after beginning the year with two defeats.
• The game's sole strike came in the 28th minute, after an interception in midfield led to a quick counter. Joseph Ngwenya took a pass on the left as Ezra Hendrickson steamed forward to get on the end of the return ball. Ngwenya laid the ball back and the St. Vincent & Grenadines beat Troy Perkins with his shot, only to see it cleared off the line by defender Devon McTavish. The rebound eventually came back out to Hendrickson, and he made no mistake with his second chance.
• The match was suspended for 28 minutes at the 84-minute mark when thunderstorms rolled through the area, but in the 10 minutes after the delay (including four minutes of stoppage time), neither team really threatened.
• D.C., wearing maroon in honor of Virginia Tech University, lost for the third consecutive match to begin the season. It was the first time in league history the winners of the Supporters' Shield the previous season had lost their first three games to open the next.
• D.C. United head coach Tom Soehn made one change to the team that lost 4-2 to the Kansas City Wizards to open their home campaign two weeks earlier. Fred made his first MLS start, coming in wide on the right of midfield as Devon McTavish moved into the back three, with Facundo Erpen moving to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Soehn's team (3-4-1-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Devon McTavish (Kasali Yinka Casal 74) - Fred, Brian Carroll (Justin Moose 46), Ben Olsen, Joshua Gros - Christian Gomez (Nicholas Addlery 68) - Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Stephen deRoux, Facundo Erpen, Jay Nolly, John Wilson
• "Overall, I think our team performance was better. Unfortunately, the result was the same. It is back to work," Soehn said. "Overall as a team, we defended better. Are there still things to work on? Absolutely. It was a step in the right direction as far as what we did defensively. We have a lot to work on."
TEAM NEWS
• After losing the final three games of the 2006 regular season, the three-game losing streak to open 2007 means United has set a club record for the longest losing streak in club history - six games.
• "We just can't find it right now," Jaime Moreno said to The Washington Post. "It's frustrating and it hurts a lot because we did so much hard work in preseason. [Since the Champions' Cup], we've gone downhill. This is the time we have to be together and keep believing this is going to turn around."
• It's also the longest losing streak for United to start a season since the inaugural campaign, when they lost their first four games (all in regulation) before rebounding to eventually win MLS Cup.
• "We're not going to start pointing fingers and let this team unravel," midfielder Ben Olsen said to The Post. "It's very important for us right now to stay together because we are frustrated. It is a tough stretch we've gone through. It takes its toll. We're not getting breaks but we're also killing ourselves."
• United did allow season lows in shots attempted, shots on goal and corner kicks. Still, Soehn said, "[The goal] was a giveaway. That is what has been punishing us. We had a lot less of it today. We still had one. Give them credit, they took advantage of it."
• While United weren't pleased with the goal they allowed, they felt they did enough to pull level. "We had plenty of opportunities to get back in the game. Unfortunately, we didn't finish them," said Soehn. "We had our chances. Good teams finish chances and we didn't finish them."
• "The second half we had the urgency to come out and maybe tie the game," Moreno said. "We didn't create many clear chances, but at least we had the ball more. We just have to play as a team. Right now, we're not playing as team. We need to keep believing that it will turn around."
• In a bid to continue to look for the right combination on the field, Soehn brought Justin Moose into the center of midfield at halftime for Brian Carroll. Moose started the season opener in a wide midfield role. "Moose has looked good all week. I thought we would give him a chance. He energized the game when he came in," Soehn said.
• Still, there is some soul-searching after the slow start in league play - especially after the good performance in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup run, where United defeated CD Olimpia twice and drew with Mexican power CD Guadalajara.
• "If this happened in the middle of the season, it would be different," Perkins said. "We haven't got a win yet. We have given up seven goals in three games. It is tough to sleep at night. It is not a good environment to set for these guys."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution won for the first time in three road games this season, getting an early goal to defeat FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park last Sunday afternoon. The Revolution now have seven points from their four games and lie in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Kansas City Wizards and three behind the first-place tie of New York and Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were trying to complete their three-game homestand and round out a busy schedule with a third win on the year, while the Revolution were looking to win on their travels for the first time in three tries in playing their first game for more than a week.
• The game's lone goal came after just 13 minutes. Jeff Larentowicz headed a half-clearance to Steve Ralston, who curled in a ball to Taylor Twellman near the penalty spot. Twellman then hit a side-foot volley inside Shaka Hislop's left-hand post.
• The goal moved Twellman atop the MLS goalscoring list with four on the season, and it was his 79th career goal, tying him with Preki for the seventh-most goals in MLS history. For Ralston, it was the 110th assist of his MLS career, now just four behind all-time leader Carlos Valderrama.
• "I had plenty of time to pick my head up and look," Ralston said. "My first look is always to him. I just wanted to get a dangerous ball in front of him. It was a great finish. He does such a great job of finishing everything."
• It was also the Revolution's first victory at Pizza Hut Park in their last four trips -- two losses in MLS Cup Finals surrounding a 4-0 loss to FC Dallas in their only visit to Frisco last year.
• Revolution boss Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that drew 2-2 with the Columbus Crew 10 days before, getting ever closer to being able to field his first-choice team. Michael Parkhurst made his first appearance in 2007, coming into the center of the back three for James Riley, while Pat Noonan made his first start of the year, partnering Taylor Twellman in attack in place of Adam Cristman.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Avery John (James Riley 46) - Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith (Wells Thompson 73) - Andy Dorman - Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman 61), Taylor Twellman. Substitutes Not Used: Gary Flood, Marshall Leonard, Arsene Oka, Doug Warren
• "I think we definitely didn't do the things that we would normally want to do," goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "We were a little off today. When you can win without playing your best, then that is an added bonus and a sign of a good team by getting an early goal and making it stand for the whole game."
TEAM NEWS
• While he scored the winning goal - and had an apparent goal early in the second half ruled out for offside - Twellman said he was happy with the way the team dealt with some adversity and got better as the match progressed.
• "We are not too happy with our first-half performance but we did a better job in the second half," Twellman said. "I've been sick all week and I was just trying to get through the game. We have about six guys who had the same thing [cold symptoms and congestion]. I was going on half a tank. I should have been a better option for my teammates."
• The win in Dallas starts the Revolution's turn at a busy week, when they will play three games in eight days. After the trip to RFK Stadium, they return home Sunday, where they will take on the Chicago Fire for the second time this season.
• "Getting a win to start (this week) off just encourages you to keep going," Nicol said. "Then, we move on to the next one." Said Reis: "It's important for us with three games in the next seven days that we get maximum points and we did. We started with three here on the road and anytime you can get three points on the road in this league, it's a great day."
• The return trip to Pizza Hut Park provided a nice storyline - but the Revolution did acknowledge wanting to their past troubles in Frisco behind them.
• "It's good. After last year, getting drummed 4-0 at halftime, it's been a tough place for us to come and play. The last two (MLS Cup) finals and last year's league game have all been tough for us. I think a lot of guys had that in the back of their mind," Reis said. Added Nicol: "It feels good to get a win. We'll be here on numerous occasions in the coming years. Hopefully we can keep winning when we come back."
