Union Omaha continues their road tour on Wednesday, May 12th when they face off against New England Revolution II in Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 PM (CST) and will air on ESPN+.
The Owls are coming off a 2-0 road win against Fort Lauderdale last Friday. After five days of rest, the team will face a well-rested New England Revolution II team looking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Richmond Kickers. With the short turnaround time, Union Omaha coach Jay Mims will rely on his team’s roster depth. Only one change was made to the starting lineup against Fort Lauderdale. No announcement has been made about player health or possible lineup changes ahead of Wednesday’s clash in Foxborough, MA.
New England was featured in the very first match of the season, defeating Fort Lauderdale 1-0 in DRV PNK Stadium. Heading into the second week of the USL League One season, the Revolution II made a few changes to their lineup as a result of injuries. Four players were left off the roster and three players from the MLS side joined the team ahead of their home match against Richmond Kickers. With the inclusion of the three MLS players, New England Revolution II coach Clint Peay switched the formation from the 4-3-3 seen in Week 1, to a 3-5-2 in Week 2. None of the adjustments yielded positive results, as Richmond went on to win 3-0 and climb the standings. No updates have been released related to the injured players.
This will be the first league match for New England since April 17th. In their three-week hiatus, New England has signed two new players: defenders Pierre Cayet and Tyler Freitas. Cayet joins the club after a successful collegiate career with Temple, featuring All-American Athletic Conference honors and 2020-2021 unanimous conference Defensive Player of the Year. The Frenchman started his professional career in his homeland before coming to the United States. Tyler Freitas has been a Revolution Academy player since 2014-2015. Having finally signed a professional contract with the club, he has high hopes of getting called up to the MLS side in the near future.
Union Omaha and New England Revolution II played twice in 2020, with the first meeting resulting in a scoreless tie. Later in the season, New England visited Omaha and left with a 2-0 win. The Revolution look to improve their home form, having only won two matches in Gillette Stadium last season. Union Omaha is hoping to stay in stride with league-leading Greenville before their matchup on Sunday, May 16th.
What to Watch For:
- Who will New England start? Six Revolution players have made their debut so far this season. Will the three MLS players be included in the lineup? Will Cayet and Freitas make their debut?
- Who will Union Omaha start? With only one lineup change between the first two matches, tired legs are an inevitability.
- Will Omaha change their game plan? New England doesn’t fare well against teams in quick transitions. The Owls have plenty of speed, so they may sit back and look for the fast break.
- Will there be an Instagram livestream of the match? Any fans who watched this matchup in Gillette Stadium last year will remember switching from ESPN+ to Instagram in order to watch the match to completion.
- Will Nicolas Firmino punish his old club? The Brazilian started for New England 15 times last season and scored three goals to go with two assists. He finished tied for 2nd in the 2020 USL League One Young Player of the Year race and was joint New England Revolution II top scorer, but was not brought back to the club. Wednesday’s matchup will be his first contest against his former club and first visit to Gillette Stadium since leaving the club.
Who Gives A Hoot? 