TUCSON, Arizona (Wednesday, February 17, 2016) – Through the first four matches of preseason, Real Salt Lake had played to 1-0 games four times with two wins and two losses in those matches. On Wednesday at Kino North Stadium, that trend was snapped wildly in a 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution.
Down a man and two goals in the 48th minute, RSL rallied back behind goals from MF Javier Morales, DF Jamison Olave and FW Olmes Garcia, but couldn’t hang on for the win as Charlie Davies scored the second of two goals on the night to end things with a 3-3 tally.
Real Salt Lake got the first scoring chance in the fifth minute as New England was in a bit of disarray after a free kick from long range. FW Yura Movsisyan got his left boot to a ball, but missed it high.
New England responded in the seventh minute as Juan Agudelo got in position to score, but GK Nick Rimando made a reaction save to keep the Revs off the board.
In the 13th minute, the Revolution broke through on a goal from Michael Gamble. Kelyn Rowe played the ball in behind RSL’s defense and while DF Tony Beltran gave chase, Gamble was able to thump a shot inside the near post for a 1-0 lead.
New England nearly added to the lead in the 25th minute on a free kick just outside the box, but Lee Nguyen’s effort struck the crossbar and Agudelo’s putback attempt on a bicycle kick missed well over the top and Salt Lake dodged the bullet.
RSL nearly found the equalizer in the 31st minute after Morales picked off a misplayed ball from Jose Goncalves. Morales carried into the attack and played it wide to FW Joao Plata. At the edge of the 18, he fired a shot, but missed just beyond the far post for a goal kick and the score remained 1-0.
Another near miss came in the 44th minute. Plata sent a corner kick in from the right side and found Olave for a header that was headed wide, but it glanced off the head of Movsisyan and went just over the crossbar.
When things restarted for the second half, the Revolution got off to the races. On a ball over the top, Davies got in behind the defense, rounded Rimando and fired a shot that caught the hand of DF Aaron Maund, drawing a whistle for a penalty and an ejection to Maund for the handball preventing the goal.
Davies converted the PK, blasting to Rimando’s left while the goalkeeper dove right and the Revolution took a 2-0 lead.
Playing with 10 men, RSL still managed to pull a goal back in the 54th minute through a penalty of their own. Plata got into the box up the left side and was brought down by Darrius Barnes for a penalty. Morales scored on the PK, hesitating on his run up and putting his shot inside the right post to cut the lead in half at 2-1.
While Salt Lake opened up play while down a man, it took nearly 10 minutes before New England got another scoring chance, as Davies put his 18-yard blast just wide.
On the other end, a pair of RSL opportunities were defended well as Movsisyan fielded a pass from Plata just inside the spot, but the shot was blocked off his foot. After RSL kept possession, Beltran chipped a ball for Movsisyan at the far post, but Brad Knighton got a fingertip to it to keep it away from the striker.
The equalizer came in the 68th minute as Olave rose up for a header, nodding in a cross from the left side and putting it inside the right post for the goal to make it 2-2.
RSL very nearly snatched the lead in the 72nd minute when Garcia won the ball off of Sambinha and raced into the box. Sambinha recovered and Garcia dropped the ball back to Morales for a shot that thumped into the chest of Knighton for the save.
The comeback was completed in the 77th minute when Garcia fought for another loose ball, this time at the top of the 18. DF Justen Glad kept play alive and Garcia fired a shot past Knighton for the 3-2 advantage.
The lead didn’t last long as Davies scored his second goal of the night, taking possession just outside the box and ripping it into the net to make it 3-3 in the 84th minute. The equalizer came just after New England defender London Woodberry was ejected after receiving his second yellow card in just a two-minute stretch for fouls of Plata.
In the 90th minute, Plata blistered a shot from the left side, but Knighton made the stop to keep the match level and that’s how the match would close as RSL moved to 2-2-1 in preseason.
Real Salt Lake’s final preseason match is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT at Kino Sports Complex against Columbus Crew SC. The match will be streamed live on RSL.com.
REAL SALT LAKE 3-2 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
Tucson, Arizona
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 3 3
New England Revolution 1 2 3
Scoring Summary:
NE: Michael Gamble (Kelyn Rowe) 13’
NE: Charlie Daives (PK) 48’
RSL: Javier Morales (PK) 54’
RSL: Jamison Olave (Javier Morales) 68’
RSL: Olmes Garcia (Justen Glad) 77’
NE: Charlie Davies 84’
Discipline Summary:
RSL: Javier Morales (Caution; Persistent Infringement) 23’
RSL: Aaron Maund (Ejection; Handball) 47’
NE: London Woodberry (Caution; Persistent Infringement) 81’
NE: London Woodberry (Caution; Foul) 83’
NE: London Woodberry (Ejection; Second Yellow) 83’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-3-3): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Aaron Maund, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman, Sunday Stephen Obayan (Justen Glad, 52’), Javier Morales; Juan Manuel Martinez, Yura Movsisyan (Olmes Garcia, 69’), Joao Plata.
New England Revolution (4-3-3): Bobby Shuttleworth (Brad Knighton, 46’); Jordan McCrary (London Woodberry, 46’), Jose Goncalves (Darrius Barnes, 46’), Andrew Farrell (Sambinha, 46’), Jeb Brovsky (David Addy, 46’); Gershon Koffie (Scott Caldwell, 46’; Tyler Rudy, 78’), Kelyn Rowe (Daigo Kobayashi, 46’; Zachary Herivaeux, 78’), Lee Nguyen (Steve Neumann, 46’); Michael Gamble (Teal Bunbury, 46’), Juan Agudelo (Charlie Davies, 46’), Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Diego Fagundez, 46’).
