Clint Peay: “To see him finally get not only the start, but his first goal was fantastic”

While Saturday was yet another loss for the New England Revolution, it wasn’t all bad news for the team. Justin Rennicks scored the first goal of his career against Inter Miami CF.

“Getting the goal was great,” he said. “You know, it’s been a long time coming. It’s been four years now and I’ve just been waiting to get that goal, so I finally got it.”

It has indeed been a long time coming for Rennicks. While he got his second straight start, it comes after the striker received his first start since 2019. He has been a fixture for Revs II where he had 26 starts and scored five goals and three assists.

Spending that much time with the second team means that Revs II head coach Clint Peay has been able to get to know Rennicks. The head coach was asked about the striker scoring his first goal when he met with the media on Tuesday.

“It’s fantastic,” Peay said. “He’s worked really hard and obviously it’s never easy for a player to be a first team player, have to go back down to the second team, but he always came back down to us with the right attitude, worked hard, was coachable. To see him finally get not only the start, but his first goal was fantastic.”

Looking ahead, Rennicks appears to be a part of Bruce Arena’s plans moving forward. While Adam Buksa is slated to return after missing the game in Florida due to a red card suspension. The question is will Gustavo Bou and Jozy Altidore be able to play?

Arena said on April 7 that Bou will miss weeks and after Richie Williams said that Altidore picked up “a bit of an injury” in the first half against the New York Red Bulls, there haven’t been any updates on his condition.

As long as the two are banged up, Rennicks will continue to get playing time. With how he has played in these last few games, the striker is well deserving.