Midfielder Steve Ralston was seemingly emblematic of the New England Revolution's tie against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
He had missed on a wonderful chance right before his match-tying goal. The Revolution dominated offensively in the second half, but couldn't get the ball into the goal. Until Ralston took a feed from midfielder Clint Dempsey and found the corner of the net. Forward Pat Noonan started the play with a pass to Dempsey.
"We passed the ball well and created a lot of chances," Ralston said. "Our finishes were just a little bit off."
Said Revolution head coach Steve Nicol: "When the game is going on and you are making chances, you feel as though it is not going to happen, and then a few surprises. This team just keeps going. I think we deserved one [point] for the game.
The Revolution were apparently feeling the imperative of getting the ball into the goal with the referee's watch counting down. Josh Wolff had given the Wizards a lead after 12 minutes, and they were desperately trying to hang on and put an end to their seven-game losing streak in style.
"Fortunately we got five minutes of injury time, because we needed all of it," Ralston said.
The Revolution rebounded well from the early goal. But even though they had the better of the play -- especially in the second half -- they just couldn't find the goal they needed.
"Matt Reis made some saves to stop it from going 2-0. When you lose a goal, which is rare for Reis, if that was the other way around we could have given up faith," Nicol said. "For the rest of the 60 minutes we were in control of the game."
It was another typical visit to Kansas City, where the Revolution haven't found the confines of Arrowhead especially friendly. They've struggled in Kansas City.
"We haven't played well here. I can't remember ever playing a game as well here as we did tonight," Ralston said.
"We were thinking that we should have won, " said defender Avery John. "But we got a point. Live and learn."
Saturday's game was the start of a killer road trip for the Revolution. On Wednesday, they play in the U.S. Open Cup at Rochester, N.Y., against the Rhinos. Then they fly to Los Angeles for a Sunday match against Chivas USA.
"We have to take care of ourselves for sure," Ralston said.
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
