Designated player Kei Kamara scored his debut Revolution goal while teammate Teal Bunbury tallied twice as New England advanced to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on the back of Wednesday's 3-2 win over the New York Cosmos in the Round of 16 at Belson Stadium in Jamaica, N.Y.
Kamara, who was acquired in a trade with Columbus last month, burst into the Cosmos' box, where his pass across the goalmouth was blocked by a sliding Rovérsio Rodriguez de Barros. But the ball fell back to the Revolution striker, who quickly put it past goalkeeper Jimmy Mauer from a wide angle to level it at two apiece in the 75th minute.
Bunbury's first strike of the night arrived in the 43rd minute when he latched onto a Diego Fagundez ball and blasted it into the back of the net. His encore, which proved to be the winner, came in the 83rd minute when he took a pass from Kamara and cooly slotted it in the far corner.
Kamara and Bunbury were the stars of the night, but the Cosmos certainly didn't make Wednesday's matchup a walk in the park. The hosts struck first with a 38th-minute goal from Ruben Bover, who corralled a pass from Yohandry Orozco and slotted it through. Sebastián Guenzatti answered Bunbury's first effort when he brought down a ball from Juan Arango, and hit a quick shot that slipped through the grasp of Bobby Shuttleworth in the 56th minute.
With the win, the Revolution will host the Philadelphia Union in the quarterfinals on Jul. 20 at Harvard Stadium.
What it means: For the first time in three years, the Revolution are one their way to the Open Cup quarterfinals thanks to gusty individual efforts from Kamara and Bunbury. While both were undeniably effective in the attacking end, Kamara and Bunbury each stayed committed to the cause defensively in the waning moments. Kamara cleared a couple of dangerous balls late and Bunbury won a pair of one-on-one challenges with the Cosmos pressing. It wasn't the Revolution's best defensive performance, but the unselfishness of their stars allowed them to prevail.
Agudelo exits early: Starting striker Juan Agudelo was forced to depart Wednesday's proceedings prematurely after suffering an apparent leg injury around the 30th minute. He was replaced by Zachary Herivaux, who scored the winner in the Revolution's fourth-round encounter against the Carolina RailHawks.
Mix-and-match XI for Revs: A number of changes were made to the Revolution lineup that coach Jay Heaps fielded two weeks ago in the fourth-round clash against at Carolina. Among the notables: the return of regular keeper Bobby Shuttleworth, the insertion of Samba at center back, and the introduction of Je-Vaughn Watson at central midfielder.
League play right around the corner: The Revolution have a short turnaround with a trip up north to face the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. Last year, the Revolution went winless (0-2-1) against the Canadian club.