New England 3, Rochester 0 - Early Red Dooms Rhinos as Revs Advance

The Rochester Rhinos were hoping that their stingy defense would hold up against the New England Revolution in the fourth round of the 2017 US Open Cup.

That plan was ruined after a second yellow card to centerback Joe Farrell in the first half and a 43rd minute penalty kick converted by Teal Bunbury as the Revs took hold of the match en route to a 3-0 victory.

The trouble started when Farrell took down Revs striker Brian Wright in the 24th minute to receive his first caution of the match. However, his second came on far more dubious circumstances.

In the 40’ minute a heavy touch caused Farrell to have to make a sliding clearance, which he did so cleanly though his momentum carried him into Wright behind the play. The play was whistled dead and a second yellow card issued, meaning the Rhinos were down to ten men just before halftime.

To make matters worse, Rhinos holding midfielder Wal Fall would bring down Zachary Herivaux in the box just minutes after the red card. Bunbury dispatched the penalty despite Rhinos keeper Tomas Gomez getting a hand to it.

With the lead at halftime the Revs looked to close out the game early in the second half and they did just that against the shorthanded Rhinos.

Donnie Smith converted a long range header off a Daigo Kobayahsi corner kick in the 50th minute. It was Smith’s first career goal for the Revolution and as a professional despite several loan stints in the USL including with Rochester.

A minute later, Zachary Herivaux notched his second career USOC goal, burying a close range rebound past Gomez to effectively end the match.

Despite the scoreline, the Rhinos didn’t give up thanks to some solid play up top from Darius Madison throughout the match and substitute Stefan Defregger who put two shots on target during his half hour shift. Still, Bob Lilley and company will rightly feel hard done by the red card which likely ended any chances of them upsetting the Revs on the day.

Brad Knighton was credited with three saves on the night for his shutout victory. Gomez made two saves and a punch in the loss.

The Revolution move onto the USOC Round of 16 where the draw announcing the four regionals will take place tomorrow. It is likely the Revs will be in a group with DC United, who beat amateur side Christos FC 4-1 yesterday, along with the winners of the Red Bulls-NYCFC and Union-Harrisburg match.

Should the Revs host in the next round, they will play the game at Harvard per Revs Team President Brian Bilello and our Jon Sigal. The fifth round matches will take place on June 28th in two weeks.