Revs Snap The Skid, Win 3-0 Over Colorado

Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Matt LaPan, GoLocal Worcester Sports Reporter

The New England Revolution took the field at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night looking to end an eight-game losing streak. Their opponent was the Colorado Rapids, and they saw a glimpse of the early-season Revolution. The Revs ended their losing streak with an impressive 3-0 win over the Rapids, picking up their first win in MLS action since May 24 against D.C. United. 

The Revolution got on the board first in just the 10th minute. The goal came on a good layoff pass by Charlie Davies to Lee Nguyen. Nguyen made a hesitation move and took a shot which deflected off of Colorado defender Drew Moor for an own goal. It was the first time in the last eight games that the Revolution did not concede the first goal. To this point in the season, the Revolution are 6-0-0 when scoring first.

There is some dispute by the players, however, if it was an own goal or not. "In my sight it was definitely going on target," Kelyn Rowe said following the game. "It's a guy like Lee Nguyen that we want taking that shot. A guy like Lee that stepped up in a big way today, and he has been for the past couple of games. It's a great performance by Lee. A great goal, and a great second goal as well."

Nguyen was not as adiment about the decision, but added, "Everyone said it was going in. I just looked up and saw it after he kicked it in." 

NOTE: There has been a scoring change by MLS which has awarded Nguyen the goal. Nguyen now has eight goals on the season, marking a new single-season best with 13 games remaining.

The goal was assisted by Charlie Davies and Kevin Alston. For Alston, it was his first assist of the season. For Davies it was his first assist as a member of the Revolution and his first MLS assist since May 4, 2011 (against Seattle as a member of D.C. United).

The Revolution held the lead for nearly the next 30 minutes without a great chance for either team. Then, in the 40th minute Diego Fagundez got a good cross at his feet. He made a great move to get free from the defender and was in close to the net but lifted his shot over the net. 

The Rapids got their first shot on target in stoppage time of the 1st half. The shot was created by Edson Buddle, but was from outside the box and easily saved by Bobby Shuttleworth. The shot was the only official shot on target of the 1st half by either team.

That chance ended the half with the Revs leading 1-0. Both teams took four shots, Colorado registering the only shot on target. The Revolution led the possession battle 57.9% to 42.1%. "It was great just to get the lead," Lee Nguyen said following the game. "[We] didn't know what it felt like to have a lead for a while but it was good. Then we were able to play our game and the guys were more relaxed after that."

The Revs started the 2nd half on a good run, getting two shots in the opening three minutes. The first shot came in the 47th minute off the foot of Charlie Davies. Davies took a through-ball and turned with a shot for the far post, but the shot was pushed wide of the net. Just moments later Kelyn Rowe received a good pass from Lee Nguyen in the box and put a low shot on target, but the shot was saved by Clint Irwin. The Rowe shot was the first shot on target by the Revolution in the game.

The Rapids got their first chance of the 2nd half in the 54th minute, again coming from Buddle. Buddle attempted a header off a Kamani Hill cross, but the shot was pushed wide.

The Revs got the next chance and it again came from Davies. The build-up to the play featured a great bit of passing. First Diego Fagundez made a nice pass to Kelyn Rowe. Rowe went with a back-heel feed to Charlie Davies who ripped the low shot to the near post but Irwin made a great diving save.

The Rapids nearly found the equalizer in the 69th minute, but Bobby Shuttleworth made a great save to keep it 1-0 Revs. The shot came off the foot of substitute Dillon Powers, low and to Shuttleworth's right. Shuttleworth made a great diving save to maintain the lead.

Following the save there was a run of play that can only be described as interesting. It started on a Clint Irwin punt attempt. The attempt was blocked by Revs substitute Patrick Mullins and almost went into the net. The play was whistled dead, however, and Mullins was shown a yellow card. 

Then in the 74th minute, Steve Neumann was fouled by Thomas Piermayr. For Piermayr, it was his second yellow card of the game and he was shown a red card. This gave the Revs a one-man advantage. Following the card, Clint Irwin was shown a yellow for arguing the call.

On the ensuing free kick the Revs took control of the game. The free kick was taken from the top of the box by Lee Nguyen who hammered home a goal in the far corner of the net. The goal was the 7th of the year for Nguyen. "When you hit the ball as sweet as that you really don't feel it come off your foot," Nguyen said following the game. "Thats when you know you hit it pretty well."

"It was a great feeling to go up 2-0, and be able to relax a little bit knowing we had a coushion." 

The Revolution did not relax though. Just three minutes later the Revs found the net again. This time it was Kelyn Rowe who scored on a strong shot from the top of the box and made it 3-0 Revs. For Rowe it marked his first goal in MLS action this season. In his goal celebration, Rowe pulled the preverbal monkey off his back, a gesture that seemed symbolic for both himself and the Revolution. "I actually planned not to celebrate just because we've lost so many games," Rowe said when asked about the celebration. "The emotion kind of was thrown at me and just kind of got that monkey off my back. It felt good."

When asked about Rowe's play following the game, Revolution coach Jay Heaps said, "We need Kelyn. Kelyn had that tough hamstring injury and he's fought hard to get back. Kelyn, to me, has all the talent in the world. When he's playing well he's almost unstoppable. And we need him to be a good team and I'm happy to have him back."

The Revolution controlled the pace of play for the remainder of the game against the 10-man squad of Colorado. In the end, the Revs snapped their eight-game losing streak with the 3-0 win. The three goals were the most by the Revolution in MLS action since scoring five on May 17 against Philadelphia. "It was a hard fought match but I feel we got what we deserved," Heaps said following the game.

The Revs continue their busy schedule by traveling to New York to take on their Eastern Conference rival New York Red Bull at 7 pm. Following the game, Charlie Davies summed up the feeling of the Revolution locker room by saying, "Now it's just getting into a rhythm. I think we're going to be very dangerous. I'm excited, everyone's excited. We put in the hard work. I'm very proud of everybody and we've just gotta take it game-by-game. Its very important that we don't get too highafter this win. We still kind of have to keep an even keel, and know that we still have to get better."