The New England Revolution were six short minutes away from a second win at Giants Stadium this year, just six minutes from sweeping the season series against the New York Red Bulls and inching closer to D.C. United, the Eastern Conference's pace-setters.
Instead, New England's back line fell asleep on the pivotal play in the 84th minute, and the Revs left the Meadowlands with just one point and wearing long faces.
"We're a little disappointed we didn't get a win," said Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston after Red Bulls sniper Juan Pablo Angel scored the late equalizer, his 16th strike of the season, in the 2-2 tie.
"When you're winning 2-1 with a few minutes left in the game, you have to finish the game off. Unfortunately tonight we made one mistake where two guys went for the ball, neither of them won it and we got punished," Ralston said. "It was just some miscommunication there on that play, but I guess if you had told me before the season that we'd take four points in New York, we would have been happy with it."
Revs striker Taylor Twellman gave the visitors a lead in each half, but both times New York clawed its way back. Francis Doe, starting just his second MLS match, was the home team's most dangerous player, and he got his side's first tying goal in the 37th minute before setting up Angel's late one with a clever head flick off a long pass.
"It was a 60-yard punt," said New England coach Steve Nicol of the crucial play. "At that stage of the game, they're just getting the ball forward. (Angel) was where he should have been, and it was great finish."
Twellman's double put him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time MLS scoring chart. He now has 89 career strikes, one more than Roy Lassiter.
"It's bittersweet," said Twellman of the milestone. "As a team, we need to get better holding the lead. That's the frustrating thing, but we are still doing well creating chances and we were fortunate to score two good goals tonight."
Although it was the final meeting of the regular season between the I-95 rivals, the match might have been a playoff preview. With the Revs in second place and the Red Bulls right behind them in the East, the two would face off in the first round if the postseason started this week. Such a matchup would appear to favor New England, which has dominated New York in recent years, particularly in playoff action. Still, the Revs aren't looking forward to the potential pairing.
"It seems like we've always done pretty well against these guys but they are a good team and it's never easy," Ralston said. "They have some guys who can score goals. Their two center backs win everything in the air, and Claudio (Reyna) brings a lot of experience for them.
"They're a lot more dangerous this year," he added. "Obviously, when you can bring Clint Mathis and Jozy Altidore off the bench in the 80th minute, you've got a lot of firepower. I think they finally have the goal-scorers they've been missing in previous years."
Twellman agreed. "Bruce Arena has brought a lot of order to their team. They are a little bit more organized this year, but they've always been tough. Jeff Parke and Seth Stammler are two strong center backs and when you have Jozy and Juan Pablo Angel up top, you're going to be dangerous.
"There is a little bit of a rivalry and they are always good games," he continued. "We need to keep playing well because you need to go into the playoffs on a roll."
Doug McIntyre is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
