FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (June 15, 2024) – The New England Revolution (5-10-1; 16 pts.) defeated Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8-4-5; 29 pts.), 3-2, on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, marking the team’s third consecutive win and second straight victory at home. Two Homegrown players tallied in the match, with midfielder Noel Buck tallying his fifth career goal to open the scoring, and Esmir Bajraktarević scoring the winner for his second goal in as many appearances. Giacomo Vrioni recorded the Revolution’s second goal of the match, his third of the season.
New England opened the scoring early with a perfectly placed goal from Buck in the seventh minute, the second-fastest tally of the season for the Revolution. The Arlington, Mass. native, who returned from international duty with England’s Elite League Squad this week, opened his 2024 account. After Vancouver equalized in the 13th minute, Vrioni netted a left-footed strike to restore New England’s lead. Vrioni converted on assists from Dylan Borrero and Carles Gil. Gil now has a helper in three consecutive games, four on the season, while Borrero has registered an assist in two of his last three games.
Bajraktarević added to the lead in the 39th minute with an unassisted goal that looped over Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka’s head for the winning tally. The 19-year-old Homegrown player, who returned to the club earlier this week from international duty with the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team, has now scored in consecutive MLS appearances for the first time in his career. With Buck and Bajraktarević both finding the back of the net, it marked the first time New England had two Revolution Academy products score in the same MLS game since 2017, and the second time in team history that two teenagers scored in the same MLS match. Tonight’s victory also marked the first time the Revolution scored three goals in the first half since Sept. 29, 2021.
Vancouver closed the scoring shortly before the final whistle with a knuckling shot, as New England held on through the final moments of stoppage time to secure the 3-2 result. With the win, goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič improved his record with New England to 4-3-0 with his six-save performance. Left back DeJuan Jones featured in the starting lineup for the fourth consecutive match, while center back Xavier Arreaga logged his eighth consecutive start. Head Coach Caleb Porter improved his all-time record against Vancouver to 9-4-7, as the Revolution have now won five of seven all-time home meetings against Vancouver.
New England hits the road next weekend to take on FC Cincinnati on Saturday, June 22 at TQL Stadium. The 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff airs live on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish. Listen to the Revolution’s local radio calls on 98.5 The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM), with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies, and on 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
TEAM NOTES
- New England earned a third straight victory in league play and its second win at home, improving to 4-5-1 at Gillette Stadium this season
- The Revolution extended its unbeaten streak against Vancouver to six matches (4-0-2), improving their all-time record vs. Whitecaps FC to 6-2-4, including 5-1-1 at home.
- New England is unbeaten over its last 11 matches in the month of June (8-0-3) dating back to 2021.
- Saturday marked the first time New England scored three goals in the first half of a match since September 29, 2021, at CF Montreal.
- For the second time in Revolution history, two teenagers scored goals in the same match with Esmir Bajraktarević and Noel Buck each notching first-half strikes. The last time two teenage players scored in the same match for New England Saturday’s contest, was April 9, 2008 in a 3-1 (Sainey Nyassi and Abdoulie Mansally).
- Two different Revolution Homegrown players tallied goals in the same MLS match for the first time since May 13, 2017 against Real Salt Lake (Scott Caldwell and Diego Fagundez).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Noel Buck, making his return from international duty, made his first start since April 20 in place of an injured Mark-Anthony Kaye (late injury scratch – knee).
- Buck (19 years and 71 days) scored his first goal of the season, becoming the youngest player since Diego Fagundez (18 years, 71 days) to score five MLS goals for the Revolution.
- Giacomo Vrioni scored his third goal of the regular season and finished the night with four shots and two chances created.
- Dylan Borrero was credited with an assist on Vrioni’s goal, his second of the season and the fifth of his MLS career. Borrero set a new career high with five shots, including two on target.
- Carles Gil recorded an assist for the third straight match, his fourth helper of the campaign. The Spaniard finished the night with a team-high five key passes.
- This marks the eighth time in his MLS career that Carles Gil has registered an assist in three or more consecutive matches, last doing so from June 10-24, 2023.
- Esmir Bajraktarević has tallied a goal in consecutive appearances for the first time in his MLS career. The 19-year-old also returned to the club after missing last weekend’s contest due to international duty for the United States’ final pre-Olympic training camp.
- Aljaž Ivačič improved to 4-3-0 on the season with his third straight victory, recording six saves.
New England Revolution 3 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
June 15, 2024 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Natalie Simon
Assistant Referee: Jose Da Silva (AR1), Chris Elliott (AR2)
Fourth Official: Marcos DeOliveira
Video Assistant Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schaap
Weather: 76 degrees and sunny
Attendance: 27,078
Scoring Summary:
NE – Noel Buck 1 (Unassisted) 7’
VAN – Ryan Gauld 8 (Javain Brown 1, Ranko Veselinovic 3) 13’
NE – Giacomo Vrioni 3 (Dylan Borrero 2, Carles Gil 4) 21’
NE – Esmir Bajraktarević 2 (Unassisted) 39’
VAN – Ryan Gauld 9 (Ralph Priso 4) 90’+3
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Xavier Arreaga (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 29’
VAN – Fafa Picault (Yellow Card – Tactical Foul) 89’
VAN – Sebastian Berhalter (Yellow Card – Hard Foul) 90’+2
New England Revolution: Aljaž Ivačič; DeJuan Jones, Xavier Arreaga, Dave Romney, Nick Lima; Noel Buck (Andrew Farrell 71’), Esmir Bajraktarević (Emmanuel Boateng 86’), Carles Gil ©, Ian Harkes; Giacomo Vrioni, Dylan Borrero.
Substitutes Not Used: Earl Edwards Jr., Henry Kessler, Jack Panayotou, Peyton Miller, Jonathan Mensah.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Yohei Takaoka; Ranko Veselinovic, Bjørn Utvik, Javain Brown; Ryan Raposo (Giuseppe Bovalina 60’), Luis Martins (Levonte Johnson 79’), Sebastian Berhalter, Pedro Vite (Ralph Priso 90’+2); Damir Kreilach (Fafa Picault 46’), Brian White, Ryan Gould ©.
Substitutes Not Used: Mathias Laborda, Tristan Blackman, Belal Halbouni, Isaac Boehmer, Jeevan Badwal.
