FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Steve Ralston's 79th-minute goal cancelled out a first-half strike from Seth Stammler, as the New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium.
With the draw, New England (8-3-3, 27 pts.) extended its unbeaten streak to seven games, which is the longest unbeaten run by any team in MLS this season. New York (4-4-4, 16 pts.), which has struggled historically in Foxborough, earned its first point on the road against the Revs since May 22, 2004, also in a 1-1 draw.
The Revolution also extended another streak with the result, as the club is now unbeaten in its last 10 regular-season matches against the Red Bulls (6-0-4) dating back to Sept. 17, 2005.
New York appeared to open the scoring in the fifth minute when Sinisa Ubiparipovic finished from close-range, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Jeff Larentowicz had back-to-back chances to give the Revolution the lead midway through the first half, but neither shot found the back of the net. The defensive midfielder first had a 25-yard drive tipped over the bar by Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway in the 16th minute, then flashed a near-post header just wide on the ensuing corner kick.
Chances were limited for both sides until the 37th minute, when the Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead through Stammler. Conway distributed the ball to Dave van den Bergh down the left wing, and the Dutch midfielder sent a curling cross to the far post. Stammler ran onto the pass and struck a low, right-footed volley past Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis.
The visitors almost doubled their lead right before the halftime break, but Oscar Echeverry rolled his shot wide after Dane Richards had set him up following a long, winding run down the right side.
Revs forward Adam Cristman came close to leveling the score minutes into the second half when he attempted to loft a bouncing ball over Conway, but his shot was smothered by the charging goalkeeper.
New England was forced to alter its formation in the 71st minute when defensive midfielder Pat Phelan replaced an injured Cristman. Phelan slotted into the holding midfield role, pushing Shalrie Joseph into the attacking midfielder spot and moving Ralston up front.
The Red Bulls had an opportunity to extend their lead in the 78th minute when they had a free kick 25 yards from goal, but Mike Magee's attempt didn't clear the wall and was deflected over the bar.
Just one minute later, the Revolution tied the score at 1-1, as Ralston scored for the third consecutive game. Defender Jay Heaps played a driven cross from the left wing to the far post, where Kheli Dube first-timed a pass back to the penalty spot for Ralston. The veteran midfielder took a touch to settle himself before firing his shot into the left side of the net.
The hosts came inches from taking the lead directly following the kickoff in the 80th minute. Conway came off his line to punch a cross, but the ball fell to Thompson, whose first-time volley sailed just wide of the left post.
Conway preserved the tie for New York with a pair of saves on close-range shots in the 89th minute. Sainey Nyassi created space for himself on the right wing and sent a curling cross to Ralston, whose header from 10 yards out was saved. The rebound squirted towards the right post, and Dube was first to the ball and released a shot just two yards from goal. However, a diving Conway managed to get a hand behind the shot and push it behind for a corner kick.
Reis finished with four saves, while Conway stopped six shots.
The Revs will have little time to rest ahead of their next match on Saturday, June 21, when they will travel to Utah to face Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium at 9:30 p.m. ET.
New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls
June 18, 2008 - Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium)
Scoring Summary:
NY - Seth Stammler (Dave van den Bergh, Jon Conway) 37
NE - Steve Ralston (Kheli Dube, Jay Heaps) 79
New England Revolution: Matt Reis (GK), Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Chris Albright, Mauricio Castro (Wells Thompson 40), Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston ©, Adam Cristman (Pat Phelan 71), Kheli Dube
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren (GK), Argenis Fernandez, Chase Hilgenbrinck, Amaechi Igwe, Chris Tierney
STATS: Shots 15; Shots on Goal 7; Saves 4; Corner Kicks 6; Offsides 1; Fouls Committed 10
New York Red Bulls: Jon Conway (GK), Dave van den Bergh, Kevin Goldthwaite, Andrew Boyens, Hunter Freeman, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Carlos Mendes, Seth Stammler ©, Mike Magee (Luke Sassano 89), Dane Richards (Chris Megaloudis 55), Oscar Echeverry (John Wolyniec 62)
Substitutes Not Used: Caleb Patterson-Sewell (GK), Danleigh Borman, Chris Leitch, Jeff Parke
STATS: Shots 14; Shots on Goal 5; Saves 6; Corner Kicks 6; Offsides 3; Fouls Committed 15
Misconduct Summary:
NY - Sinisa Ubiparipovic (caution) 30
NY - Seth Stammler (caution) 53
NE - Sainey Nyassi (caution) 55
NE - Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 57
Referee: Joe Caroccio
Referee's Assistants: Thomas Supple (SAR), Craig Lowry (JAR)
Fourth Official: Jorge Gonzalez
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Showers and 68 degrees
Attendance: 10,596
NOTES
•The Revs are now 15-4-4 all-time against the Red Bulls at home ... the draw snapped a streak of eight straight home wins for New England against New York, including playoff meetings in 2005 and 2007 ... the Red Bulls haven't won in New England since June 29, 2002 (a 2-0 win in the first-ever meeting between the two sides at Gillette Stadium).
•The match concluded the two-game, regular-season series between the Revs and the Red Bulls ... the clubs also played to a 1-1 draw on April 19 at Giants Stadium ... the Revolution also erased a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn the draw in that match.
•The two meetings between New England and New York this season is the fewest number of regular-season games the two teams have ever played ... the clubs had played at least three regular-season matches in each of the league's 12 seasons prior to 2008.
•With the draw, the Revs extended their unbeaten streak to seven games, which is the longest such streak by any team in MLS this season ... New England is 5-0-2 over the course of the seven-game stretch ... both Columbus and Toronto FC had six-game streaks earlier this season.
•The match was the 54th all-time meeting between the Revolution and Red Bulls, including both regular-season and postseason action combined, marking the greatest number of games the Revs have played against any team.
•New England was without Kenny Mansally (Gambia) and Khano Smith (Bermuda), who are both with their respective countries for World Cup Qualifiers ... however, the Revs were buoyed by the unexpected return of Shalrie Joseph (Grenada), who returned to New England in between World Cup Qualifiers ... Joseph will meet up with Grenada for its qualifier in Costa Rica on Saturday.
•New England is undefeated in its last 10 regular-season matches (6-0-4) against New York, dating back to Sept. 17, 2005, when the then-MetroStars won a barnburner, 5-4, at Giants Stadium.
•Steve Ralston's goal was his fourth of the season, tying him for the team lead, and the midfielder has now scored in three consecutive games ... the last time Ralston scored in three straight games was when he was still with Tampa Bay in 2001, when he scored on April 7, 14 and 21.
•Steve Ralston has now been involved in the game-winning or game-tying goal in each of the seven matches during New England's unbeaten run ... during the stretch, he has two game-winning goals, two game-winning assists, one game-tying goal and one game-tying assist, while he also drew a penalty kick that led to a game-winning goal.
•Kheli Dube's assist on Steve Ralston's goal was his third of the season, tying him for the team-lead ... in fact, both Dube and Ralston are tied for the team-lead in goals (4) and assists (3).
•Jay Heaps' assist was his first since Sept. 7, 2006.
•Mauricio Castro suffered a right oblique strain and was replaced by Wells Thompson in the 40th minute.
