FOXBOROUGH, MASS. – Seattle Sounders FC (4-7-1, 13 points) fell 2-1 to the New England Revolution (3-4-7, 16 points) on Saturday evening in front of 21,456 fans at Gillette Stadium. Homegrown Player Aaron Kovar scored his first MLS goal for Seattle, while New England’s Lee Nguyen and Femi Hollinger-Janzen provided the scoring for the home side. Sounders FC continues its two-match road swing on Wednesday, June 1 at D.C. United (Q13 FOX, El Rey 1360 AM, SoundersFC.com).
Seattle got off the mark quickly in Foxborough, as fullback Joevin Jones raided into New England’s half of the field in the seventh minute, putting in a dangerous cross that forced Revs goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth into a precarious punch of the ball. Kovar settled the loose ball inside New England’s area before unleashing a right-footed shot that beat Shuttleworth at his far post, giving the Seattle native his first professional goal since signing with Sounders FC in January of 2014.
New England drew level in the 24th minute of play, courtesy of a Nguyen penalty-kick, after referee Fotis Bazakos deemed that Sounders midfielder Erik Friberg had committed a handball infraction inside his own area. Despite protestations from the Sounders FC bench, Nguyen stepped-up to the spot and converted his penalty attempt, leveling the match at one apiece heading into the halftime break.
The score remained level at 1-1 until the 80th minute, when Hollinger-Janzen gave New England the late winner to secure three points for the home side. The 22-year-old rookie collected a Nguyen pass just outside the 18-yard-box and, despite a stumble, fired a low shot past Stefan Frei’s outstretched arms and inside the far post, boosting the Revs to a 2-1 victory.
Sounders FC is set to remain on the East Coast following tonight’s match, with the Rave Green heading to the nation’s capital for a midweek clash at D.C. United on Wednesday, June 1. Kickoff against the Black-and-Red from RFK Stadium is slated for 5:00 p.m. PT, with pre-match coverage beginning on Q13 FOX at 4:30 p.m. PT. The match is also being broadcast in Spanish via El Rey 1360 AM, with an English-language live-stream being carried on SoundersFC.com and the club’s mobile app.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – New England Revolution 2
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Venue: Gillette Stadium
Referee: Fozis Bazakos
Assistants: Craig Lowry, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Robert Sibiga
Attendance: 21,456
Weather: 74 degrees and partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Aaron Kovar 7’
NE – Lee Nguyen (PK) 24’
NE – Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Lee Nguyen) 80’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
NE– Diego Fagundez (caution) 35’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Zach Scott, Brad Evans – captain (Tony Alfaro 50’), Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Andreas Ivanschitz (Cristian Roldan 56’); Aaron Kovar, Jordan Morris, Herculez Gomez (Darwin Jones 82’)
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Oniel Fisher, Dylan Remick, Nathan Sturgis
Total shots: 9 (Morris, 3)
Shots on goal: 2 (Kovar/Morris, 2)
Fouls: 9 (Alonso, 3)
Offside: 3 (Morris, 3)
Corner-kicks: 5 (5 players, 1)
Saves: 2 (Frei, 2)
New England Revolution – Bobby Shuttleworth; Andrew Farrell, London Woodbury, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney; Scott Caldwell, Juan Agudelo (Teal Bunbury 54’), Kelyn Rowe (Femi Hollinger-Janzen 77’), Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez (Daigo Kobayashi 70’); Kei Kamara
Substitutes not used: Brad Knighton, Samba, Zachary Herivaux, Donald Smith
Total shots: 15 (Nguyen, 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Nguyen, 2)
Fouls: 8 (8 players, 1)
Offside: 2 (Kamara/Nguyen, 1)
Corner-kicks: 5 (Tierney, 4)
Saves: 1 (Shuttleworth, 1)
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC is now 4-7-1 in the 2016 MLS regular season. With 13 points, the Rave Green are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference. The loss extends Seattle’s three-match losing streak.
- Seattle is now 4-5-2 all-time versus New England, with the Revs winning two of the past three matchups in the series.
- Saturday’s loss snapped Sounders FC’s three-match winning streak against the Eastern Conference. Seattle’s next four MLS regular season fixtures are against the East.
- Defender Tony Alfaro made his MLS debut when he came on for the injured Brad Evans in the 40th minute. The Cal State Dominguez Hills product was the club’s top selection in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft.
- Aaron Kovar scored his first MLS goal with a seventh-minute strike, making the Stanford product just the third Homegrown Player in club history to record a goal in league play (DeAndre Yedllin, Jordan Morris).
