February 6, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – New England Revolution News Release
CARSON, Calif. – The New England Revolution fell to the LA Galaxy, 4-0, on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in their final friendly match of the preseason. Galaxy forward Kevin Cabral registered a brace, scoring goals in the 12th and 46th minutes. Dejan Joveljic extended the Galaxy’s lead to 3-0 in the 64th minute, before the hosts capped the scoring on an own goal six minutes later.
New England’s starting lineup featured two changes from last Saturday’s friendly against Los Angeles FC, with former Galaxy player Sebastian Lletget and 16-year-old Homegrown Player Noel Buck starting in place of midfielders Wilfrid Kaptoum and Arnór Traustason. Buck played 45 minutes in the start, while Lletget collected a 67-minute performance. Lletget is one of four former Galaxy players to suit up for New England in Saturday’s match, alongside midfielder Emmanuel Boateng and defenders A.J. DeLaGarza and Omar Gonzalez. Lletget, goalkeeper Brad Knighton, and midfielder Conor Presley each made their first appearances of the preseason on Saturday.
The Revolution begin the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League on Tuesday, Feb. 15 with a Round of 16 matchup against Haitian side Cavaly AS. Leg 2 is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 22. Both matches will be played at Gillette Stadium and kick off at 6:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports and TUDN. Single-game tickets for the 2022 MLS season and SCCL “Pay-as-We-Play” ticket packages are on sale now. Call 1-877-GET-REVS or email tix@revolutionsoccer.net to learn more.
Match Notes:
The Revolution fell to the LA Galaxy, 4-0, on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in New England’s final friendly match of the preseason.
New England’s Starting XI featured two changes from last Saturday’s friendly at Los Angeles FC, with midfielders Noel Buck and Sebastian Lletget starting in place of Wilfrid Kaptoum and Arnór Traustason.
Lletget, goalkeeper Brad Knighton, and midfielder Connor Presley registered their first appearances of the preseason in Saturday’s friendly. Knighton entered the match as a halftime substitute, while Lletget, who joined the Revolution via trade with the Galaxy during the offseason, started and played 67 minutes.
Buck, a 16-year-old Homegrown Player from Arlington, Mass., played 45 minutes in the start. All three of New England’s Homegrown Players appeared in Saturday’s friendly, as Justin Rennicks (South Hamilton, Mass.) and Damian Rivera (Cranston, Rhode Island) entered as substitutes in the second half.
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. logged his second consecutive start in net for New England in the friendly.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 0, LA Galaxy 4
February 5, 2022 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, Calif.)
Weather: 60 degrees and clear
Scoring Summary:
LA – Kevin Cabral (Javier Hernandez) 12′
LA – Kevin Cabral (Julián Araujo) 46′
LA – Dejan Joveljic (Sacha Kljestan) 64′
LA – Own Goal 70′
Disciplinary Summary:
NE – Matt Polster (Yellow Card) 60′
New England Revolution (1st Half): Earl Edwards Jr.; DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Omar Gonzalez, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Noel Buck, Carles Gil ©, Sebastian Lletget; Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa
New England Revolution (2nd Half): Brad Knighton; DeJuan Jones (Ryan Spaulding* 67′), Andrew Farrell (A.J. DeLaGarza 67′), Omar Gonzalez (Jon Bell 61′), Brandon Bye (Connor Presley* 67′); Matt Polster (Wilfrid Kaptoum 61′), Arnór Traustason, Carles Gil © (Damian Rivera 67′), Sebastian Lletget (Emmanuel Boateng 67′); Gustavo Bou (Juan Agudelo^ 61′), Adam Buksa (Justin Rennicks 67′)
* = Revolution II player
^ = Trialist
Postgame Quotes:
Revolution Defender Jon Bell
On key takeaways from Saturday’s loss:
Bell: “I think the most important thing is that we can’t give up, even when we’re down. Obviously it’s a preseason game, and we go into each game like it’s an actual game and we’ve got to be prepared. We want to get the best result, but all you can do from these type of games is learn from it, fix those mistakes, and the next time we come out, we don’t make it happen again.”
On Sebastian Lletget:
Bell: “It’s great. We already got to see what he’s capable of. Obviously it’s not easy for him because he just came like three days ago and he got thrown into the starting lineup right away, so it’s no big of a deal. But we’re just going to get better from there.”
On Noel Buck:
Bell: “It’s great, especially I remember that feeling last year when I got to make my first [start], and for him I just told him go out there, play with confidence, be yourself, don’t worry about it. It’s preseason for a reason, so you can learn from this and get better come the regular season. I’m really happy for him that he got to be able to experience this and have fans here to feel the atmosphere.”
On the mentality the team hopes to adapt moving forward:
Bell: “We’ve got to be ready, mentally strong, we’ve got to be mentally prepared, we’ve got to have that confidence, that grit. Just go in there and be aggressive, because the games are going to come quick and it’s not going to be easy.”
Revolution Midfielder Noel Buck
On featuring in the starting lineup in Saturday’s friendly:
Buck: “I think it’s greatly beneficial for me. Getting those first minutes in is always the hardest, it’s always the most difficult, and getting these, I can get more comfortable every day, and hopefully contribute to the team more next year.”
On the challenges in adjusting to play in MLS:
Buck: “Oh yeah, it’s obviously very difficult. It’s a lot of hard work, especially in preseason. It’s a grind, and every day you’ve just got to come in with a growth mindset, you’ve got to come in to learn and get better.”
On becoming accustomed to the level of play in MLS:
Buck: “Obviously it gets easier every day. It’s a very slow and steady process, but I’m trusting it. I’m going every day, I’m working really hard, and hopefully it’ll come.”
On areas for improvement and growth in his game:
Buck: “A lot of it is fitness, but I think for me, especially, is being relaxed. It’s obviously difficult, it’s a lot of pressure playing in these circumstances, and that will come with time and experience. I’ll be looking to build on this every week.”
On Sebastian Lletget:
Buck: “I think he’s settled in very well. He’s a great guy, he’s a good player, obviously. He’s got a high reputation. I think he’ll settle in great. It’s only been a couple days, but he’s got the personality and he’s got the soccer to come with it.”
On his takeaways from Saturday’s loss:
Buck: “The result today is obviously disappointing, but I think there’s a lot to learn from it, especially we’ve got this out of the way. It’s a preseason game, so we can obviously learn from this, and it’s great that it’s happened now and not during the beginning of the season, because we can learn from this. Obviously coming into the first games of the season, we’ve got high expectations and hopefully we can match that.”
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