MLS Regular Season | Match #17
New England Revolution at Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Sunday, June 26 | 8 p.m. ET
BC Place | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Watch: WSBK-TV38, myRITV (Rhode Island)
- Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
6th in Eastern Conference (6-5-5, 23 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 win vs. Minnesota United FC
Dylan Borrero’s first MLS goal and Gustavo Bou’s set-piece stunner lifted the Revs to a come-from-behind, 2-1 win over Minnesota United FC last Sunday night, somewhat quietly stretching New England’s unbeaten run to eight games (4-0-4), tied for the fifth-longest stretch in club history. Without a loss for more than two months the Revs have climbed to sixth in the Eastern Conference, just four points back of first-place New York City FC.
The Revs are 2-0-1 in their last three road games as part of that unbeaten run and will now head north of the border to Vancouver, where they haven’t visited the Whitecaps since 2018. This will be just the fifth all-time trip to Vancouver for the Revs, who are 1-0-1 in the last two visits in 2016 and 2018.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
8th in Western Conference (6-8-2, 20 pts.)
Last Result | 2-0 win at FC Dallas
The Whitecaps enter the weekend hovering right around the playoff line in the Western Conference, tied on points with Seattle Sounders FC for the final postseason spot but with two more games played. They’re coming off an impressive 2-0 road win over FC Dallas in their last league match, while they’ve been more than solid at BC Place this season, going 4-1-2 overall and 3-0-1 in their last four home games.
Vancouver was also in action midweek, claiming a 2-1 win over Canadian Premier League club York United FC on Wednesday night to advance to the Canadian Championship Final, where they’ll host Toronto FC. Brian White, a breakout player last year with 12 goals and five assists, scored both goals for the Whitecaps.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution forward Gustavo Bou
It’s been almost three years since the Revolution and Whitecaps met at any venue, most recently playing on July 17, 2019 at Gillette Stadium. That night featured an MLS debut for Gustavo Bou – acquired from Club Tijuana just one week earlier – and the Argentine forward marked the occasion with an absolute stunner of a goal, meeting Carles Gil’s corner kick with a full volley to open the scoring in New England’s 4-0 win.
In the three years since, Bou has been an absolute menace for MLS defenses. He’s racked up 35 goals and 16 assists in 75 regular season and playoff appearances, and he’s been red hot recently with three goals and one assist in his last four appearances since returning from injury.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper
New England may see a familiar face between the pipes for Vancouver on Sunday night with former Revolution goalkeeper Cody Cropper currently manning the net for the Whitecaps. Cropper made 36 appearances for the Revs covering parts of four seasons between 2016 and 2019, keeping 10 clean sheets along the way.
The 29-year-old has since featured for the Houston Dynamo, FC Cincinnati, and now the Whitecaps, where he has stepped into the starting role since mid-May, registering two shutouts with a goals against average of 1.45.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
Matt Polster is expected to miss a second straight game as he continues to recover from the head injury that forced him off in the first half of last week’s draw with Orlando City SC. Polster is one of seven Revolution players to have played more than 1,000 minutes through the first half of the regular season.
Brandon Bye, Henry Kessler, and Sebastian Lletget are all listed as questionable with leg injuries, although sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena mentioned on Thursday’s media call that Kessler – who has missed the past five games – has returned to training.
Whitecaps
Information not yet available.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena
“It's been a difficult first half. The season started out poorly with all the problems we had with preseason and the Champions League, and then obviously, some weather issues and all of that but as of late we’ve responded well and have gotten some results. It'll be important that we have a much improved second half of the season.”
New England Revolution midfielder Tommy McNamara
“We’ve gotten a little bit healthier over the last couple of months, brought some key guys into the fold. I think, also, we’ve played a little bit better as a team, more committed as a group in order to try to do everything possible to get points. It’s been an improvement over the start of the season, but it still hasn’t been perfect. I think in a couple cases, we kind of dropped points from a winning position to a tie. But then on the flip side, you look at a game like this past weekend. We didn’t really play our best and we were still able to come away with three points. I think we’re moving in the right direction, but we certainly still have a ways to go to be better.”
