FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (7-7-1, 22 pts.) will look to extend the club’s winning streak to three games on Saturday, August 14 on the road at the Richmond Kickers (5-6-5, 20 pts.). Kickoff at City Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Revolution II is coming off its second consecutive victory, and third straight home win, after defeating North Carolina FC last Thursday at Gillette Stadium, 3-0. Damian Rivera scored his second game-winning goal of the season while Edward Kizza added his first two professional goals in the victory. The brace from Kizza was just the second multi-goal game in team history. Goalkeeper Joe Rice made three saves to record his fifth clean sheet of the 2021 campaign, tied for the league lead, and seventh shutout for Revs II this season.
Midfielder Damian Rivera took home USL League One Player of the Week honors for his performance in last week’s victory with his team-leading fourth goal of the season. The Revolution Homegrown Player recorded a game-high six shots on the night and was instrumental in the midfield, winning 12 of his 16 duels. In addition to his Player of the Week honor, Rivera was also named to the Week 18 USL League One Team of the Week along with Rice, Kizza, and Ryan Spaulding.
Saturday’s match will mark the third time New England has played Richmond this season, with the previous two meetings resulting in Kickers’ victories. Revolution II dropped their home opener on April 17, 3-0, to Richmond and lost a close contest on the road, 3-2, back on June 5. In the all-time series, New England is 1-3-0 against Richmond, with the lone victory coming last October on the road, 4-0, which still stands as Revolution II’s largest margin of victory to date.
Richmond is coming off a loss at Toronto FC II, 2-1, last Friday afternoon. The Kickers fell behind on an own goal before Nil Vinyals equalized from the penalty spot less than 10 minutes later. However, the Kickers could not find a way back as Antonio Carlini put the hosts ahead for good in the 69th minute.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Here are a few top storylines to watch for during Saturday’s contest:
- Revolution II winning a third straight match and extending their shutout streak, which currently sits at 195 minutes dating back to July 17. New England has won three of its last four games.
- Midfielder Jake Rozhansky completing over 90 percent of his passes for a 11th straight match. The Revolution II captain ranks among the top five in League One this season in passes attempted (3rd, 959), assists (3rd, 5) and chances created (4th, 27).
- Forward Edward Kizza making a fifth consecutive appearance with Revolution II, and sixth overall this season. The first-round 2021 MLS SuperDraft pick has played 389 minutes in USL League One and scored his first two professional goals in last week’s win.
- Defender Pierre Cayet returning to action and playing 10 minutes to surpass 1,000 minutes played in their first professional seasons.
- Goalkeeper Joe Rice making his sixth consecutive appearance and first against his former club. Rice ranks second in USL League One’s Golden Glove race with an 0.89 goals against average and leads USL League One with five shutouts on the year.
- Defender Ryan Spaulding setting a new career high with his 16th appearances of the season. Spaulding has been named to the USL League One Team of the Week five out of the last seven weeks.
- Defender Francois Dulysse possibly seeing action with Revolution II for the first time since June. Dulysse was called into Gold Cup duty, making his senior international debut for Haiti.
Match #16: Revolution II vs. Richmond Kickers
Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Social: @NERevolution2, #NERevsII, #RICvNE
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Streaming: ESPN+ (National) / YouTube (International)
Talent: Ross Devonport (play-by-play)
