The New England Revolution again gave up an early goal on the road, but battled back on goals by Andy Dorman and Taylor Twellman before eventually conceding a late goal as they settled for a 2-2 tie against the Columbus Crew on Thursday evening.
"We were unfortunate to give up the first goal," said Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. "It was a deflection off of Shalrie (Joseph)."
Unfortunate or not, the Revolution were not about to go down 1-0 as they had done in the season opener at Chicago. They quickly fought back to tie and then to take the lead against the Crew.
Dorman scored less than two minutes after Ned Grabavoy's deflected shot had put the home club ahead. The Revolution went into the break with the lead after Twellman's league-leading third goal.
"I wanted to hit it hard on goal and fortunately it went in," said Twellman of his powerful shot from distance seven minutes before halftime. He intercepted a pass and raced forward unmolested before firing a bounding drive from all of 25 yards.
Revolution coach Steve Nicol, though generally unhappy about his team's play, was thankful for the play by his starting forwards. Twellman scored and strike partner Adam Cristman set up Dorman's goal.
"(Twellman) took his goal great," Nicol said. "The only reason that we got a point was because we did have some quality."
In particularly, Nicol was unimpressed with his team's second half performance, which eventually allowed the Crew to level the match.
"Certainly, the second half was torture. I have never seen us give the ball away so much under pressure or not under pressure," said Nicol. "I don't know if we lost points tonight or gained one."
While Nicol was unsure, Reis's perspective was perfectly clear.
"We left points out there," said Reis. "Any time you can get a point on the road, it is good, but we should have had three points on the road."
Twellman echoed similar thoughts as Reis. "We let this one slip away, it is as simple as that. In the last 20 minutes, we were under then gun. We just didn't do it," he said.
One reason that Twellman thought that the Revolution should have garnered the win was because he should have put his club ahead 3-1 in the 75th minute.
"In the second half, I had a very good chance. I hit it on goal but the 'keeper (Andy Gruenebaum) made a good save," said Twellman. "Pat (Noonan) and I had a good last 20 or 25 minutes. I should have had one."
The miss proved costly as the Crew, a team the Revolution have tormented in the past with late goals, scored through Kei Kamara four minutes from time. The Revs believe they bear the responsibility for the goals.
"I don't think any team has outplayed us and all three goals (on the season) that we have given up are our own fault," said Reis.
But even if they have not been outplayed, their play against the Crew was admittedly far from perfect.
"I don't think we played very well tonight. I didn't think we possessed the ball enough," said Reis. "I think there is room for improvement."
