Lee Nguyen tallied an insurance goal late in the match for New England. (YCJ/Andy Mead Photo)
TUCSON, Ariz. – The record will say that the Red Bulls lost their Desert Diamond Cup finale to the New England Revolution, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon.
On paper, it was.
On the pitch, it was more like Red Bulls II.
Regardless, the team finished the tournament at 0-2-1.
The first team was back in New Jersey as it continued its preparation for the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series at the Vancouver Whitecaps Thursday night and its season opener at Atlanta United a week from Sunday.
New York’s starting lineup featured four Major League Soccer rookies, one unsigned draft pick, three United Soccer League players, two trialists and one Red Bulls academy player.
The four MLS players were goalkeeper Rafael Diaz, center back Hassan Ndam, Homegrown midfielder Arun Basuljevic and midfielder Zeiko Lewis, who signed with the league before the MLS SuperDraft.
Kelyn Rowe struck for the Revs in the 52nd minute, burying a chipped shot from the top of the box. Lee Nguyen put the match out of reach with a goal in the 89th minute.
Scoring Summary:
NE: Kelyn Rowe (Diego Fagundez) 52’
NE: Lee Nguyen (Je-Vaughn Watson) 89’
Lineup: Rafael Diaz; Lucas Batista (David Najem, 46’), Tim Schmoll (David Abidor, 46’), Hassan Ndam, Ethan Kutler; Vincent Bezecourt, Arun Basuljevic, Duane Muckette (Kazu Shigenobu, 46’), Florian Valot (Bradley Nestor, 90’); Zeiko Lewis (Andrew Tinari, 77’), Omir Fernandez (Lucas Terci, 66’)
