FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (10-10-4, 34 pts.) fell on the road to Toronto FC II (8-9-8, 32 pts.) on Friday afternoon at BMO Training Ground. Toronto’s Kevin Politz tallied the lone goal of the contest with a first-half header.
New England nearly found the equalizer in the 38th minute when Pierre Cayet headed home a cross, but a whistle for a foul negated the goal. Offensively, Justin Rennicks led the way for Revolution II, tallying three shots. On defense, goalkeeper Joe Rice made three saves to keep New England within range.
Five Revolution Academy graduates started the contest for New England – Justin Rennicks, Damian Rivera, Tyler Freitas, Colby Quiñones, and Noel Buck. Fellow Academy alum Hikaru Fujiwara came off the bench for a 28-minute shift. Current Academy midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic earned a start, his fourth of the season.
New England will open a two-game week on Tuesday afternoon, hosting Forward Madison FC at Gillette Stadium in their fourth and final meeting of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution II 0, Toronto FC II 1
October 8, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
- New England Revolution II fell on Friday afternoon at Toronto FC II, 1-0, shifting their record to 10-10-4 (34 pts.) on the season.
- New England’s record against MLS second teams moves to 5-1-0 on the season.
- New England was shut out for the first time since July 4, ending a stretch of 12 straight matches scoring at least one goal.
- Academy midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic collected his fourth start on his eighth appearance for Revolution II since joining the club in August. The Appleton, Wisc. native finished the day with one shot and one key pass in a 90-minute shift.
- Forward Justin Rennicks had a team-high three shots with one on target and completed all 14 of his passes on the day.
- Midfielder Jake Rozhansky returned to the lineup after missing New England’s last match due to injury, completing 43 of his 46 passes and one key pass.
- Defender Pierre Cayet recorded team highs in recoveries (12) and interceptions (4) while adding two clearances and five duels won.
- Defender Ryan Spaulding had a team-high 10 duels won and five tackles to go along with 10 recoveries.
- Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay made four changes to the Starting XI from New England’s last match on Oct. 1 vs. Forward Madison FC, with Colby Quiñones, Tyler Freitas, Jake Rozhansky, and Esmir Bajraktarevic all starting in place of Connor Presley, Maciel, Michel, and Edward Kizza, respectively.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Michael Venne.
Assistant Referees: Peter Pendli (AR1); Twayne Anderson (AR2).
Fourth Official: Yusri Rudolf.
Weather: 65 degrees and cloudy.
Scoring Summary:
TOR – Kevin Politz 1 (Luca Petrasso 2) 24’
Misconduct Summary:
TOR – Talen Maples (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 4’
NE – Tyler Freitas (Yellow Card – Dissent) 40’
NE – Noel Buck (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 59’
NE – Joe Rice (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 86’
NE – Colby Quiñones (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 89’
New England Revolution II: Joe Rice; Ryan Spaulding, Collin Verfurth ©, Pierre Cayet, Colby Quiñones; Tyler Freitas (Hikaru Fujiwara 62’), Jake Rozhansky © (Sean O’Hearn 62’), Noel Buck; Esmir Bajraktarevic, Damian Rivera, Justin Rennicks.
Substitutes Not Used: Yannik Oettl, François Dulysse, Dennis Ramirez.
Toronto FC II: Andres Vaikla; Luca Petrasso, Talen Maples, Kevin Politz, Rohan Goulbourne, Kobe Franklin; Dante Campbell, Antonio Carlini (Steffen Yeates 85’), Julian Altobelli (Tony Curic 90’+3); Kosi Thompson (Garrett McLaughlin 77’), Paul Rothrock.
Substitutes Not Used: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Themi Antonoglou, Nicolas Ovalle Raffo, Hugo Mbongue.
