in the 72nd minute Jovan Kirovski hit a rasping drive from outside the area that crashed off the crossbar, and in stoppage time Jacob Peterson's header clinked off the outside of the post.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that lost 4-0 to Houston Dynamo three nights earlier, swapping out both of his wide midfielders. Dane Richards and Clint Mathis came in, while Markus Schopp and Dave van den Bergh returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Ronald Waterreus - Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes (Joe Vide 54), Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite - Dane Richards (Markus Schopp 81), Claudio Reyna, Seth Stammler, Clint Mathis - Juan Pablo Angel, John Wolyniec (Dave van den Bergh 71). Substitutes Not Used: Jon Conway, Chris Leitch, Santino Quaranta, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• This was a typical MLS game. ... I think Colorado played hard and put us under a lot of pressure trying to get the goal back," Arena said.
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls hadn't kept a clean sheet in six games, allowing 16 goals over that time. But after allowing four goals just three nights earlier in Houston, they got the first shutout since May 24.
• "The part we did a little bit better was we defended as a team for 90 minutes. We are a little limited right now with so many injuries. We have not played well this month, but at the end of the day we are in first place after 15 games, and we've played six home and nine away," Arena said. "I'm the first to tell you it's not good enough and it has to get better. However, if you look at it, it could be a heck of a lot worse."
• The Rapids had the majority of possession and did have an edge in total shots. But goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus was called upon to make only two saves, and just one needed to be of high quality, though two balls did hit the woodwork.
• "They were very active and we noticed early on that they were pressing us. After the Houston game we sat down and as a back four we decided that we needed to be more cohesive and if we gave them anything we would give it to them out wide, and close the gaps in the middle," said left back Kevin Goldthwaite. "For the most part I thought we did pretty well, it was a much better defensive performance."
• The win also ended a stretch of seven games where the Red Bulls played six away from home, winning two of those. The Red Bulls now have five consecutive games at home, beginning with the Revolution match.
• "In this league every team has come to realize that winning on the road is difficult. We needed this ugly win to get us going, and get our confidence up going into the next five games," said Claudio Reyna. "It's now halfway through and we are in first place, we have the next five games at home, we are reasonably healthy; we have to be happy. We needed the shutout for our confidence -- we haven't worked that well as a team defensively."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution played to a third draw in their last five games, forced to come back to claim a share of the spoils in a 1-1 tie with Chivas USA last Saturday at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with 23 points from 14 matches, level with D.C. United, a point behind the New York Red Bulls.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution were the only team not to play on Independence Day, their last match the 2-0 loss at Chivas USA the weekend before. In between, Chivas began their road trip with a 2-0 loss at FC Dallas.
• The visitors got off to a dream start. Alex Zotinca put in a corner from the right, and Claudio Suarez knifed in for a clear header that bounced high into the goal for a fifth-minute lead.
• Chivas had their chances to add to their lead but couldn't do so, and the Revolution hit for equalizer in the 64th minute. Ralston put in a corner from the right and Andy Dorman swung his leg to side-volley home his career-best sixth goal on the season. It was the 114th assist of Ralston's league career, tying him with former Tampa Bay Mutiny teammate Carlos Valderrama for the all-time MLS lead.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made one change to the team that lost 2-0 to Chivas USA the week before on the West Coast. Shalrie Joseph returned to the team, coming in for Gary Flood in the heart of the midfield.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, James Riley, Avery John (Khano Smith 46) - Steve Ralston, Michael Parkhurst, Shalrie Joseph, Wells Thompson - Andy Dorman - Pat Noonan, Adam Cristman (Taylor Twellman 56). Substitutes Not Used: Bryan Byrne, Gary Flood, Kyle Helton, Brad Knighton, Marshall Leonard
• "We tried to play nice passing football too early in the game. You have to win the battle first to earn the right to play, and I felt we made it easy for them by putting too many short balls in the middle of the field. That's ideal for them to close the ball down," Nicol said. "And it's a bad goal we lose on that corner, but what leads up to that is losing the ball in the middle of the park. But after the first 20 minutes of the first half, we really took control of the game. From them on, it was one-sided."
TEAM NEWS
• After the break, Nicol realigned his team and things were different. Khano Smith went to the left side of midfield, Michael Parkhurst returned to the back four, Taylor Twellman came on up front.
• "That was the real team you saw second half," Nicol said. "We wanted to make a statement - we wanted to show that we were coming at them and looking to move forward at all times. And once we won the battle, we could start to play football, and that's exactly what we did right from the word go in the second half."
• Then in the 64th minute came the equalizer, courtesy of Ralston's milestone assist on the corner. "I'm more upset about the fact that we didn't win the game honestly. But one more and I'll be at the top. Like I've said before, it's just a reflection of the longevity of my soccer career and I've played with some great players so that's helped as well," he said.
• Said Nicol: "I mean you just tell the guy, you ask the guy to do a job and it doesn't matter what it is, he goes and does it. He's invaluable to us and we can use him left, right, up the middle, forward, back ... but that's not the beauty of him. The beauty of him is wherever you play him, it's the quality you get from him. Anybody can play in five positions, but they can't all play as well all the time in every single one."
• The goal from Dorman matched his output of a year ago, and was the 16th of his MLS career. "We're only halfway through (the season) and he's tied his career high for goals," said Nicol. "He's been playing great. He makes such great runs, and times them so well out of the midfield and into the front third. He finds the holes and he's been doing a great job, he's becoming a big-time player."
• While Twellman was available from the start, Nicol didn't want to his start his leading scorer after his return from Copa America and the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• "We didn't want to labor him. He's had six weeks (with the national team) and hasn't had a day off in six weeks. I wanted to bring him on in the right situation where it would benefit him and that's what happened," Nicol said. "Unfortunately, their goalie has made two phenomenal saves and he hasn't got a goal."
• On Tuesday night, the Revolution once again faced the Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL1) in the U.S. Open Cup, and again were given a scare before advancing 4-2 from their third-round tie. Ralston scored in the 19th minute and Twellman in the 67th to seemingly send the Revs on their way, but Hamed Diallo scored twice in 10 minutes to pull the home side level. But Twellman scored in the final minute of regulation and Ralston added a penalty in stoppage time to send the Revs through to the fourth round.
• Here's Nicol's team: Matt Reis, Avery John, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, Marshall Leonard (Khano Smith 61), Andy Dorman (James Riley 57), Gary Flood (Kyle Helton 84), Wells Thompson, Steve Ralston, Pat Noonan, Taylor Twellman
• The Revolution will face the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Second Division (third tier) in the quarterfinals, 1-0 winners against D.C. United on Wednesday night.
