New England Revolution II (2-0-1; 8 pts.) will travel to Exploria Stadium on Sunday to face Orlando City B (1-2-1; 5 pts.) in their first of two meetings this season. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET and will stream on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Revolution II is coming off a 3-2 comeback victory against FC Cincinnati 2. Academy midfielder Jack Panayotou scored his first two professional goals in the match, opening the scoring for New England in the 58th minute and notching the game winner in the 92nd minute. His goals mark Revolution II’s fourth brace in team history. Panayotou, 17, became the 20th Revolution Academy player to make his debut with the team on April 3 when the team hosted Rochester New York FC.
“It was a dream come true for me.,” Panayotou stated. “My goal at the start was to make my debut, and then it was to score. To score two and one of them being the winner, that’s something that I don’t think I’ve done often in my career at all especially at the pro level, so it was really an amazing experience for me.”
Brazilian midfielder Ryan Lima tied the game in the 67th minute in stunning fashion with a goal-of-the-year candidate, scoring with a long-range strike from distance. The goal was Lima’s first with New England since his arrival from Botafogo F.R. this offseason. Lima also made his Revolution II debut alongside Panayotou on April 3.
“First of all, what a goal, great strike. He’s got the talent to be able to do that obviously,” Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay stated. “I think the biggest thing we’ve noticed about him is his creativity. He sees passes that some guys don’t see, his ball control under pressure. Just needs to get fit, kind of get used to the speed of play here and get fit and I think we’ll be able to see more and more of that as the season progresses.”
Homegrown midfielder Noel Buck made his first start with Revolution II this season last week, playing the full 90 minutes against FCC2. Alongside Buck, midfielder Jake Rozhansky and defender Ben Reveno both made their third consecutive starts. Goalkeeper Jacob Jackson made his third start with the team, making five saves on seven shots to help his team improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
New England returns to Gillette Stadium on Sunday, May 1 to face Inter Miami FC II with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. 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.
