FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution II (11-10-4, 37 pts.) defeated Forward Madison FC (6-6-11, 29 pts.) on Tuesday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, 1-0, in the final home match of the regular season. Justin Rennicks put New England in front with a ninth-minute flick over Madison goalkeeper Phil Breno, courtesy of Maciel’s first career assist.
"I thought we created a number of good chances and that was a positive in a tough game," said Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay. "So, all I can say is in games like that, you want to try to put those chances away and make it a bit more comfortable down the end of the game.”
Maciel, playing in just his second game this season with Revolution II in addition to 17 appearances with New England’s MLS side, broke the deadlock early in the match with a ball over the top to Justin Rennicks, who finished over the oncoming keeper and into an empty net for the early lead.
Revolution II had several chances to double the advantage, with Edward Kizza seeing close-range opportunities late in the first half and again midway through the second half. New England goalkeeper Joe Rice picked up his eighth clean sheet, five of which have come at home, making three saves.
“I would say it’s just putting high standards on yourself, but realizing you know you can’t control everything," said Rice. "I think for me, as a mentality and as a goalkeeper, it’s kind of easy – keep the ball out of the net. And I have to give a shout out to the guys in front of me, because they’ve been helping me out along the way. It’s not just me. It is all 10 people in front of me as well.”
Three Revolution Academy graduates started the contest for New England – Rennicks, Damian Rivera, and Meny Silva. In addition, five first-team players were named in Clint Peay’s starting lineup: Rennicks, Rivera, Maciel, Collin Verfurth, and Kizza. Fellow Academy alumni Colby Quiñones and Noel Buck appeared off the bench, as did current Academy midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic.
“I just think there’s a sense of understanding of what the moment means," said Peay. "There’s a little bit more discipline within the group, as we progress through the season. Some guys who were a little bit more offensive minded, now have better qualities about them defensively and do the work. So, that’s been hugely important.”
New England will embark on a three-game road swing to close the season, beginning on Saturday with a trip to face reigning USL League One champion Greenville Triumph SC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution II 1, Forward Madison FC 0
October 12, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
- New England Revolution II defeated Forward Madison FC on Tuesday, 1-0, improving their record to 11-10-4 (37 points) and lifting them into fourth place in the USL League One table.
- Revolution II closes its home slate for the 2021 regular season with an 8-4-2 mark at Gillette Stadium with a plus-five goal differential.
- New England closes the season series with Madison taking three out of four matches from the Flamingos in 2021 and leveling the all-time series at 3-3-0.
- Forward Justin Rennicks scored his fourth goal of the season early in the first half to give New England the lead. Rennicks also factored in defensively with two interceptions and six recoveries.
- Goalkeeper Joe Rice recorded his eighth clean sheet of the season, making three saves to reach 100 stops for his career. In 26 games with New England, Rice has posted a 12-8-6 record with 11 clean sheets and a 1.03 goals against average.
- Midfielder Maciel recorded his first professional assist on Rennicks’ first-half tally, completing 45 of his 51 passes, including two key passes, along with a team-high eight recoveries.
- Forward Edward Kizza registered a team-high three shots and added one key pass in a 90-minute shift.
- Defender Ryan Spaulding won a team-best nine duels to go along with six recoveries, two interceptions, and two tackles.
- Defender Pierre Cayet had team highs in blocked shots (2) and clearances (5) while adding six recoveries and six duels won.
- Midfielder Jake Rozhansky won five tackles, a team high, and also had two chances created and seven duels won.
- Forward Meny Silva made his first professional start on his 18th career appearance, completing all 13 of his passes while winning three of four duels.
- Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay made four changes to the Starting XI from New England’s last match on Oct. 1 vs. Forward Madison FC, with Sean O’Hearn, Maciel, Meny Silva, and Edward Kizza all starting in place of Colby Quiñones, Tyler Freitas, Noel Buck, and Esmir Bajraktarevic, respectively.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Luis Arroyo.
Assistant Referees: Ian Mangione (AR1); Alexandru Focea (AR2).
Fourth Official: Andre Carr.
Weather: 71 degrees and mostly sunny.
Scoring Summary:
NE – Justin Rennicks 4 (Maciel 1) 9’
Misconduct Summary:
MAD – Derek Gebhard (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 14’
NE – Joe Rice (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 31’
MAD – Justin Sukow (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 39’
NE – Jake Rozhansky (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 42’
NE – Pierre Cayet (Yellow Card – Unsporting Behavior) 46’
NE – Sean O’Hearn (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 58’
MAD – Tyler Allen (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 77’
NE – Edward Kizza (Yellow Card – Persistent Infringement) 89’
New England Revolution II: Joe Rice; Ryan Spaulding, Collin Verfurth, Pierre Cayet, Sean O’Hearn (Colby Quiñones 82’); Maciel, Jake Rozhansky ©, Meny Silva (Noel Buck 45’); Damian Rivera (François Dulysse 90’+1), Justin Rennicks (Esmir Bajraktarevic 75’), Edward Kizza.
Substitutes Not Used: Yannik Oettl, Tyler Freitas, Hikaru Fujiwara.
Forward Madison FC: Phil Breno; Eric Leonard, Connor Tobin ©, Cyrus Rad (Josiah Trimmingham 87’); Derek Gebhard (Carlos Gómez 71’), Audi Jepson (Christian Enriquez 63’), Aaron Molloy, Justin Sukow (Jesús Pérez 87’), Tyler Allen; Ryan Sierakowski, Jake Keegan (Noah Fuson 63’).
Substitutes Not Used: Aidan Hogan, Gustavo Fernandes.
