – Octavio Rivero (Matias Laba) 57’
VAN – Octavio Rivero (Nicolas Mesquida) 62’
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Teal Bunbury (Yellow Card) 21’
VAN – Jordan Harvey (Yellow Card) 78’
New England Revolution:
First Half: Bobby Shuttleworth; Jeremy Hall, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney; Andy Dorman, Scott Caldwell, Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi, Kelyn Rowe; Charlie Davies (Juan Agudelo 30’)
Second Half: Brad Knighton; Jeremy Hall (Darrius Barnes 50’), London Woodberry, Jacob VanCompernolle, Donnie Smith; Marco Fenelus, Tyler Rudy, Yuzo Tashiro, Steve Neumann, Tim Mulgrew; Sean Okoli
Vancouver Whitecaps FC:
First Half: David Ousted; Jackson Farmer, Pa-Modou Kah, Christian Dean, Sam Adekugbe; Gershon Koffie, Pedro Morales, Mauro Rosales, Marco Bustos, Kekuta Manneh; Darren Mattocks
Second Half: Paolo Tornaghi; Ethen Sampson, Tim Parker, Diego Rodriguez, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Ben McKendry, Kalif Alhassan (Robert Earnshaw 76’), Nicolas Mesquida, Caleb Clarke (Dane Richards 76’); Octavio Rivero
