The New England Revolution defeated Rhode Island Football Club in penalties in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to eliminate Rhode Island on Tuesday.
It was a slow first half with both teams combining for just two shots and 17 fouls. RIFC’s Amos Shapiro-Thompson picked up the game’s first yellow card in the 43rd minute.
The second half was where the pace picked up as it took just six minutes for Diego Fagúndez to break the scoreless tie and give the Revolution a 1-0 lead. The goal was Fagúndez’s 100th goal contribution as a member of the Revolution.
Noah Fuson gave RIFC its first recorded shot of the day in the 55th minute, but it went wide left as the Revs maintained their 1-0 lead.
RIFC seemingly had its best chance at tying the game in the 82nd minute when Leo Afonso had a breakaway along the left side, but his shot was knocked away by a diving Donovan Parisian, the Revs’ third-string goalie in his Revs debut, to preserve New England’s 1-0 lead.
As the 90th minute approached, the fourth official announced 10 minutes of added time. A final chance for a desperate RIFC to send the game to extra time.
It was New England that had the first two chances as Griffin Yow and Allan Oyirwoth both missed their shots from outside the box.
As the seconds wound down in the final minute of added time, RIFC got its chance. A volley inside the box gave JJ Williams a one-on-one opportunity against Parisian to head the ball in for the equalizer. The two players collided, and the ball went straight up in the air.
Hugo Bacharach came from the left side and found himself all alone with a chance to tie it. Bacharach headed the ball, but wasn’t able to get a good enough angle as the ball hit the left post and seemingly ended RIFC’s chance at extra time.
Just a few seconds after the ball rolled out of bounds, the center referee called for a stoppage in play to check Parisian for a potential head injury. After Parisian was cleared, the referee signaled for a dropped ball outside the box. RIFC was able to easily win the possession as the Revolution switched to a full defensive formation.
Hamady Diop controlled the ball and sent a desperation pass inside the box that found Williams along the right post as he looked to redeem himself. Williams leaped up for the header over multiple Revolution defenders and directed the ball perfectly in between the outstretched hands of Parisian and the left post for the equalizer in the final seconds of added time.
“When the ball got served, I was free to go up and win it, and it doesn’t really matter who’s there,” Williams said. “If they give me that much time, then I’m very confident in my ability.”
Centreville Bank Stadium was sent into a frenzy as Williams and his team ran to celebrate with the club’s supporter group, Defiance 1636.
A penalty shootout would determine the winner after neither team was able to put one in the back of the net in 30 minutes of extra time.
RIFC went first as Diop’s shot to the bottom left corner went in after he forced Parisian to dive the opposite way during his run-up. New England’s Luca Langoni answered to tie the shootout at 1-1. Next up was Jojea Kwizera, whose shot was saved, and New England capitalized with Andrew Farrell’s goal.
Both RIFC and the Revolution had their next shots saved. Williams’ penalty kick was also saved by Parisian to mark three straight misses for RIFC in the shootout.
With a chance to seal the victory, Tanner Beason’s powerful shot was too quick for Koke Vegas as the Revs won the shootout 3-1.
“No disappointment on my end,” head coach and general manager Khano Smith said. “I’m so proud of that team. There’s things they’ve done in the past that have made me proud, but this is right up there.”
The win extended the Revolution’s winning streak to three games while simultaneously snapping RIFC’s three-game unbeaten streak.
RIFC returns to USL Championship play on Wednesday with a matchup against the unbeaten Charleston Battery at 7:30 p.m in Pawtucket. The match will be broadcast on myRITV and CBS Sports Golazo Network, with a radio broadcast available on 790 The Score.
