FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution Reserves and the Colorado Rapids Reserves played to a 1-1 draw at the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Sunday morning.
In a scoreless first half, during which the Rapids held the edge in time of possession, the Revolution managed just three shots to the Rapids' eight. New England made a good move in the 16th minute when defender Joe Franchino played a ball to midfielder Cássio on the left flank. Cássio was then able to elude an attempted tackle by Colorado defender Jacob Traeger with a quick step-over move, before playing a left-footed cross for an unmarked Jamie Holmes, but the Rapids' 6'5"goalkeeper Byron Foss was able to claim the ball out of the air easily.
The Revs had another opportunity in the 21st minute, when midfielder Ryan Latham carried the ball up the right flank and into the box, using his speed to elude two Rapid defenders. Latham then crossed the ball to midfielder Connally Edozien, who attempted to collect ball in front of the open net, but the ball took a high bounce off of Edozien's body and was cleared by the Colorado defense.
Colorado made their first good opportunity in the 30th minute, when forward Sasha Gotsmanov collected a cross from the right flank about ten yards from the net. Gotsmanov quickly settled the ball and took a hard shot at the net, but New England goalkeeper Doug Warren was able to punch it over the crossbar.
In the 37th minute, Cássio played a ball upfield to forward Khano Smith, who sent a quick touch up the left sideline to defender Marcos Romaneiro. Romaneiro then carried the ball up the line, dribbled a defender and delivered a long, left-footed cross, looking for a teammate beyond the far post, but no Revs were able to evade the Colorado defenders and the ball was cleared out to midfield.
In the 41st minute, Warren made another important save to keep the score knotted at 0-0. Gotsmanov was able to take the ball into the box get a hard shot off just feet from the goal line, but Warren stretched his body to make a low, diving save to his left.
Though the Rapids continued to control the tempo into the second half, New England was first to get on the board. In the 49th minute, the Revs' Smith took a hard shot directly in front of the Colorado net, which ricocheted off of Foss and rebounded back into the goalmouth. Edozien, streaking up the center channel, was able to get a first-time strike from seven yards out that beat the Colorado goalkeeper and gave New England the 1-0 lead.
New England led until the 71st minute, when former Revolution midfielder Leo Cullen played a cross from Colorado's right flank to Gotsmanov, who controlled the ball, then made a light touch to the center of the box, where forward Eugene Sepuya was making a run towards the net. Sepuya took a low, hard one-timer that beat the diving Warren to his right.
The hard-fought match ended 1-1, with five yellow cards handed out by referee Gus St. Silva, as well as 31 total fouls.
Scoring Summary:
NE - Edozien (Smith) 51'
COL - Sepuya (Gotsmanov) 71'
New England Reserves - Doug Warren, Marcos Romaneiro, Joe Franchino (Greg Lalas 58'), Easton Wilson, Cássio, Luke Vercollone, Connally Edozien, Ryan Latham (Roy Tewell 75'), Felix Brillant, Jamie Holmes, Khano Smith (T.J. Tomasso 58').
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 FOULS: 9 (Holmes 3) OFFSIDES: 1 (Latham) CORNER KICKS: 2 (Cássio, 2) SAVES: 7 (Warren, 7)
Colorado Reserves - Byron Foss, Dan Gargan, Hunter Freeman (Tim Garray 58'), Jeff Krause, Jacob Traeger, Marcus Sagastume, Leo Cullen (Bouna Coundoul 75'), Josh Elbaum, Alain Nkong, Sasha Gotsmanov, Eugene Sepuya..
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Gotsmanov, 4) SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Gotsmanov, 4) FOULS: 22 (Sepuya, Sagastume, Krause, 3) OFFSIDES: 3 (Sepuya, Nkong, Freeman, 1) CORNER KICKS: 7 (Nkong, 3) SAVES: 2 (Foss, 2)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
NE: Wilson (y - reckless foul) 25'; Brillant (y - 1B ) 30'; Edozien (y - reckless foul) 66'
COL: Krause (y - 1C) 54'; Gargan (y - reckless foul) 90'
Referee: Gus St. Silva
Referee's Assistants: Victor Matheson, Jonathan Simm
4th Official: Russ Wolf
Attendance: N/A
Time of Game: 1:41
Weather: Cloudy, 65 degrees
