FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (7-8-3, 24 pts.) will close out a two-game week at home, hosting South Georgia Tormenta FC (7-11-3) for the first time at Gillette Stadium. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN+.
Revolution II fell on Wednesday night at home to FC Tucson, 2-1. Forward Damian Rivera, a local product from Cranston, R.I., scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Fellow Revolution Academy product Hikaru Fujiwara supplied the assist on Rivera’s tally, his third helper of the season. In net, New England goalkeeper Yannik Oettl became the 30th player in team history to make his professional debut with Revolution II since the club began play in 2020. The Munich, Germany native, who was a three-time American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year during his collegiate career at the University of Central Florida, made four saves in his first pro start.
New England remains entrenched in a tight battle for playoff positioning, with one point separating the third through 11th positions in the USL League One standings. After Wednesday’s defeat, New England sits in eighth place with 24 points, one point below the playoff line with 10 games remaining.
Revolution II will be without defender François Dulysse, who received a call up to the Haiti Men’s National Team for a pair of international friendlies against Bahrain (Sept. 1) and Jordan (Sept. 4). Dulysse, 22, earned his second senior team call-up after representing Haiti at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. The defender made his international debut with a start in a group stage match against Canada, playing 78 minutes.
Tormenta FC and New England met back on Aug. 21 in Statesboro, Ga., with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw. Edward Kizza, a nominee for USL League One Player of the Month for August, scored the lone goal for New England, his fourth of the season. Just 12 minutes later, Luca Mayr-Fälten equalized, squeezing in a shot from a tight angle. Sunday night’s matchup marks the close of the season series as South Georgia makes its first ever trip to Foxborough.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Here are a few top storylines to watch on Sunday.
- Midfielder Hikaru Fujiwara recording an assist for a third straight home match. The 17-year-old has played in 16 matches this season and has four career assists with Revolution II>
- Forward and Homegrown Player Damian Rivera potentially making his 30th pro appearance with Revolution II. Rivera has started 24 games and is the team’s all-time leader in goals with seven.
- Revolution Academy midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic making a third consecutive appearance after making his professional debut at Tormenta FC on Aug. 21.
- Defender Ryan Spaulding potentially making his 30th start for Revolution II, becoming the first player to reach that mark. Spaulding is the team’s all-time leader in minutes played with 2,616.
- Forward Connor Presley potentially playing 40 minutes to reach 1,000 for the season and just eight more minutes to surpass 2,000 minutes played in his Revolution II career.
- Defender Pierre Cayet potentially returning to action after suffering an injury on Aug. 14 at Richmond. Cayet has started 12 times and scored two goals for New England.
Match #19: Revolution II vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC
Date: Sunday, September 5, 2021
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Streaming: ESPN+ (National) / YouTube (International)
Talent: Joe Malfa (play-by-play)
Social: @NERevolution2, #NERevsII, #NEvTRM
