Bunbury Scores in 1-1 Draw to SKC
- Updated: February 20, 2016
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
Teal Bunbury scored a second half equalizer to put the Revolution on level terms with Sporting Kansas City in a Desert Diamond Cup second match day clash that ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Kino North Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.
Bunbury took hold of a Diego Fagundez pass near the box, then blasted a hard shot inside the far post to beat Tim Melia in the 58th minute of match that featured an 11th minute strike from Graham Zusi to give Kansas City an early lead.
With the draw, the Revolution’s preseason mark went to 1-2-2, with both draws coming from Desert Diamond Cup competition.
Prior to Zusi’s opening goal, chances were abound for the Revolution to plant their flag in the Kansas City end. Diego Fagundez fired a pair of shots to test Melia early one while Lee Nguyen skimmed the post in the eighth minute.
As close as the Revolution came, Kansas City proved itself more efficient in the 11th minute when Zusi chased down a Jordi Quintilla ball into the box, cut inside, and fired a well-placed shot inside the far post.
Zusi’s goal seemed to cool the Revolution’s heels, and things didn’t get much better for the Foxborough outfit with the half-hour approaching.
Newly-acquired midfielder Gershon Koffie was forced to exit the match in the 29th minute after he absorbed the force of a point-blank Zusi blast smacked the Revolution man on the side of his head. Scott Caldwell came on for the Ghanaian international, and tried to help his team get back onto level terms against Kansas City.
After watching more opportunities evaporate in the second half, the Revolution finally found paydirt when Fagundez placed a beautiful ball in the final third for Bunbury, who uncorked a low drive into the Kansas City net just before the stroke of 60 minutes.
With the momentum back in their favor, the Revolution made a pair of late bids for the winner on opportunities orchestrated by Juan Agudelo and Steve Neumann, who saw his shot clear the crossbar before time expired.
The Revolution will play their third Desert Diamond Cup match on Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo at Kino North Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm ET.
Notes: Prior to Saturday’s Diamond Cup clash, the Revolution played a 45-minute, mid-morning scrimmage against PDL side FC Tuscon, a game which saw Agudelo score the lone goal in a 1-0 win…Koffie, who will wear no. 7 for the Revolution this year, sported no. 52 in Saturday’s match likely due to the fact that the squad donned last year’s jerseys, with the no. 7 jersey from 2015 likely adorned with the family name of recently-waived striker Sean Okoli…Revolution Youth Academy star Justin Rennicks saw action late, and set up a couple of dangerous advances in the closing minutes…
Related Posts
3 Comments
Leave a Reply
About Brian O'Connell
BWG
February 21, 2016 at 6:55 am
Hi Brian,
Have there been any indications Heaps has instituted something different in their preparations leading up to the start of the season? I know we somewhat disagreed about this last season but the revs are consistently bad to start the seasons under heaps and to me this somewhat falls under preparations and preseason based upon the coach and I am wondering if he is learning anything from this and modifying his regimen at all
brianoconnell
February 21, 2016 at 10:30 am
@BWG,
Nothing that I’ve noticed as of yet. Something that I’m keeping an eye on in particular is the lineup in each of these DDC games. So far, the only thing that’s jumping out is the use of Rowe as the no.6/8 as opposed to Caldwell. Some of that might be looking ahead toward losing Nguyen for Copa America, but it might also be to spell Caldwell, who’s played a ton of minutes over the last 2 years. That said, I’m still of the mind that starting off the season on the road for a team as young as the Revs will never help them get a clean break out of the gate. Who knows? I’ll try to get Heaps’ take on it before the start of the season.
@Robert,
I agree w/ you on Koffie and Rennicks. Koffie has made a really nice transition, almost to the point where it looks like he’s been in camp since day 1. For his and the Revs’ sake, let’s hope that Zusi shot to the head isn’t serious and that he’s healthy enough to play on Wednesday. Rennicks impressed me, as well. He certainly doesn’t play like a 16 year old, that’s for sure. He seems to have the tactical awareness, size and instincts of someone much older. He’s a leading candidate for a HG contract, for sure, the only question is when. Does he take the Scott Caldwell route and go to school, then sign? Or does he go the Zach Herivaux route and bypass college altogether to become pro? That’s the biggest question for me. As far as Addy – I was not impressed. He seemed uninterested far too often, and was particularly lackadaisical on that Zusi goal. There were a few other moments were guys like Nguyen had defenders all over him, and Addy just stood there a few yards away and failed to show for the ball. It was not his best game, in my opinion.
Robert
February 21, 2016 at 7:40 am
I watched the live stream. Despite his short stay on the field (hopefully, his injury isn’t serious), I liked what I saw from Gershon Koffie. He was very active in the mid-field, and I thought distributed the ball well. Offensively, I thought Mark Addy did a nice job. I thought his passes out of the back were crisp, and he appears to fit Heaps’ attacking style as he pushed to forward quite a bit. Defensively, I didn’t think he was a good one on one defender (Zusi cut inside on him for an easy goal) as he liked to stick his foot out to defend rather than move his feet. And it was a short sample, but I think Justin Rennicks was impressive for his age. He definitely looked as if he belonged on the pitch. It will be exciting to see the Revs continue to develop him. Rennicks should be the team’s next Homegrown player. Brian, that was my humble, novice assessment. What did you think?