Recap: Revolution II 1 - 0 Red Wolves

Revs II returned to action on Saturday night as they traveled to CHI Memorial Stadium to take on the first-placed Chattanooga Red Wolves.

Revs II looked to ride the wave of momentum generated by their 3-1 win over the Richmond Kickers, but it was not going to be an easy match for Revs II as Chattanooga had yet to suffer a defeat at home in the 2021 season.

Goalkeeper Joe Rice had to make a couple of good saves in the opening minutes as a sturdy Chattanooga offense came out of the gates firing.

Damian Rivera came close to finding the back of the net in the 12^th minute as his right-footed shot from outside the box would skip off the pitch and over a diving Chattanooga keeper. Sebastian Mora-Mora was able to get a slight touch to the ball and sent it careening to the crossbar and away from the Chattanooga net.

Rice would save Revs II again in the 13^th minute as he fully stretched himself out to prevent a Chattanooga shot from finding the back of the net.

Rivera received the game’s first booking as he received a yellow card in the 22^nd minute.

It was a rough night for both sides in the injury department. The Revs had to make their first substitution in the 35th minute as Meny Silva would replace Jake Rozhansky.

Although Chattanooga dominated possession in the first half with 4 out of 9 shots on target, Rice and the Revs II defense held the first-place Red Wolves scoreless through the first 45 minutes.

Revs II’s second sub came in the 46th minute as Hikaru Fujiwara would replace Esmir Bajraktarevic.

Colin Verfurth would come in clutch for Revolution II in the 54th minute as his slide tackle inside the box prevented forward Juan Galindrez from taking a shot on the Revs II net.

Michel would make his 20th appearance as he came on for Colby Quinones in the 62nd minute.

Injury issues arose for Revs II again in the 65th minute as defender Ryan Spaulding would receive treatment from the medical staff. Spaulding would exit the match in the 66th minute as François Dulysse replaced him.

A stroke of luck came for Revs II in the 79th minute as Chattanooga substitute Sebastian Capozucchi would receive a second yellow card, leaving Chattanooga down a man with ten minutes remaining. Noel Buck looked to find the game’s opening goal in the 81^st minute, but his shot would trickle just left of the goal post.

Dulysse received a yellow card in the 88^th minute after committing a bad foul.

Just when things looked like they were over for both sides, Justin Rennicks decided to flip the script. As Chattanooga attacked the Revs net in the closing seconds of stoppage time, Connor Presley cleared the ball into open space outside the box. Rennicks would pounce on the opportunity as he turned on the jets and darted towards the ball.

As Ronaldo Pineda inched closer to the ball, Rennicks cut the ball upfield and boosted his way past Pineda. Pineda attempted to get a cheeky tackle in on Rennicks but fell short as he fell to the ground. Rennicks drove the ball up the left side of the field untouched as he angled himself on goal.

As Rennicks inched his way closer towards goal, Mora-Mora crouched down and moved towards his near post. Rennicks would take advantage of Mora-Mora’s movement and sent a curling shot to the back right corner of the net. Mora-Mora attempted to save the ball, but it was too late as Revolution II celebrated Rennicks’ game-winning goal.

Thanks to Rennicks’ 90 +5th minute goal, Revs II secured a crucial three points on the road against the USL League One table leaders. With Saturday’s win, Revs II move to 5th place in the League One standings with 31 points.

Revs II return to action on October 1st as they host eight-placed Forward Madison at 5:00 PM EST on ESPN+.