Ian Harkes (14) breaks upfield for the Revolution during Thursday night's Champions Cup Round of 16 game in Alajuela, Costa Rica. (Photo courtesy of NE Revolution)

ALAJUELA, Costa Rica – The New England Revolution secured a 1-1 result against LD Alajuelense in Leg 2 of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto Costa Rica, winning the series 5-1 on aggregate.

New England advances to the quarterfinal round of the continental tournament for the second time in three years, where it will face the current top-ranked club in Concacaf and the defending LIGA MX champions, Club América, to battle for a semifinal berth in the continental tournament.

New England, carrying a four-goal advantage into Thursday’s second-leg away match, eliminated LD Alajuelense from the Champions Cup for the first time in three meetings. Tonight’s 1-1 draw gives New England an unbeaten 3-0-1 record in the tournament, where it is outscoring opponents 9-1, while the club’s record against Central American opponents moves to 4-2-2.

Alajuelense’s Carlos Mora opened the scoring in the fourth minute, but the Revolution then settled into the match and limited the host’s scoring chances for much of the night. Goalkeeper Henrich Ravas started his seventh game of the season and made five saves. Alajuelense’s early goal was the only score conceded by New England through 360 minutes of action in the tournament thus far.

With New England trailing by a goal in the second half, forward Giacomo Vrioni provided a spark off the bench and delivered his first goal of the 2024 season in the 81st minute, assisted by Esmir Bajraktarević. Vrioni now has one goal and two assists in three Champions Cup appearances this year.

Midfielder Matt Polster donned the captain’s armband for the Revolution and completed 98 percent of his passes in his 125th appearance for the club across all competitions. Nacho Gil and Tomás Chancalay each made their fourth starts of the tournament, with the latter recording two shots on target in his 57-minute shift.

The Quarterfinal Round series with Club América is set to begin in the first week of April, with schedule details set to be announced by Concacaf soon. Meanwhile, the Revolution return to MLS action at home this Sunday, March 17 against reigning Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati at 2 p.m. at Gillette Stadium.

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