Where New England fell on the sword twice during the regular season, they lived by it in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Columbus.
The art of the free kick propelled the Revolution to a 4-2 road victory, as they scored twice off of spot-on set pieces. The Revs conceded on dead-ball situations on two different occasions in two defeats to the Crew earlier in the year, but head coach Jay Heaps stressed the importance of using them as a weapon just moments before his club hit the pitch on Saturday.
“It’s something we’ve spent a lot of time working on in training,” said Chris Tierney, who scored on a splendid free kick early in the second half. “The last thing Jay said before we went out for the game today was, 'Let’s get a set-piece goal.'”
New England did not get just one, but two. The first came in the 34th minute with the Revs set up from 30 yards out, with Tierney and Kelyn Rowe perched over the ball as blue and yellow jerseys jockeyed for position in the penalty box.
It was Rowe who stepped up to the mic, sending a pass over the Columbus wall that took a bounce in the penalty area before a soaring Charlie Davies alertly headed it home at the far post for a 1-0 lead.
“We’ve got some good options,” Tierney said. “Right-footers, left-footers that can play in different kinds of balls. You see the ball that Kelyn Rowe put in on the run that Charlie made for the first goal. That’s something we worked on in training all week in training. The hard work paid off.”
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The next opportunity came just outside the Crew box in the 51st minute after a hard challenge by Tyson Wahl on Rowe in the arc. With the ball central to the goal and 20 yards out, Lee Nguyen stepped over it first, but left it for Tierney to curl over the wall with his left foot, past Steve Clark and under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.
The excellent execution of set pieces was not ultimately the deciding factor, but they helped set the tone for the Revolution's strong start to the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T.
“If you can have different guys with different looks, balls coming in at different heights and angles, it makes it difficult for any team you’re going to play against," said Tierney.
