Four days after defeating Real Salt Lake 2-1, the New England Revolution dropped a 2-0 result to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Octavio Rivero broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when he collected a Matias Laba pass and pushed the ball past goalkeeper Brad Knighton. Rivero doubled the lead five minutes later when he rounded Knighton after being played in on goal by Nicolas Mezquida.
From a Revs perspective, the story line of the day was the re-debut of Juan Agudelo. Agudelo replaced Charlie Davies at striker in the 30th minute, playing the reminder of the first half before coming off to complete fitness and finishing drills.
The Revolution, who are now 1-1-0 this preseason, will return home on Feb. 7 for a week of local training. Their next scheduled preseason game is on Feb. 18 as they are slated to face RSL to open play in the Desert Diamond Cup.
Here are a few thoughts from Wednesday's scrimmage:
- The result doesn’t matter. No one likes to see a 2-0 loss, but you have to remember that it’s preseason. Loaded with starters, the Revolution’s first-half lineup performed well, maintaining a scoreless draw. Hall was the only holdover from the first half as coach Jay Heaps introduced a host of reserves and trialists. While the Revs did have their chances, nothing materialized. That doesn't mean much, however, as the coaching staff is focused on providing players with opportunities and getting the team fit before the start of the regular season.
- Also, the Revs are missing important contributors. If the fact that it was a preseason game isn’t enough to calm your worries, let me remind you that Jermaine Jones, Lee Nguyen, and Diego Fagundez are away on international duty. Jones and Nguyen are guaranteed starters while Fagundez could experience a resurgence after a down year. Heaps may have used the same starting XI for two consecutive matches, but it certainly won't be he same lineup that faces the Seattle Sounders on Mar. 8.
- Jeremy Hall is making his case to be a starter. For the second straight game, Hall played significant minutes at right back. In the team’s first preseason match, Hall started against Real Salt Lake and was removed after 30 minutes before playing the entire second half. Against the Whitecaps, Hall offered 57 minutes with Darrius Barnes providing relief. Hall’s preseason contributions could be sign that he’s primed for a big 2015 or that Heaps wants to see how the newbie meshes with the team.
- Juan Agudelo is pushing to be fit by the season opener. With Agudelo being without a team since summer, several fans had concerns about his fitness level. The 22-year-old addressed these concerns in yesterday’s conference call, saying that he was active throughout the break. Backing up his words, Agudelo was an energetic participant in his first practice on Monday and played in a scrimmage two days later. Barring any injury, Agudelo should be penciled into the starting lineup for the Revolution’s season opener against the Seattle.