matching the RSL club record, set when D.J. Countess made 13 saves in a 2-2 draw with San Jose in 2005.
• RSL was forced to play a man down for the final eight minutes after Ritchie Kotschau was sent off mere seconds after coming on as a substitute. It was the second time in MLS history a player had been sent off within a minute of coming onto the field (and no starting player has ever been sent off in the first minute).
• Four of Rimando's saves came over the final minutes, including one where Andy Williams slowed up a Jay Heaps attempt on the line before the RSL 'keeper claimed it, but the visitors' defense stood resolute for a second consecutive goalless draw.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, James Riley - Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith (Bryan Byrne 71) - Andy Dorman (Wells Thompson 63) - Taylor Twellman, Adam Cristman (Pat Noonan 64). Substitutes Not Used: Daniel Hernandez, Avery John, Marshall Leonard, Doug Warren
• Here's Kreis' team (4-1-3-2): Nick Rimando - Jack Stewart, Nikolas Besagno (Chris Brown 59), Eddie Pope, Willis Forko (Ritchie Kotschau 81) - Chris Lancos - Chris Klein, Mehdi Ballouchy, Freddy Adu - Alecko Eskandarian, Atiba Harris (Andy Williams 66). Substitutes Not Used: Steven Curfman, Kyle Brown, Chris Seitz, Jamie Watson
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake lost for the third consecutive match and the fifth time in six games, falling 1-0 to the Kansas City Wizards in their last match, July 14 at Arrowhead Stadium. Real sit in sixth place in the Western Conference with nine points from 15 matches, four points behind fifth-place Los Angeles Galaxy and nine points behind the Colorado Rapids.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards hadn't won since June 2 -- coinciding with the departure of Eddie Johnson to the U.S. national team, while Real Salt Lake had suffered back-to-back losses after capturing their first victory of the season.
• In Johnson's last two games before leaving for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, he had scored a hat trick in each, becoming the first player in league history to do. And in the 19th minute, he picked up right where he left off in league play.
• Jose Burciaga Jr. lofted a long ball from the left side and Johnson skillfully brought it down before ripping a low drive in the area. It beat RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando -- but not the near post -- though Johnson coolly got to the rebound and side-footed home for his 10th goal on the campaign, putting him into a tie for the league lead.
• RSL head coach Jason Kreis made three changes to the team that lost 2-0 to the Columbus Crew the week before. Chris Lancos, Kyle Brown and Chris Wingert (acquired from Colorado) all came into the team, in place of Andy Williams, Mehdi Ballouchy and the suspended Alecko Eskandarian.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-4-2): Nick Rimando - Jean-Martial Kipre, Eddie Pope, Daniel Torres, Ritchie Kotschau - Carey Talley, Atiba Harris, Chris Lancos, Chris Wingert (Jamie Watson 46) - Robbie Findley (Kenny Cutler 69), Kyle Brown (Andy Williams 46). Substitutes Not Used: Nikolas Besagno, Willis Forko, Kyle Reynish, Jack Stewart
• "I don't have much of a reason to hold my head down after the game tonight. When I was coming off the field tonight I saw all the guys with empty tanks. That is all I can ask for as a coach," Kreis said. "As the leader of them I think they put in a very solid effort tonight and I think we deserved to equalize late in the game."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the eighth time in 15 games Real were shut out, and the second time on the season they lost 1-0. RSL has also played to three scoreless ties.
• "I guess the good thing is that we fought back," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "Our second half was a lot better. It's usually the opposite where we play a good first half and the second half is a bit of a letdown ... It's something within us that we have to find. Maybe it's heart, maybe it's attitude. It's something we better find quick. Because we're already at the halfway mark and points are getting lost. And we're getting in the hole deeper and deeper."
• However, since their last league game, Real have played a pair of friendlies against high-profile competition that will certainly help raise the spirits. Last Saturday, RSL defeated Everton FC of the English Premier League 2-0, as Carey Talley and Alecko Eskandarian scored barely a minute apart in the first half.
• "It has to be a confidence booster," Kreis said. "I'm sure it is, to play a Premiership team, and to be victorious, and to outplay them all night, we can't discount that."
• Kreis ran out a new midfield unit in the match, with the recently acquired Kyle Beckerman and Nathan Sturgis, in his first game with the club after his arrival from the Los Angeles Galaxy came while he was with the U.S. U-20 national team, fitting in alongside Andy Williams and Carey Talley.
• "What you have there is three very similar players; one that I think is quite comfortable with the ball on his left foot, one that is a leader, and one that likes the ball on his right," Kreis said. "Those three did a good job of covering for each other, getting in the right postions for each other."
• Here's Kreis's team: Nick Rimando (Kyle Reynish 46), Nikolas Besagno (Jack Stewart 46), Daniel Torres (Ritchie Kotschau 46), Jean Martial Kipre (Chris Lancos 46), Chris Wingert (Willis Forko 46), Kyle Beckerman (Jamie Watson 61), Carey Talley (Kenny Cutler 61), Andy Williams (Atiba Harris 61), Nathan Sturgis (Christian Jimenez 61), Alecko Eskandarian (Dustin Kirby 66), Robbie Findley (Kyle Brown 45)
• Then on Tuesday, Real came away with a 1-1 draw against Argentinean superpower Boca Juniors, recently crowned club champion of South America. A Freddy Adu penalty kick in first-half stoppage time gave RSL the lead before Mauro Boselli hit for the leveler midway through the second half.
• Here's Kreis's team: Nick Rimando, Chris Lancos, Ritchie Kotschau (Jack Stewart 64), Eddie Pope (Nikolas Besagno 46), Willis Forko, Kyle Beckerman (Jamie Watson 46), Carey Talley (Kenny Cutler 46), Andy Williams (Atiba Harris 46), Nathan Sturgis (Christian Jimenez 46), Kyle Brown, Freddy Adu (Chris Brown 68).
• "We're very pleased with the progress that has been made over the past few weeks," said Kreis. "We're very pleased with the way we've played in these last two friendlies. In some ways it would have been nice have left that group on and seen what they could have done through out the 90 minutes. But, we have to be focused on the second half of the season in MLS."
• With the new-look midfield, that now means that Freddy Adu will fill a second forward role. The game against Boca was his first back with RSL after returning from the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
• "I played pretty much the same position I played with the U-20s. That was great, being a second forward, attacking midfielder-type guy. Going back to receive the ball, get it, turn and go at people. That's always been my natural position," said Adu. "But, somewhere along the way when I came into the league I started playing left mid. And I still don't know how that whole thing got started. But, hopefully I'll be able to get more chances at that position because I definitely feel more comfortable there."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution came back to claim a 3-3 draw with Houston Dynamo in their top-of-the-table MLS Cup rematch last Sunday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution remained in top spot in the Eastern Conference, now level with the New York Red Bulls, both teams on 27 points, a point ahead of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• Dynamo came to New England sporting a gaudy shutout streak of better than 11-1/2 hours, while not having lost in league play since May 26, a span of 10 games. The Revolution had won just twice in their previous seven games, but still moved atop the East with a win against New York the week before.
• Houston's record 726-minute shutout run came to an end in the 32nd minute. A long clearance was headed on by Taylor Twellman, and Pat Noonan took advantage of a fallen defender to run onto the ball just outside the area and lift it over an onrushing Pat Onstad, the ball bouncing over the line just before Wade Barrett was able to clear.
• After the break, the game suddenly burst to life. Four minutes after the restart Dwayne De Rosario hit a candidate for Goal of the Year honors, hitting a wicked, dipping strike from nearly 30 yards that sailed past Matt Reis inside the right-hand post.
• It took just two minutes for the Revolution to regain the lead, Pat Noonan reaching around a defender to poke a half-cleared cross toward Twellman, and he hooked home a bouncing shot from the heart of the box. But Dynamo again pulled level in the 60th minute, as Joseph Ngwenya collected the ball on the right and slid a pass into the six-yard box that Brian Ching slotted home.
• Barely a minute later, Ching put Dynamo into their first lead. A free kick was swung in from the left flank and Ching rose up unmarked to head home for his second goal of the game and fourth in the last five.
• But five minutes after that, the Revolution again pulled even, though not without some controversy. A free kick was driven into the wall, and De Rosario was adjudged to have used his hands when he knocked the ball down. From the ensuing penalty kick, Sharlie Joseph was saved by Onstad's dive to his left -- but referee Kevin Stott called for the kick to be retaken as Onstad moved off his line too early and a host of Houston defenders entered the box before the ball was struck. Joseph made no mistake with his second chance, driving it fiercely into the goal.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made no changes to the team that defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 the weekend before. Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, James Riley - Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Khano Smith (Wells Thompson 46) - Andy Dorman - Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman 71), Taylor Twellman. Substitutes Not Used: Bryan Byrne, Gary Flood, Avery John, Brad Knighton, Marshall Leonard
• "Well it was a bit of a rollercoaster game. At halftime, we could have been three ahead with three fantastic chances that we never took. And then the heat got to us to be honest. We made a lot of mistakes that we wouldn't normally have done," Nicol said. "I think the heat was draining a lot of people. You can look at both defenses and say both teams defended poorly, and there's a reason for that. You know when it's as hot as it is, it's far easier to run forward than it is to run back. That's just a fact of soccer. And I think that was part of the problem."
TEAM NEWS
• In their previous meetings, the teams had played to three 1-1 draws (though Dynamo, of course, won MLS Cup 2007 in a penalty shootout), then the Revolution won the first meeting this year 1-0. And so, after scoring seven goals combined in four games, there were six scored in one - the first time the teams met as leaders of their respective conferences.
• "You come out at halftime and we feel as though we should have been couple goals ahead - purely on the chances we made," Nicol said. "There's nothing between these two teams, there's not a great deal between them at all and for us to have made the chances that we did, we were disappointed not to be a couple of goals up. Then you get punished.
• The game was stereotypical of a Revolution home campaign that has struggled to get off the ground. It was the fourth draw for the team at Gillette Stadium (3-1-4) on the season.
• "It's the story of our year. We have to figure it out," said Taylor Twellman. "At home, we can't keep doing this to ourselves. Out of the six ties we probably should have four wins." Said Andy Dorman: "We need to be taking three points at home. If we want to get where we need to be, we need to be taking these points before we have to go on the road and get them."
• The Revolution had three players who played key and sustained roles in the MLS All-Stars victory against Celtic FC - Shalrie Joseph, Michael Parkhurst and Matt Reis. But Dynamo contributed three of their own: Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching.
• "You had players out there today, important players for both teams, who are tired from playing on Thursday (at the MLS All-Star Game)," Nicol said. "But, at the same time, I'm sure there are a lot of people in the stands not complaining. We were going crazy on the side, so I'm sure if you're a supporter you must have enjoyed it."
• The equalizer came from a rarely seen instance when a saved penalty was ruled out. "Some referees call it, and some referees don't. Once they cross the line I think you should get it again. I'm glad I got it again and I got a chance to redeem myself," Joseph said. "... I just wanted to hit it as hard as I could on the second one, because I already messed up on the first one. I didn't have any choice but to hit it hard. That's all I was thinking about."
• Since winning three games on the trot, the Revolution have won just twice in the last eight. In those games they've allowed three goals on two occasions and four goals once.
• "When it's so hot and defenses are tired and people just don't have the extra half a gallon of legs, then they just don't close the ball properly and De Rosario sticks it in. It's a fantastic goal," Nicol said. "And (Brian) Ching's goals were just bad marking."
