There was certainly no US Open Cup hangover for the New England Revolution. Just ask the Montreal Impact.
Four days after falling to FC Dallas in the Final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Revolution went into Montreal and defeated the Impact, 3-1, at Stade Saputo on Saturday. Kelyn Rowe led New England in the victory with an inspired performance, bagging a brace and assist.
With the win, the Revolution leapfrogged D.C. United and Orlando City to move above the Easteron Conference red line and into sixth place with a 9-12-9 record. The Impact (9-9-11), remain in fifth place.
Box Score
- 1' —NE — Kei Kamara (Kelyn Rowe, Juan Agudelo)
- 27' — NE — Kelyn Rowe (Kei Kamara, Diego Fagundez)
- 50' — MTL — Didier Drogba (Penalty Kick)
- 59' — NE — Kelyn Rowe
- Full box score
- Stats
- Watch highlights
Three Things
- SETTING THE TONE: If there was any concern about the New England Revolution still being gutted over their U.S. Open Cup loss, it quickly went out the window. The club set the tone with a goal just 23 seconds into the match, and continued to be the aggressor. Whereas some teams would take a more defensive posture on the road, New England continued to push numbers forward and scored a second goal to put the Impact in a hole that they could not get out of.
- ROWE-ING MACHINE: While the Revolution got solid efforts from the likes of Kei Kamara and Juan Agudelo, no player shone brighter than Kelyn Rowe. The midfielder set up Kamara's opener and scored two goals, but those were far from his only contributions: Rowe was constantly in the thick of things when New England were in the attack, and he was the true danger man for Jay Heaps' side.
- GOALS CHANGE GAMES: The Montreal Impact were down 2-1, but had some newfound life after Drogba's penalty kick and nearly found an equalizer shortly after the 50th-minute strike. Drogba played Ignacio Piatti in on goal, but Piatti smashed a shot over the crossbar despite being open at close range. Unfortunately for Montreal, that proved more than costly as Rowe scored his second goal moments later.
Next Up
