Essentially tied into the second spot in the Eastern Conference, the New England Revolution could afford to drop Saturday's game to the playoff-hungry Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium.
But to lose the match after dominating the first half, nearly going ahead 2-0 early in the second, and conceding the game-winner four minutes from time, the reverse stung.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol struck out at his defense after Columbus scored three goals in the second half to clinch a 3-2 victory.
"We defended badly and gave the ball away," Nicol said. "Obviously the first goal we lost was a turning point. We had a chance to go two-nil up and then they get the goal."
The match looked comfortably in the Revolution's pocket after a first-half goal from Taylor Twellman and a dominating performance pegging the desperate Crew back in their own end.
"I thought we played a great game in the first half," Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis said. "We controlled the ball and we passed it around really well."
But Crew head coach Sigi Schmid inserted Argentinean veteran Guillermo Barros Schelotto at the halftime interval and the match sparked to life.
Twellman nearly sealed the points for the home team, but Will Hesmer deflected his effort off and over the crossbar.
Columbus scored twice before Steve Ralston equalized with nine minutes to play. Barros Schelotto grabbed the winner four minutes from time to condemn the Revolution to a loss in front of their largest crowd of the season (22,295) on a night when the Boston Red Sox contested Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
Ralston felt frustrated with his side's effort in the second half.
"It looked like we were a little sluggish and it looked like we were second to everything," Ralston said. "We've got to keep our shape. I think a lot of it's mental. We've got to be turned on, we've got to keep our shape, and be organized. I thought we lost our shape a little bit in the second half."
Nicol said his side needed to shape up on the defensive side of the ball in order to get ready for the MLS Cup Playoffs. New England will face New York in the first round of the playoffs after playing its final regular season contest in Toronto next weekend.
"We made a lot of chances [tonight]," Nicol said. "We could have scored more goals and we didn't. It's the other side that we're poor at the moment. I mean, I think they had five shots and scored three. That's not a great ratio."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
