The 2024 season may be in the books for the New England Revolution, but for the three young Revs players out on loan both near and far, there is still important soccer in store.
The USL Championship regular season has wrapped for the year, but both Damian Rivera and Jack Panayotou are looking forward to playoff action kicking off this weekend with the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Rhode Island FC, respectively. Meanwhile, the Premier League 2 campaign is still in its early stages for Noel Buck and the Southampton U-21 side, although injury may see the Arlington, Mass. native sidelined for the coming weeks.
Rivera has been with Tampa Bay for the entire 2024 season, joining on loan back in February, and the 21-year-old has certainly done his part to make the most of his time in the Sunshine State. The Cranston, R.I. native only featured in the starting lineup five times for the Rowdies in USL Championship play, but Rivera made plenty of appearances from the bench, ending the season as one of only two players across the entire roster to feature in all 34 of Tampa Bay’s regular season matches.
And Rivera was efficient with the chances he was given to shine on the field. His six league goals on the season were third in the squad, with his 0.53 goals per 90 minutes putting him tied for second in the team according to FBRef, level with forward Cal Jennings and only slightly behind the 0.58 G/90 of forward Manuel Arteaga. The young loanee also chipped in with three assists in the league, as well as one goal and one assist in U.S. Open Cup action, both coming in a swashbuckling 6-4 win over Birmingham Legion FC.
Fresh off a 3-0 home triumph over Indy Eleven, Rivera and the Rowdies will travel to face Detroit City FC for their single-elimination quarterfinal this Saturday, November 2, at 7 p.m. ET, with streaming available via ESPN+.
Panayotou’s season has been a bit more hectic; the young winger was originally loaned to Rhode Island FC in May before a spate of injuries in the Revolution first team necessitated his recall, but the 20-year-old was able to rejoin RIFC on loan from the end of August. Over a total of 11 appearances for the Ocean State side, eight of them starts, Panayotou has notched three assists, including one in RIFC’s 8-1 thrashing of Miami FC this past Saturday to close out their regular season campaign.
Like Rivera, Panayotou has been efficient with his attacking output. His 0.38 assists per 90 minutes leads the Rhode Island squad among players with at least 10 appearances according to FBRef, edging out star forward Noah Fuson’s 0.37 A/90. Those helpers, of course, come in addition to the goal he scored while back with the Revs in July, the first of his first-team career to seal a Leagues Cup group-stage win over LIGA MX side Mazatlán FC.
Enjoying a six-match unbeaten run (4-0-2) to close their inaugural regular season, RIFC will face Indy Eleven in Indianapolis for their East quarterfinal, this Sunday, November 3, with a kickoff time still to be announced and streaming again available on ESPN+.
Only leaving on loan at the very end of August, Buck didn’t take long to earn his place in the Southampton U-21 squad; his first appearance came on September 13 against the West Bromwich Albion U-21’s in the Premier League Cup, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2-2 draw. In all, the young Buck has tallied five appearances for the Saints, all starts, across both Premier League 2 and the Premier League Cup, but he is yet to get his name on the scoresheet in terms of either goals or assists.
Unfortunately, the midfielder seems to have picked up an injury in Southampton’s 4-1 PLC win over Fleetwood Town on October 18, being subbed off late into first-half stoppage time and missing out on the matchday squad for the Saints’ October 25 PL2 loss to Crystal Palace and October 29 victory over RB Leipzig U-21’s in the Premier League International Cup.
With only seven PL2 matches played so far this season, the Southampton U-21s find themselves comfortably midtable, sitting 15th of 26 clubs on 10 points (3-3-1), only eight points behind Manchester City at the top of the table. Their next league clash comes at home this Friday, November 1, against Brighton and Hove Albion.
