Damian Rivera showed some of the reasons the New England Revolution signed the 17-year-old to a Homegrown Player contract last November, pouncing for an early brace in a 3-1 preseason victory over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday afternoon at the Dignity Health Sports Park complex.
Tajon Buchanan also scored for the Revs in their first preseason victory. New England center back Michael Mancienne was forced to exit 17 minutes after he came on during a herd of substitutions in the 60th minute, taking a "knock" according to the club's Twitter account. He was previously unavailable for the Revs' preseason opener against the LA Galaxy on Monday.
Jonathan Lewis picked up a consolation goal for the Rapids three minutes before his afternoon ended in the Rapids' second consecutive preseason defeat to MLS opposition.
The only two players going more than 60 minutes were the Revs' DeJuan Jones, who played the full 90, and his teammate Andrew Farrell, who played 73 minutes after returning late to spell the injured Mancienne.
Goals
- 7' - NE - Damian Rivera
- 19' - NE - Damian Rivera
- 53' - NE - Tajon Buchanan
- 57' - COL - Jonathan Lewis
Lineups
New England Revolution (4-2-3-1): Brad Knighton (Jeff Caldwell 60') - Simon Lekressner (Seth Sinovic 60'), Henry Kessler (Brandon Bye 60'), Andrew Farrell (Michael Mancienne 60', Andrew Farrell 77'), DeJuan Jones - Damian Rivera (Kelyn Rowe 60'), Scott Caldwell (Wilfried Zahibo 60') - Isaac Angking (Nicolas Firmino 30', Diego Fagundez 60'), Justin Rennicks (Cristian Penilla 60'), Tajon Buchanan (Gustavo Bou 60') - Teal Bunbury (Adam Buksa 60)
Colorado Rapids (4-3-3): Andre Rawls (Clint Irwin 46') - Jeremy Kelly (Keegan Rosenberry 60'), Danny Wilson (Lalas Abubakar 60'), Auston Trusty (Drew Moor 60'), Deklan Wynne (Sam Vines 60') - Nicolas Mezquida (Younes Namli 60'), Braden Fidelak (Jack Price 46'), Cole Bassett (Kellyn Acosta 60') - Andre Shinyashiki (Sam Nicholson 60'), Diego Rubio (Sebastian Anderson 30', Kei Kamara 60'), Jonathan Lewis (Nicolas Benezet 60').
