FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Pat Noonan scored his third goal in the last three games and Adam Cristman added a stoppage-time insurance strike as the New England Revolution earned a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.
The win pushed New England's (9-3-6, 33 pts.) unbeaten streak to five games, and helped the team extend a four-point lead over the second-place Wizards (8-6-5, 29 pts.) in the tight Eastern Conference. New England is now just one point shy of MLS' overall point leader - Houston - which has 34 points in 19 games, one more than the Revolution's 18 games played.
The win was also New England's (9-3-6, 33 pts.) first at home over Kansas City since Sept. 7, 1999, and their first ever at Gillette Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, Noonan celebrated his 27th birthday in style and gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute when he tapped in a Taylor Twellman headed pass right in front of the goal. Khano Smith swung in a cross from the left wing and found Twellman on the far post, and the Revs' all-time leading goal scorer picked up his third assist in the last three games - all on Noonan goals - when Noonan punched in the shot from three yards out.
Cristman, MLS' top rookie scorer with four goals and four assists, then added to the lead one minute into injury time. He collected Revs keeper Matt Reis' clearance and knocked it out to Steve Ralston on the right wing. Ralston then threaded a through ball between the K.C. defense and Cristman ran onto the pass and blasted his nine-yard shot past Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for the two-goal advantage.
Kansas City's best chance of the game came on a Carlos Marinelli shot in the 29th minute. His shot long-range drive deflected off New England defender Michael Parkhurst and toward goal, where Reis managed to get enough of his hand on the shot to tip the ball off the left post for the save. The save was just one of his five on the night as Reis collected his seventh shutout of the season to move him into a tie for the league lead in the category. Hartman was credited with eight saves in the loss.
The Revs will host three more successive home games before playing another road game. They'll welcome rival D.C. United to Gillette Stadium at 4 p.m., on Sunday, Aug. 5, and the Harrisburg City Islanders in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, Aug. 8, before closing the homestand against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Aug. 12. For ticket information, visit revolutionsoccer.net, or call 1-877-GET-REVS.
Kansas City Wizards (8-6-5) at New England Revolution (9-3-6)
August 2, 2007 - Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium)
Scoring Summary
NE - Pat Noonan (Taylor Twellman, Khano Smith) 55
NE - Adam Cristman (Steve Ralston) 91+
Kansas City Wizards: Kevin Hartman, Jack Jewsbury (Ryan Raybould 70), Jimmy Conrad ©, Jose Burciaga Jr., Nick Garcia, Sasha Victorine (Yura Movsisyan 64), Carlos Marinelli, Kerry Zavagnin, Davy Arnaud, Michael Harrington (Kurt Morsink 80), Eddie Johnson
Substitutes Note Used: Eric Kronberg, Ryan Pore, Tyson Wahl, Lance Watson
STATS: Shots 16 (Marinelli 4); Shots on Goal 5 (5 players tied with 1); Saves 8 (Hartman 8); Corner Kicks 10 (Marinelli, Arnaud 4); Offsides 1 (Victorine 1); Fouls Suffered 13 (Arnaud 3); Fouls Committed 13 (Burciaga Jr., Marinelli 3)
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Avery John, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston ©, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Khano Smith, Andy Dorman (Wells Thompson 79), Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman 85)
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Bryan Byrne, Gary Flood, Marshall Leonard, James Riley
STATS: Shots 17 (Noonan, Dorman 4); Shots on Goal 10 (Noonan, Dorman 3); Saves 5 (Reis 5); Corner Kicks 4 (Ralston 4); Offsides 7 (Twellman, Noonan 3); Fouls Suffered 11 (Smith, Joseph 3); Fouls Committed 13 (Larentowicz 5)
Misconduct Summary:
KC - Carlos Marinelli (caution) 24
NE - Shalrie Joseph (caution) 24
KC - Ryan Reybould (caution) 79
Referee: Brian Hall
Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey (SAR), Thomas Supple (JAR)
Fourth Official: Erich Simmons
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Clear and 89 degrees
Attendance: 12,915
NOTES
• The victory over Kansas City was the first against the Wizards since Sept. 7, 1999 and the Revs' first-ever against K.C. at Gillette Stadium ... the victory was also New England's first overall against Kansas City since June 11, 2005 (2-0 at Arrowhead Stadium)
• The win extended New England's unbeaten streak to five games ... in that stretch, the team has gone 3-0-2 Pat Noonan scored his third goal in as many games and his fifth goal of the season ... he now has 35 career goals
• Taylor Twellman now has three assists this season, all in the last three games and all on Pat Noonan goals Matt Reis collected his seventh shutout of the season - just 18 games into the 30-game schedule - and is now tied for the MLS lead with Houston's Pat Onstad ... since the start of 2005, Reis has 27 shutouts, more than any other keeper in the league ... Reis is now just three shutouts shy of matching his best single-season mark - 10 - which he managed in both 2005 and 2006.
• Steve Ralston's assist on Adam Cristman's goal was the 116th of his career, extending his MLS record in the category.
• Avery John made his first start in the Revs' back line since July 8, a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA New England is now 5-0-2 in games played on artificial surfaces this season, including a 4-0-2 mark on the Gillette Stadium FieldTurf ... the Revs have outscored their opponents 16-5 in home games played on the FieldTurf.
• In addition to Noonan celebrating his 27th birthday, defender Jay Heaps celebrated his 31st birthday on Thursday Adam Cristman now leads all MLS rookies in both goals and assists with four goals and four assists ... he has appeared in 17 of the Revs' 18 games, making 11 starts.
