The New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake started their Desert Diamond Cup campaigns with an interesting 3-3 tie in Tucson, Arizona.
Head coach Jay Heaps opted for a bit of a split squad for his two lineups in the first and second half, mixing in veterans as well as the youngsters through out the day.
#NERevs lineup vs. RSL: Shuttleworth; Brovsky, Goncalves, Farrell, McCrary; Koffie, Rowe; Gamble, Nguyen, Hollinger-Janzen; Agudelo
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) February 18, 2016
Rookie Michael Gamble opened the scoring the 13th minute when he slotted home a shot past RSL keeper Nick Rimando. The second round draft pick from Wake Forest has seen solid time as a left winger in preseason, and a goal surely helps his cause to make the final roster as he's still unsigned.
GOAL!
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) February 18, 2016
Michael Gamble creates space and drills one past the keeper to give the #NERevs a 1-0 lead!https://t.co/dj79qtfCUe
Whole new #NERevs Second Half Llineup:
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) February 18, 2016
Knighton, Sambinha, Barnes, Addy, Woodberry, Kobayashi, Bunbury, Fagundez, Caldwell, Davies, Neumann
The second half started with a flurry of action, as two minutes in Charlie Davies rounded Rimando and fired towards goal. His shot was blocked by RSL defender Aaron Maund's arm, prompting a penalty kick and a red card. Davies dispatched the penalty to give the Revs a 2-0 lead.
But despite being shorthanded, RSL stormed back thanks to a little help from the Revs. Darrius Barnes was whistled for a questionable PK which was taken and scored by Javier Morales. Later in the half, Jamison Olave headed home the equalizer on a set piece feed from Morales and a 2-2 game. Olmes Garcia would put RSL in front in the 77th minute to complete the comeback and score three unanswered past the full strength Revs.
London Woodberry's two quick yellows in the 79th and 83rd minutes saw both sides reduced to 10 men. But Charlie Davies would nab a brace when he capitalized on an errant backpass to even the match at 3-3.
Obviously the Revolution can't be thrilled with conceding three goals with a man advantage, a problem they also had last season. But the three goals came with two players, Sambinha and Addy, who have just gotten into camp. It's still preseason, and you want to focus on individual moments, like Gamble's goal, rather than overall negative ones.
New England's next game at the DDC will be on February 20th against Sporting Kansas City at 930PM EDT.