NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 3, COLUMBUS CREW 1
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the return of Pat Noonan:
"Well, I think you know he missed six weeks basically. It was his first game back, missing between four and six weeks -- I'm not sure which exactly -- but he never trained. He only had two days back before his first game. I think tonight he was great, he was a real handful for them."
On how the Revolution played:
"I thought they were excellent. We really wanted to try and put this team under pressure. We said all week that we know what its like when you need points. So we really didn't want to give them a chance. It started up top with Taylor (Twellman) and Pat; they did a great job, the other guys just filled in behind. The midfield and the backline squeezed together well."
On the play of Taylor Twellman:
"Yeah, I think he'll settle for a hat trick. I'm not complaining. You're always looking for that breathing space so you can settle down in the game and make your passes. Fortunately, the two-goal lead was huge. I mean, even with five minutes to go, giving up a goal, you're always thinking ... get a bit pessimistic at times. But you know it counts as a win for us, it was a real professional job done by everyone.
On having his full team squad:
"It's great. I told the players on Friday morning that it's a real problem for me now. There is going be three or four individuals now and between the end of the season that are not going to be on the field who really, by what they have done this season, deserve to be playing and think they should be playing. It's going to be a test for some guys who are not going on the field that think they should be. But they're going to be behind the team that's on the field and I think that's a great thing."
On the Crew's disappointing performance after a 3-game winning streak:
"I think that it comes down to that we put pressure on them from the start. It's hard for any team if they are put under pressure from the get go, especially when they need points. I thought we did that well, we started the game the way we wanted to and kept the pressure on them most of the game."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD TAYLOR TWELLMAN
On his three goals:
"Yeah, I mean it was nice, but the big part of it was the partnership I have with Pat (Noonan). It shows that every game we play together, we continue to get better and it's a pleasure playing with that kid."
On playing with Pat Noonan:
"The first goal is self-explanatory; very few people can hit that type of ball and when I have a head this big, it's pretty easy."
On the game:
"To be honest with you, I just came out excited to play tonight. Pat and I haven't played together for two months now and its kind of hard not to smile when I'm playing with him."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION GOALKEEPER MATT REIS
On the result:
"Absolutely, the guys in front of me played excellent. It was fun to watch from back there. It all starts with Taylor and Noonan pressing up front and they had no chance of getting into a rhythm."
On setting two club records:
"Absolutely, it's not something that I think of too much, but at the end of the career when you're on top of a lot of those statistics, it shows that you've done well. Hopefully we can add an MLS Cup championship to that."
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
On the result:
"You shouldn't ask me, you should ask the players on the field. I mean, seriously, the first goal and the third goal ... we have to do a better job of marking."
On the first New England goal:
"I think it's better that they scored in the sixth minute than in the 40th minute because then you have time to recover. So, I said after that, maybe we were going to wake up and play better and actually we did."
On the Crew's playoff hopes:
"It was difficult a week ago, it was difficult two weeks ago, and it was difficult three weeks ago. And now, it's even more difficult. We have to win the games. We lost tonight to a good team and obviously it's not possible to win all the games. Sometimes you lose and New England has a good team. I think they're a better team than we are. We lost the game on the field, it's not the end of the world.
COLUMBUS CREW GOALKEEPER JONNY WALKER
On the play of Taylor Twellman:
"The guy knows how to finish and he took care of his chances and you can't say much more than that."
On the game:
"I think the better team won. They collectively played much better than we did for, I say, 83 minutes of the 90 and the result is fair, it's just. They played extremely well tonight. I don't think it was our greatest effort. But it's not the end of the world. I think there's still a possibility for us to qualify. So, next week we go back to the win-or-die games."
