FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (0-2-2, 2 pts.) fell to the Richmond Kickers on Friday night at Gillette Stadium, 2-1. Forward Mayele Malango scored his first professional goal for New England, an equalizer in the 71^st minute.

Kickers midfielder Ryley Kraft scored the winning goal in the 81^st minute, scoring off a Jonathan Bolanos cross. Richmond took the lead early in the second half on Emiliano Terzaghi’s fourth goal of the season.

“We’re going to keep pushing the message and try to correct their mistakes,” said Revolution II Assistant Coach Marcelo Santos. “I think we have to learn on the fly, especially when you play a team like [Richmond]. They’re a more experienced team and they were ready to compete and at some points we felt like we want to play but we don’t want to do the hard work. But that’s part of the learning and I’m sure we’re going to get it right at some point.”

New England saw a pair of Academy players crack the starting lineup in defender Colby Quinones, making his second start, and midfielder Hikaru Fujiwara, earning his first start and second professional appearance. Academy midfielder Kaoru Fujiwara made his third appearance of the season as a second-half substitute.

Revolution II goalkeeper Keegan Meyer made his professional debut, starting in goal for New England. The goalkeeper was selected 43^rd overall by the Revolution in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

“We just have to keep learning every single day,” said Revolution II forward Mayele Malango. “As the coaches say in the locker room we have to keep learning new roles on the team. So I feel like it’s important that we all adjust and work together as a team to help each other out and we’ll go from there.”

New England will play a pair of contests this week, starting with a Wednesday night contest at home against Greenville Triumph at 7 p.m. ET followed by a trip to face Chattanooga Red Wolves SC on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Both matches will stream live on ESPN+ in the United States and YouTube internationally.

New England Revolution II 1, Richmond Kickers 2
August 21, 2020 – Gillette (Foxborough, Mass.)

Malango off the Mark for the 2020 Season

• Forward Mayele Malango scored his first professional goal on Friday night with an assist from defender Ryan Spaulding.
• The Salem, Mass. native entered the game in the 61^st minute and finished with the night with 20 touches, completing five of his eight passes.

Quartet of First-Team Players See Action

• First team players Collin Verfurth, Nicolas Firmino, Isaac Angking, and Damian Rivera all started Friday’s contest for New England.
• Verfurth put in another 90-minute shift, donning the captain’s armband and leading the defense with four clearances and seven interceptions while completing a game-high 65 of 74 passes.
• Firmino completed 89.1% of his passes on the night while attempting two shots, and completed a game-high 36 passes in the opposing half.

Pair of Academy Players Earn Starting Nods

• Bedford, N.H. product Colby Quinones earned the start at right back for the second consecutive week and was joined by Revolution U-19 teammate and midfielder Hikaru Fujiwara (Lexington, Mass.) making his second appearance of the season.
• Quinones, who is a member of the Revolution Academy’s residency program, led New England with two blocked shots and recorded a shot on target.

Keegan Meyer Makes Revolution II Debut in Goal

• Goalkeeper Keegan Meyer made his professional debut on Friday night, starting for the first time and making three saves.
• Meyer was selected 43^rd overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft after a spectacular collegiate career at High Point University where he was a four-year starter.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Hao Zhong
Assistant Referees: Tom Felice (AR1), Sean Lyons (AR2)
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
Weather: 80 degrees and partly cloudy

Scoring Summary:
RIC – Emiliano Terzaghi 53’
NE – Mayele Malango (Ryan Spaulding) 71’
RIC – Ryley Kraft (Jonathan Bolanos) 82’

Misconduct Summary:
RIC – Gianluca Cuomo (Yellow Card- Unsporting Behavior) 69’
NE – Tiago Mendonca (Yellow Card- Unsporting Behavior) 78’

New England Revolution II: Keegan Meyer; Colby Quinones, Collin Verfurth ©, Jon Bell, Ryan Spaulding; Maciel, Nicolas Firmino, Hikaru Fujiwara (Tiago Mendonca 61’); Damian Rivera (Mayele Malango 61’), Orlando Sinclair (Connor Presley 77’), Isaac Angking (Kaoru Fujiwara 77’).

Substitutes Not Used: Joe Rice, Nathan Metsack, Ryo Shimazaki.

Richmond Kickers: Akira Fitzgerald; Scott Thomsen, Kyle Venter ©, Ivan Magalhaes, Ian Antley; Ryley Kraft, Victor Falck, Matthew Bolduc, Emiliano Terzaghi (Wahab Ackwei 90’+1), Mutaya Mwape (Jonathan Bolanos 66’); Luke Pavone (Gianluca Cuomo 66’).

Substitutes Not Used: Lee Johnston; Hassan Pinto, Charles Boateng, Gregory Boehme.