New England Soccer Today

Kamara Stays Hot in Win vs. SKC

Photo credit: New England Revolution

It was another game, and another goal for no. 13 on Tuesday.

Kei Kamara scored for the third time in three games by tallying right before the break in to help lift the Revolution to a 2-1 preseason victory over Sporting Kansas City at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.

The veteran striker notched his third goal of the winter in the 44th minute after combining with Daigo Kobyashi and Lee Nguyen to beat goalkeeper Tim Melia. Revolution rookie Joshua Smith opened the scoring in the 22nd minute by knocking through a Chris Tierney free kick. Nansel Selbol scored the lone Kansas City goal in the 81st minute.

“We had moments of that and we looked a little bit sharper at times,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told the media after the match. “But you’re still dealing with a lot of heavy legs, because we’re pushing the guys. It’s not like we’re taking time off in between each game, we’re really pushing them in between.”

Tuesday’s match gave Juan Agudelo and Je-Vaughn Watson their first preseason minutes following their recent call-ups for the U.S. and Jamaica, respectively.

With the win, the Revolution improved to 2-0-1 on the preseason, and three of their five goals have come from Kamara.

The 2-1 win also marked the official close of the Revolution’s first preseason trip to Arizona. The club will return to the Copper State on Monday for the Desert Diamond Cup preseason tournament, which kicks off Feb. 15.

“It was a good end to the camp to make sure that we accomplished something,” Heaps said. “Now, it’s a matter of making sure that we reset and get back and make sure that we’re ready to move on to the next Tucson trip.”

Revolution Lineups vs. Sporting K.C.:

1st Half: Cody Cropper (Brad Knighton 36’); Andrew Farrell, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Joshua Smith, Chris Tierney; Scott Caldwell; Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Daigo Kobayashi; Lee Nguyen, Kei Kamara.

2nd Half: Brad Knighton (Bobby Shuttleworth 62’), Andrew Farrell (Tyler Turner 62’), Antonio Mlinar Delamea (Otis Earle 62’), Jeremie Sabaly, Chris Tierney (Brian Wright 62’); Je-Vaughn Watson; Scott Caldwell (Diego Fagundez 62’), Lee Nguyen (Zachary Herivaux 62’), Kelyn Rowe (Emmanuel Appiah 62’); Teal Bunbury, Kei Kamara (Tristan Bowen 62’).
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