PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico - Taylor Twellman scored four goals, including three in the second half, as the New England Revolution upended Inter Playa del Carmen, 7-0, on Tuesday evening. Adam Cristman, Khano Smith and Willie Sims rounded out the scoring as the Revs improved to 3-0 in preseason matches this season.
The Revs had the better of play on the evening, and held the physical edge throughout the match against the club from Mexico's Segunda Division. Inter made few forays into its attacking third, and its best chances came on a pair of free kicks that both sailed high of target.
Twellman began the scoring in the 14th minute when he converted off a corner kick. After Steve Ralston's service from the right side bounced around, the ball found Shalrie Joseph near the center edge of the penalty area and he headed the ball to the left post where Jay Heaps sent a diving header toward the right post. Twellman met the ball at the far post and punched it into the net, putting the Revs up 1-0.
Minutes later in the 22nd minute, Cristman gave the edge a 2-0 lead when he controlled a long pass on the left side out of the midfield from Joseph and shot to the far post past Inter goalkeeper Luis Guirola from 15 yards out. Smith sent the Revs into the intermission ahead three goals when he connected with James Riley's long pass from the backfield, headed the ball down to himself, dribble ran several yards before shooting toward the far post from 12 yards past Inter's diving keeper in the 43rd minute.
At the half, Inter changed nine of its 11 players on the field, including inserting goalkeeper Carlos Castro in net, while Revolution head coach Steve Nicol kept his starting 11 on the field.
Just eight minutes into the second half - in the 53rd minute - Twellman notched his second goal of the evening with a spectacular effort. Ralston ran deep into the right corner and whipped a cross to Twellman in the middle of the penalty area. Twellman, back to goal, took the ball against two defenders and created space for himself before he turned and shot toward the left post past Castro for a 4-0 Revs lead.
After a Jeff Larentowicz tackle at midfield spurred pushing and shoving between both teams in the 56th minute, the sides were forced to play with 10 men each when Larentowicz and Inter's Nazario Flores were each shown red cards. Larentowicz was cautioned for the tackle and the ejected for dissent, and Flores had been carded two minutes earlier after his hard tackle on Twellman outside the penalty area before being shown his second card of the evening during the ruckus.
With more space on the field, Twellman took advantage again in the 62nd minute, running onto Smith's lofted cross from the left and slotting it past Castro. Eight minutes later in the 70th minute, Twellman completed his scoring effort with his fourth of the evening. Smith collected a long Joseph pass from the center circle and ran toward the left corner. His cross to the far post met Cristman, who headed the ball to Twellman at the penalty spot. Twellman left-footed a first-time blast to push the score to 6-0.
Willie Sims and Chris Loftus, who came on for Twellman and Cristman in the 67th minute, combined for the Revs' seventh and final goal in the 85th minute. Loftus dribble ran toward the penalty area from the right corner and sent a through pass that split two defenders to Sims, who sent a hard shot into the upper netting from seven yards out.
Inter Playa del Carmen had few chances on the evening, with their biggest threats coming off free kicks at the end of both the first and second halves. In both cases, the shots were high of frame. Matt Reis recorded his first shutout of the preseason, making three saves, all on shots from long distance.
The Revolution will continue its eight-day preseason training trip based in Cancun, Mexico, and will conclude the trip with a match against Pioneros de Cancun, another Segunda Division squad, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 15.
Scoring Summary
NE - Taylor Twellman (Jay Heaps, Shalrie Joseph) 14
NE - Adam Cristman (Shalrie Joseph) 22
NE - Khano Smith (James Riley) 43
NE - Twellman (Steve Ralston) 53
NE - Twellman (Smith) 62
NE - Twellman (Cristman, Smith) 70
NE - Willie Sims (Chris Loftus) 85
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Avery John, James Riley, Jay Heaps, Khano Smith, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Steve Ralston (Wells Thompson 68), Andy Dorman (Joe Franchino 75), Adam Cristman (Chris Loftus 77), Taylor Twellman (Willie Sims 77)
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Amaechi Igwe, Tony Lochhead, Marshall Leonard, Miguel Gonzalez, Ryan Solle
Inter Playa del Carmen: Luis Guirola (Carlos Castro 46), Fernando Fernandez (Hector Chavez 46), Peter Thelemaque (Edgar Cruz 46), Fernando Montes De Oca (Nazario Flores 46, Elias Bermudez 65) Carlos Alonzo (Cesar Alvarez 59), Hugo Canul (Alvaro Vanegas 46), Jose Ramirez (David Rosas 46), , Ember Ballinas (Alvaro Palma 59), Alejandro Pierce (Manuel Mayorga 46), Daniel Salazar (Rodrigo Salinas 46), Francisco Herrea (Jose Jonguitud 46)
Substitues Not Used: Benjamin Pliego, Johnathan Diego, Salvado Hernandez
Misconduct Summary:
Inter - N. Flores (caution) 54
Inter - N. Flores (ejection) 56
NE - Larentowicz (caution) 56
NE - Larentowicz (ejection) 56
NE - Joseph (caution) 56
NE - Franchino (ejection) 93+
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Clear, 72 degrees
NOTES
