or allow a goal -- on the season, but that all changed quickly. In just the eighth minute, Columbus took the lead. From a turnover, Joseph Ngwenya received the ball on the right, and picked out Ricardo Virtuoso in the area. He calmly laid a square pass to Ned Grabavoy and he scored as his shot took a deflection on its way to goal.
• But the Revolution pulled level just two minutes later. A nifty passing sequence between Andy Cristman and midfielder Andy Dorman saw Dorman collect pass in the heart of the penalty area and he drove it home, claiming honors as the first man to beat Crew 'keeper Andy Gruenebaum this season.
• The Revolution took the lead seven minutes before the break. Taylor Twellman intercepted the ball near the center circle and went haring forward unmolested, letting fly from 25 yards out with a shot that beat Gruenebaum inside his right-hand post.
• But the Crew showed resiliency, getting the equalizer four minutes from the end. Brad Evans freed Frankie Hejduk on the right flank and after getting to the corner his rolling cross slipped under the boot of a Revolution defender. Kei Kamara was on the other end and he hammered his shot off the underside of the bar.
• On June 16, the Crew completed a comeback from two goals down with a late tally for a 3-3 draw. The game exploded into life, with three goals in the first 17 minutes. After the Revolution went close a couple of times early, the Crew took the lead on the counter through Robbie Rogers in the ninth minute when he ran onto a ball played over the top by Ned Grabavoy and slotted home from inside the area.
• It took New England just four minutes to pull level, as Adam Cristman ran onto a deflected free kick, raced past the Crew defense and hit a shot that took another deflection on its way to goal. Then it took the Revs just four minutes to pull in front. Andy Dorman lofted a ball over the Crew back line and Pat Noonan ran onto it, curling a shot around 'keeper Will Hesmer and inside the right-hand post for his first league goal since Sept. 9, 2006.
• Yet in stoppage time before the break, the Crew got a goal back. A cross from Alejandro Moreno was neatly brought down by Grabavoy, and he fed Guillermo Barros Schelotto on his left, who sent a pinpoint strike home inside the right post for his first MLS goal.
• The Crew then grabbed a share of the points with the leveler five minutes from the end. Freed on the right, Schelotto whipped in a cross that Moreno acrobatically dove forward to meet, twisting a header inside the post to the right of Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer -,Rusty Pierce (Stefani Miglioranzi 46), Chad Marshall, Marcos Gonzalez, Tim Ward - Danny O'Rourke, Duncan Oughton (Danny Szetela 56) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Ned Grabavoy (Eddie Gaven 64), Robbie Rogers - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Kei Kamara, Jed Zayner
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, James Riley, Avery John - Wells Thompson, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith - Andy Dorman - Adam Cristman, Pat Noonan. Substitutes Not Used: Bryan Byrne, Gary Flood, Kyle Helton, Daniel Hernandez, Brad Knighton, Marshall Leonard, Arsene Oka
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution all but saw their Supporters' Shield chances come to an end, losing 2-1 to the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at Toyota Park. The Revolution now have 49 points with two matches to play, five points behind overall leaders D.C. United and two points behind Western Conference leaders Chivas USA, who also have a game in hand.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire had seen their playoff drive stall a bit with four consecutive draws, while the Revolution had won four of their last six games.
• The visitors took the lead though midway through the first half. A Steve Ralston corner was knocked back out to him, and his second centering pass hit a defender and rolled out beyond the top of the area. Jeff Larentowicz came racing on and sent a rising piledriver inside the right post.
• But in stoppage time, the Fire drew level. Diego Gutierrez set off a counterattack on the left flank, sending Chad Barrett free. He cut across the area with an extended dribbling run before slipping the ball back to Chris Rolfe, who ripped a long-range shot of his own high into the goal for his sixth goal.
• Then on the hour, the Fire scored the winner. Paulo Wanchope ran onto a pass in the area and sent a low drive goalward that was parried by Revs 'keeper Matt Reis. But Chad Barrett came in to pound home the rebound and secure a vital three points for Chicago.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 1-0 the previous weekend at home. For the first time in two seasons, Andy Dorman was not in the first team, as Wells Thompson came into the midfield, while Taylor Twellman returned to the lineup in place of Adam Cristman.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, James Riley - Wells Thompson (Andy Dorman 74), Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Khano Smith - Steve Ralston - Pat Noonan (Abdoulie Mansally 76), Taylor Twellman. Substitutes Not Used: Adam Cristman, Gary Flood, Marshall Leonard, Sainey Nyassi, Doug Warren
• "I think there was a period in the first half where if we'd have taken the opportunities that came our way to score again that it could have changed the outcome but we didn't. And as I said, they had nothing to lose," said Nicol. "They had the crowd behind them. And they got a goal."
TEAM NEWS
• Nicol put Steve Ralston into the playmaking role in midfield in place of Andy Dorman, the first time in the last 61 Revolution contests that he wasn't among the starters. It's been October 2005 since the Revs have lined up without Dorman.
• "We knew Chicago was just going to fight for every ball because they have to win. Really, the key for us was to hold onto the ball better in the middle of the park, and that was the reason we made the change," Nicol said.
• "That was my first full game in there since college," said Ralston to The Boston Globe. "It's a different fitness playing that position. I enjoy playing there but I'll play wherever the team needs me. There was a lot of space and we always had a three-on-two situation in the midfield in the first half, so one of us was always open. But we lost our shape at the end of the half and paid for it."
• The late loss also followed a week when the club were able to celebrate a cup championship for the first time, after defeating FC Dallas 3-2 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday.
• "We had some opportunities, we hit the post, but you could tell we were pretty tired in the game. After an emotional win in Dallas on Wednesday and then coming in tonight, not trying to makes excuses, but we could have done better," Ralston said. "But give them credit, they had to win and they did."
• The loss made it very difficult for the Revolution to win the Supporters' Shield. If D.C. United claims one point over the weekend, or the Revolution fail to win against Columbus, they cannot finish with the league's best overall record.
• "[We want to finish] on the highest note possible, that's for sure. Obviously we've already qualified for playoffs so we don't have to worry about that but we want to go in into the playoffs with high confidence, individually as well as a team. We have to get that confidence up, so these next few games are important for us," said Michael Parkhurst.
• Abdoulie Mansally made his MLS debut, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Noonan. "He gave them problems in the [penalty area]," Nicol said. "He got a yellow card and that showed he was desperate to get in there."
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew saw their playoff hopes dealt a near-mortal blow, FC Dallas scoring three goals to come back for a 3-1 victory on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. The loss dropped the Crew to 10th place overall with 31 points and two matches to play, now five points behind eighth-place Chicago Fire and one behind the Colorado Rapids.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew came into the game with just one win in their last nine games as they try to get back to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004, while FC Dallas were also struggling to seal their postseason spot, with just one win in their last six games.
• The Crew owned the opening 45 minutes, but had just a single goal to show for it. It was a cracker: Alejandro Moreno ran down the ball on the left and laid back to Eddie Gaven, who ripped a long-range drive from outside the area that flashed inside the far post for the 31st-minute opener, his fourth goal.
• But FC Dallas pulled level three minutes after the break. Dominic Oduro slipped the ball inside to Arturo Alvarez, who cut laterally across the top of the area. He got to the top of the area and lashed a curling shot inside the left-hand post for his third goal.
• Needing a win, the Crew pushed numbers forward in the final minutes, and FCD made them pay. In the 86th minute, Ricardinho did the hard work, chasing down a loose ball just before it crossed the endline. He slid it to Abe Thompson outside the right post, and he was able to turn the between two Crew players and the post from a tight angle.
• Then three minutes later, Thompson sealed the match. Alvarez let fly with another long-range effort that Hesmer could only parry, and Thompson strolled in to knock the rebound into the goal for his first career multiple-goal game.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous Sunday at Crew Stadium. Tim Ward came into the back line and Robbie Rogers and Stefani Miglioranzi to midfield, as Danny O'Rourke, Ned Grabavoy and Jason Garey all went to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-2): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Ezra Hendrickson, Tim Ward - Robbie Rogers (Jacob Thomas 84), Duncan Oughton (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 83), Stefani Miglioranzi, Eddie Gaven - Andy Herron (Kei Kamara 63), Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Jason Garey, Ned Grabavoy, Andy Gruenebaum, Adam Moffat
• "We had a lot of chances in the first half. We were unfortunate not to be up by more than one at halftime. Ray Burse made some saves. They got fortunate, I think, on a couple as well," said Schmid. " ... Right at the start of the second half they got a decent goal. Hesmer couldn't really see it on the angle. After that I thought that we dominated the game."
TEAM NEWS
• In the first 32 minutes of the match the Crew tallied 10 shots, putting eight of those on goal. The team's previous season high for shots on goal was nine. "If you outshoot a team like we did in the first half, you have to bury a few more goals," said Schmid. "Tonight, I didn't feel like we were the worse team on the field."
• Schmid tried to inject some vitality into the attack with his lineup changes, the biggest of which saw Robbie Rogers come into a wide midfield role and Andy Herron moved from that role to an out-and-out forward. Rogers last started on June 16, the last of three consecutive starts before joining the U.S. team for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
• "We talked about being tactically disciplined and playing the game the way we wanted to do it, and I think that we did a good job of that. I thought Robbie Rogers added a lot of life to our game and was very important in our attacking," Schmid said. "We wanted to make sure that our midfielders did a better job at holding them in the midfield, which is what I thought we did in the first half. We stayed tactically disciplined. We did what we wanted to do. We didn't give them much."
• Since the beginning of August, the Crew have won just one of 10 games, losing six in that time and four of their last five. It's left them with a real mountain to climb if they are to get back to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• "This was one of the most frustrating games I've played in. We had our chances, we blew those chances away. I take some blame for that. I think I should have finished that breakaway; it maybe would have changed the game," Rogers said. "Besides that, we had so many chances and it's kind of been the story of the season -- not finishing chances and letting the other team stay in the game."
• As well, the Crew have scored just 10 goals over that 10-game stretch. "We actually played pretty good soccer at times. We were able to create just as many or more chances than we have in a single game all year; that's what it felt like, anyway," said Eddie Gaven. "We were only able to finish one and we gave up three, so it doesn't matter how many chances you create if you lose. We've got to find a way to get wins in these last two games, and keep looking forward."
