FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (8-9-4; 29 pts.) host Orlando City B (6-10-5; 25 pts.) on Friday night at Gillette Stadium. The MLS NEXT Pro Game of the Week kicks off at 5:30 p.m. ET and streams on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Last weekend, New England fell to Rochester New York FC, 2-0. Midfielder Trevor Zwetsloot and forward Marcos Dias each recorded three shots to lead Revs II in the match as New England newcomer, Weverton, made his MLS NEXT Pro debut. The forward entered the contest as a sub and logged 26 minutes. Academy goalkeeper Max Weinstein made his fifth consecutive start with the second team, making four saves.
“I think it’s very important for us to just go one game at a time,” Revolution II Goalkeeper Coach Yuta Nomura said of the team’s mindset. “Yes, we only have three games left, but it’s all up to us whether we’re going to make it into the playoffs, but if you focus on the second game, third game, you’re probably going to be screwed. So, what we need to do is simply one game at a time, we just need to believe in ourselves.”
Revolution II owns a 1-0-1 record vs. Orlando this year as the two sides last met on June 11 at Gillette Stadium. Homegrown midfielder Noel Buck scored his first of the season as fellow Homegrown signing Esmir Bajraktarevic recorded a career-high six shots in the match. Dias notched the game-winner in the 56th minute to secure New England’s seventh win of the season.
“For us it’s important I think to not put the extra pressure on us,” Weinstein stated. “We know that we need to win, that it’s a really important game, but I think if we go out and we just focus on the first 10 minutes then the first 20 then the first half, same thing with the second half, I think that’s our mindset right now, just doing our job and not really thinking of the bigger picture, but thinking about the present moment and just winning the game.”
Revolution II Season Memberships and single-game tickets are on sale now. For more information, email tix@revolutionsoccer.net or call 1-877-GET-REVS.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR AGAINST ORLANDO CITY B:
· Forward Marcos Dias adding to his team-leading six goals and 52 shots on the season.
· Midfielder Jake Rozhansky making his 45th appearance with New England’s second team.
· Defender Ítalo appearing in his 20th match this season and surpassing 1,500 minutes played with a 2-minute appearance.
· Defender Sean O’Hearn making his 40th start with Revolution II.
· New England adding to the 43 players – and 25 Revolution Academy products – who have made their professional debuts with Revolution II thus far.
