Revs down Lions, look to 2019

New England Revolution 2-Orlando City SC 0

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – There may be two more matches remaining in the fixture list for the Revolution, but for head coach Brad Friedel, the calendar might as well be turned ahead to February.

Not long before the opening whistle of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Orlando City, the Foxboro outfit was officially eliminated from postseason as a result of a DC United win in the afternoon.

“We’ve basically started our preseason tonight, and that’s what I told the players (before the match),” Friedel said. “And everyone’s going to be fighting for their spots and the players that are with us are going to have to be very good and mentally and physically tough.”

If there was any concern whether that message fell on deaf ears, Saturday’s performance eliminated any such worries.

Despite ruing a pair of missed chances in the first frame – including a shot off the post from Teal Bunbury – the Revolution exploded for two goals right out of the gate in the second stanza.

In the 51st minute, Cristian Penilla netted the opening goal in the 51st minute when he pounced on an errant deflection deep in Orlando territory. It was Penilla’s 12th goal of the season, passing Saer Sene’s 11 tallies in 2012 for the largest haul for a Revolution newcomer in club history.

“I think [we knew]Cristian Penilla, since day one when he came, was going to be a different player,” Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “He comes in here and works hard in training, and when he has those chances in the game, he finishes them.”

While there’s been no denying Penilla’s ability as finisher, he also took the opportunity to showcase his skill as a distributor not long after scoring.

With the Revolution pressing hard in the 55th minute, Penilla found Fagundez in the box, where the latter volleyed it past Joe Bendik for the second goal of the game.

“We just kept going, and we knew that another one would happen,” Fagundez said. “I got lucky to be in the right spot with a great cross by him and I got to finish it.”

Meanwhile, New England backline – sans Andrew Farrell and Claude Dielna – kept the door closed on the Lions to collect the clean sheet.

“I thought the concentration was really good by the players,” Friedel said. “I thought Michael [Mancienne] and Jalil [Anibaba] kept their line really well.”

That said, with Saturday’s match essentially an early audition for jobs in 2019, Friedel teased the quickly-approaching offseason may set the stage for a roster overhaul.

“There’ll be quite a few changes in the offseason – a lot of exciting changes that’ll happen in the offseason,” Friedel said. “You’re going to see some things and a lot of news that comes out with New England over the next couple of months, that people will start to sit back and realize.”

With their playoff hopes officially dashed, the Revolution will commence the start of their final 180 minutes of 2018 on Thursday at Real Salt Lake. The Lions will host Sounders FC on Wednesday.