Revs Go Down 3-2 But Fagundez Shines In His Debut

The New England Revolution were in action Saturday night against Chivas USA (7-8-8, 29 points) at Gillette Stadium. The Revs would fall for the second time this season to Chivas. However, this game will be remembered for the debut of 16 year old home grown Revs player Diego Fagundez who made a huge impact. The Revs go down 3-2 to Chivas USA, but Fagundez shined in his debut.

The New England Revolution (4-10-9, 21 points) came out strong in the early stages of the match. In the 6th minute, Shalrie Joseph chipped a beautiful ball to Ryan Cochrane who was right in front of Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy. Unfortunately, his header just went wide of the net. The Revs missed a golden opportunity to get up in this game.

The first half was end to end action with wide open play. The Revs definitely got a boost up front from their new designated player Milton Caraglio who was making his debut. He was a physical force up front, and could give a different dimension to the play in the final third moving forward.

Even with the Revs looking pretty sharp at times in the first half, it would be the visitors who would strike first. In the 31st minute, Nick LaBrocca from the right side swung a wonderful ball into the middle of the box. Alejandro Moreno got his leg on the ball, and kicked it past Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis. The Revs were suddenly down 1-0. Chivas would go into the half with that same score.

The second half would begin with some sloppy defense by the Revs. In the 58th minute, Kevin Alston would give the ball away to a streaking Moreno. His rocket of a shot would be nicely saved by Reis.

However, Chivas would double their lead a minute later. La Brocca would have his shot blocked by Revs defender Darrius Barnes, but the ball would come right back to him. He would then shoot his second shot into the goal to give Chivas a 2-0 lead.

With the game looking lost, Coach Nicol made a change, and substituted Fagundez for Zack Schilawski in the 66th minute. Fagundez would take advantage of his first opportunity to play right away. He would dart into the box, and eventually be fouled by Heath Pierce. The referee pointed to the spot, and the Revs would have a penalty kick.

Joseph would take the kick, and drive it past Kennedy to cut the lead in half. The Revs were then trailing 2-1.

The Revs had a wonderful opportunity to draw even in the 79th minute. Off of a free kick by Chris Tierney, the ball would be headed by Stephen McCarthy who would get it right to Joseph, and his header was nicely saved by Kennedy.

This missed opportunity would definitely haunt the Revs. The very next minute, Moreno would beat the Revs defense once again, and extend the Chivas lead to 3-1.

To the Revs credit they did not give up. In fact they kept pushing forward. In the 86th minute, the Revs young striker brought the Revs closer in this match. Kevin Alston sent a long ball into the box. Fagundez would get around Chivas defender Zarek Valentin, and strike his first goal of his career by Kennedy. The Revs were fighting back, and then down 3-2 with less than 5 minutes left plus stoppage time.

Well, the Revs kept the heat coming in stoppage time. Joseph had a wonderful strike from 20 yards away that Kennedy deflected off of the post. Joseph would follow up seconds later with another header that would go over the net. Unfortunately, the Revs could not get the equalizer late in the match. Chivas USA would end up beating the Revs 3-2.

This season has been a disappointment. However, I see glimpses of better times to come. The Revs have added two players that could really help in the upcoming matches this season, and hopefully in future seasons to come.

However, this match was the coming out party for Fagundez. He did not look intimidated at all once entering the game. In fact, he looked like he had natural instincts to be a real goal scorer. He is only 16 years old, and his future, along with the Revs could shine very bright.

Fagundez and the Revs will next be in action on Saturday August 13th against the Columbus Crew. They will be on the road to play at Crew Stadium with a start time of 7:30 EST.

New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Darius Barnes, Ryan Cochrane (Pat Phelan 81), Shalrie Joseph, Stephen McCarthy, Chris Tierney, Zack Schilawski (Diego Fagundez 66), Benny Feilhaber, Sainey Nyassi, Milton Caraglio (Kenny Mansally 62)