A Saturday night out east saw the Black and Blue land in Foxborough for a rare head-to-head with the New England Revolution, a squad who have been lingering near the top of the Eastern Conference table, to round out a wild three-game week. With a draw against Austin and a loss to Colorado, Minnesota seemed due for a victory, but it just wasn’t in the cards against Marko Mitrović’s intrepid Revs.
Things got off to a tense start when Michael Boxall’s in-the-box defending on New England’s Dor Turgeman was ruled a penalty after going to VAR, and captain Carles Gil sent the ball past Drake Callender to give the home side the lead.
From there, it was set piece central for both sides, racking up free kicks and corners like nobody’s business — but with no results. A number of clever runs by New England’s Luca Langoni, Brooklyn Raines, and Gil made for some dangerous attacks, and Boxy and his back line had to level it up in the final third to keep the home team out.
Tomás Chancalay, who made the return to his old stomping grounds tonight for the first time since joining the Loons, sent a 24th-minute corner soaring into the box, and a whistle immediately blew when Raines fouled Markanich in the penalty area. Kelvin Yeboah stepped up to the spot and promptly redeemed his PK miss against Austin by sending the ball into the bottom left, right past keeper Matt Turner. The squad was on edge as the goal was reviewed for a potential double touch, but the equalizer stood.
The 26th-minute PK was a turning point for the Black and Blue, who started making more tangible pushes forward while still allowing Wil Trapp and Nectarios Triantis to lean into the more defensive parts of their roles to hold off New England. Stellar defense from Morris Duggan and Nicolás Romero kept the scoreline even.
A clever play from Chancalay in the 40th minute might have yielded one of his classic near-endline assists, but a whiff from Joaquín Pereyra and a misplaced shot from Triantis left the Loons without anything to show for one of their best opportunities of the night. Seven minutes of stoppage almost put the Revs up when Raines and Langoni combined on a run into the box, but a tremendous left-footed clearance by Callender kept the scoreline even going into the half.
With the game in the balance, the Revs came out swinging in the second half, playing keepaway until a fast-paced break from Langoni saw him thread the needle to escape Minnesota’s defense in the 49th minute. He snuck the ball past Callender to put the Loons down by one. The Loons started playing catch-up, but New England’s ball progression was consistently seamless. They’ve been a hard team to keep down all season, and they retained about 55% possession throughout the remainder of the game.
It felt like a night of almosts for both sides going forward: Turgeman’s 59th-minute shot went over, Gil’s 61st-minute free kick in a dangerous spot was cleared out by Triantis, and the ensuing North England corner turned into a big run forward to Minnesota by Pereyra and Chancalay before Triantis’ shot went high.
A fantastic Triantis breakaway in the 70th minute ran into a crowded New England defense, and Pereyra’s shot a minute later was saved by Turner — more hopes built up only to be broken down.
Mitrović pulled Langoni in the 71st in favor of Matt Polster, and Cameron Knowles followed up with a triple substitution, putting Devin Padelford, Owen Gene, and Mamadou Dieng in for Romero, Boxall, and Yeboah. The newcomers injected some fresh energy into the match, along with Mauricio González coming on for Triantis in the 83rd, and kept the play primarily in the Loons’ attacking third for the remainder of the match.
A lovely cross into the box from Kyle Duncan in the 84th led to a fantastic header by Anthony Markanich, but Turner leapt for a crucial late save. His efforts in the final minutes of the match made a case for his position in the World Cup, as he kept Duggan’s header and a gorgeous corner by Pereyra out to maintain New England’s lead.
The Loons racked up 14 shots and an xG of 2.5 xG by the final whistle, but their offensive efforts simply weren’t enough to get past Turner’s defenses and turn this game around. For a team that has consistently underperformed their expected goals this season, it was yet another night of wasted opportunities and near misses.
The Loons head into one final matchup at home next weekend ahead of the league’s 2026 FIFA World Cup™ break, looking to put this pair of losses to bed in statement fashion against Real Salt Lake. They’ll need to start converting big-time to climb a packed Western Conference table, and taking down Diego Luna & Co. would be a great way to start.
