Business as usual resumed last weekend at Gillette Stadium: the New England Revolution scored goals, kept the visitors off the scoreboard, and won the game.
Saturday night's 3-0 victory over Toronto FC represented a return to normalcy for the Eastern Conference leaders after three consecutive weeks where the team had lost the plot.
In the first three contests of its four-match homestand, New England conceded seven goals and dropped seven of a possible nine points (0-1-2).
While the effort and performances were not poor, the team had shown a peculiar tendency to make mistakes at the wrong time, according to Revs midfielder Andy Dorman.
"We had a chance to keep three points [in those games] and we've made some mistakes," Dorman said.
Added Revolution defender Jay Heaps: "I think we were making mistakes that led to the breaks that led to the goals."
Dorman believes that it wasn't the flow of goals (New England had averaged two strikes per game during the three matches) that led to the dropped points, but the costly errors that proved hurtful.
"We've been scoring goals," Dorman said. "As a team, we made a few mistakes."
With high-flying Toronto FC heading to town, Heaps said that his team knew it had to step up the effort defensively in order to secure the three points the team needed to send Revs head coach Steve Nicol to the 2007 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game and the team to the top of the table.
"Defensively, we were trying to put a finger in the dam," Heaps said.
Aside from a 37th-minute chance from Jeff Cunningham, Heaps and defensive mates James Riley and Avery John halted any serious chances from the TFC strikers. Mistakes that were happening further up field halted, and the team united for a comprehensive victory.
Nicol attributed the win to the ability of his team to refocus and eliminate the errors that were plaguing them in previous contests.
"We just didn't make mistakes in the wrong places," Nicol said. "Against Real Salt Lake, we couldn't score. Kansas City was a disaster."
An improved all-around performance aided his side, Nicol said.
"We did everything right," Nicol said. "We took our chances. There were no mistakes in back."
Heaps mentioned that the effort remained constant despite the adverse results and attributed the victory to the improved team performance and the elimination of those costly mistakes.
"It was the same type of effort," Heaps said. "We shored up things at the back. We made the types of plays we hadn't been making."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
