CARSON, Calif. – The New England Revolution continued the 2020 preseason with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on the grounds of Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. on Wednesday. Revolution Academy product Damian Rivera tallied a pair of first-half goals, and Tajon Buchanan added a third in the second half to secure the Revs’ first win of preseason.
Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena selected a starting lineup that included four Revolution Academy products, including Rivera, who played 60 minutes in his first appearance of the preseason. The Cranston, R.I. native opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he tapped in a cross from DeJuan Jones. The 17-year-old then doubled the Revs’ lead in the 19th minute, stealing the ball from a Rapids defender and firing past goalkeeper Andre Rawls.
In the second half, Buchanan put New England ahead 3-0 in the 53rd minute with a cool finish into the bottom-left corner, again assisted by Jones, who was the only Revolution player to go the full 90 minutes. Colorado pulled one back in the 57th minute to close the gap to two, but goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell made a pair of diving saves in the 63rd and 65th minutes to preserve the scoreline. Caldwell and Brad Knighton split time in net, as Knighton earned the start and played a scoreless 45 minutes.
The Revolution will continue training in Los Angeles through Friday, when the team will travel to Portland, Ore. for a preseason tournament hosted by the Portland Timbers. New England will play three preseason matches in Portland: Feb. 16 vs. Minnesota United FC (5:30 p.m. ET), Feb. 19 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8:00 p.m. ET), and Feb. 22 against the host Portland Timbers (8:00 p.m. ET). All three matches in Portland will be streamed live on Revolutionsoccer.net.
New England Revolution 3, Colorado Rapids 1
February 12, 2020 – Carson, Calif.
Scoring Summary:
NE – Damian Rivera (DeJuan Jones) 7’
NE – Damian Rivera (Unassisted) 19’
NE – Tajon Buchanan (DeJuan Jones) 53’
COL – Jonathan Lewis (Sebastian Anderson) 57’
Misconduct Summary:
None
New England Revolution: Brad Knighton (Jeff Caldwell HT); Simon Lekressner (Brandon Bye 60’), Henry Kessler (Seth Sinovic 60’), Andrew Farrell (Michael Mancienne 60’; Farrell 77’), DeJuan Jones; Isaac Angking (Nicolas Firmino 30’), Scott Caldwell (Wilfried Zahibo 60’), Tajon Buchanan (Diego Fagundez 60’); Justin Rennicks (Kelyn Rowe 60’), Teal Bunbury (Gustavo Bou 60’), Damian Rivera (Adam Buksa 60’)
Colorado Rapids: Andre Rawls (Clint Irwin HT); Jeremy Kelly (Keegan Rosenberry 60’), Danny Wilson (Lalas Abubakar 60’), Auston Trusty (Drew Moor 60’), Deklyn Wynne (Sam Vines 60’), Nicolas Mezquida (Younes Namli 60’), Braden Fidalek (Jack Price HT), Cole Bassett (Kellyn Acosta 60’), Andre Shinyashiki (Sam Nicholson 60’), Diego Rubio (Sebastian Anderson 30’; Nicolas Benezet 60’; Jonathan Lewis 74’), Jonathan Lewis (Kei Kamara 60’)
