NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 2, NEW YORK RED BULLS 1
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the victory:
"It certainly wasn't the most fluid performance we've ever had, but we made chances -- we still made some chances -- but we can play better. We got a pretty soft penalty to be honest, but we're not complaining. At the end of the day, (Chris) Leitch had a hold of his jersey, so I guess you can't argue. But if we hadn't have gotten it, we wouldn't have been crying over it."
On the Revolution's performance:
"Well the effort, to be honest, the effort was there. I don't think that we started particularly well. The first 10 minutes we didn't do much. (Matt) Reis made two pretty huge saves tonight. A few weeks ago, we were talking about the mistake that he made at D.C., and one of the reasons why we don't lambaste him for that is because of what you see tonight, as well. He is going to come up strong for you more times than he is not."
On how it feels to be coming out of the game with three points:
"I am kind of divided to be honest. I think that we made some chances but I don't think we particularly controlled the game -- not that they did either. It was a wee bit scrappy out there, to be fair. But it is getting to that time of the year where it is points that matter more than anything else and we got three tonight. We would have liked to have been a lot more fluid, but we won and got three points. An unusual way to get it, but we'll take it."
On New England's rhythm:
"From when we scored, we kind of took it to them. It took us that long to get any kind of rhythm going at all. We really just wanted to try and play the second half the way that we had played the last 15 (minutes of the first half). But the effort was there. There was not fluidity, but the effort was there and we got the three points and that's what we put on the board."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER JEFF LARENTOWICZ
On the game-tying goal:
"We came out in the second half and we knew we had to go at them. At the end of the first half, we were all over them so we knew that if we were able to continue that pressure that it would come. They played a long ball over the top, and Matt (Reis) came right back and caught them asleep coming out of the half. Taylor (Twellman) finished it well."
On the upcoming U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Carolina:
"It's another game that we're completely focused on because the Open Cup is something we've missed in the last couple years. We're looking forward to the opportunity (to win), especially here in New England."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER MICHAEL PARKHURST
On capping a busy August:
"We knew going in it was going to be tough. That's a lot of games to play and a lot of traveling thrown in there, as well. But we're happy with that eight-game stretch. We had a couple real poor performances that we weren't pleased with, but we seemed to bounce back every time after a bad loss like that. It was good to follow up last weekend's victory with this weekend's victory and go into our break on a high note."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER STEVE RALSTON
On coming back in the second half:
"We came in at halftime saying we can easily score two goals. We have enough guys who can put the ball in the net. Stevie (Nicol) let us have it pretty good at halftime and got us going and we got our goal."
On the team's recent play:
"The way we've been lately is we've had one good game and one horrible game. We want to be able to put together a run of good quality soccer, and I think a couple years ago we did that ... I think there's been some really bright spots, but also a few too many of those hiccups so far. We have to get more consistent."
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the loss:
"I think we can accept the responsibility for this loss. We made some big blunders, and that was the difference in the game. ... I thought we played pretty hard and deserved something out of this game."
On Carlos Mendes' own goal:
"Well, hopefully he was trying to score, because if that was the case it was a pretty good play. He was just passing it back to the 'keeper. It happens from that far out."
On the Revolution's play:
"They're the home team and they're a good team. They're going to get some chances. That doesn't concern me. That's all part of the game."
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER CARLOS MENDES
On the own goal:
"I was pretty far out. I saw Jon (Conway) and played it back. I'm not sure what happened on the play; I'm not sure if he took his eye off it or he's moving one way and the ball went another. It's one of those plays where I didn't really even see it. I kind of turned to step up the field and the next thing I know it's going in the net. It's something that you've got to put behind you and move on."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JOZY ALTIDORE
On his goal:
"I got the ball, and it's all really because of Dane (Richards). He gave me the over-lapping run and he brought (Michael) Parkhurst with him. So I saw the space there and Juan (Pablo Angel) made a good movement, they played the ball back to me and I just finished."
On the loss:
"It's getting annoying, we're playing well. We're staying with teams and just having mental lapses on plays, which are losing points down the line. And games are getting critical now, it's the last seven or eight games coming down and we have to be more disciplined. We have to learn how to close games out so we can make the playoffs."
