Fans awaiting another high-scoring, attacking display of soccer reminiscent of recent matches
between New England and D.C. United over the past matches were treated to a more traditional Revolution victory by
the game's only goal at Gillette Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both offenses struggled to push forward consistently, and Taylor Twellman's 59th minute strike was enough to
separate the two teams on the afternoon. The win extends the Revolution win streak to six consecutive matches as
they remained the only unbeaten team in MLS this season. Despite failing to hit the form seen in recent victories,
the Revs extended their shutout streak to 368 minutes -- last allowing a goal in the previous match against United
this season on April 23.
With both teams combining for inventive, attacking soccer over the past few encounters, the game started with
frantic, end-to-end soccer to captivate the neutral observer.
Alecko Eskandarian, struggling to find his form this season, opened the visitors barrage. From the short corner,
his volley from 14 yards flashed over the bar. Then Argentinian playmaker Christian Gomez used his guile to draw a
free kick from Revolution defender Jay Heaps in the seventh minute, but his effort from 20 yards was deflected out
by the stout Revolution wall.
The early United pressure nearly led to the opening goal in the 8th minute. Freddy Adu hit a tantalizing ball to
the far post where Mike Petke met the curling cross, firing his header towards the lower right corner of the goal.
Michael Parkhurst held his position to nod the ball off the line just before a desperate clearance.
The Revolution awakened momentarily after the goal line clearance, and Twellman rang the post with a header. Pat
Noonan's cross to the far post was flighted a touch farther than intended, and Twellman did well to rise to make a
solid connection.
A pair of defensive midfielders nearly tallied with long-distance lasers in the 15th and 16th minutes,
respectively. Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph buzzed his chance just over Nick Rimando's bar, while Clyde Simms
forced Matt Reis to palm his 35-yard effort away from the upper right-hand corner.
Adu continued to influence the game, and his slalom run after 30 minutes saw him skate through three Revolution
players before Parkhurst cleared the ball for a corner.
After the interval, it was clear that the game needed a goal to regain the energy lost after the first 15 minutes
and it was left Twellman to open the scoring on 59 minutes.
He had Noonan to thank for the goal, as Noonan's mazy dribbling run left Petke hopelessly adrift before slotting a
square pass to the unmarked Twellman. His first attempt was stopped by Rimando before Twellman emphatically slammed
the rebound into the roof of the net, stabbing it home just ahead of a diving Brandon Prideaux.
D.C. struggled to mount a consistent attack for much of the second half. Before he was withdrawn in the 72nd
minute, Adu provided a curling cross for Gomez at the near post and the playmaker knelt to meet it, but his header
was well off target.
The home side showed their technical ability with an intricate one-two in the United penalty area in the 74th
minute. Starting from the back, Jay Heaps played the ball wide to Twellman. Twellman's entry pass found Steve
Ralston, who worked a wall pass with Noonan before firing just over the bar.
United's best chance to equalize came in the 79th minute. Substitute Dema Kovalenko, who had come on for Adu, won a
free kick from Ralston at the right corner of the box. Gomez's curled free kick was well-struck and properly
placed, finding a waiting Eskandarian seven yards from goal.
But his cross was headed off the bottom of the right post by New England's Joseph, and the Revs rode out the final
stretch to record a fourth consecutive shutout and fifth of the season.
D.C. United head home to face the Kansas City Wizards at RFK Stadium on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET), while the
Revolution make a second consectuvie appearance on ESPN2's RadioShack Soccer Saturday, facing the MetroStars at
Giants Stadium (4 p.m.).
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution)
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
D.C. United (2-3-2) vs. New England Revolution (6-0-1)
May 14, 2005 -- Gillette Stadium
Scoring Summary:
NE -- Taylor Twellman 4 (Pat Noonan 1) 59
D.C. United -- Nick Rimando, Brandon Prideaux, Bobby Boswell, Mike Petke (Bryan Namoff 87), Ben Olsen (Brian
Carroll 87), Freddy Adu (Dema Kovalenko 72), Christian Gomez, Clyde Simms, Joshua Gros, Alecko Eskandarian, Jaime
Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Troy Perkins, David Stokes.
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Jaime Moreno 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 11 (Alecko Eskandarian 3); OFFSIDES: 0;
CORNER KICKS: 8 (Christian Gomez 5); SAVES: 3 (Nick Rimando 3)
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Avery John, Steve Ralston, Clint Dempsey,
Andy Dorman (Jeff Larentowicz 89), Marshall Leonard (Khano Smith 52), Taylor Twellman, Shalrie Joseph (Jose Cancela
88), Pat Noonan.
Substitutes Not Used: Connally Edozien, Ryan Latham, Luke Vercollone, Doug Warren.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (3 tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Taylor Twellman 2); FOULS: 22 (Pat Noonan 6); OFFSIDES: 1 (Andy
Dorman 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Andy Dorman 3); SAVES: 3 (Matt Reis 3)
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Mike Petke (caution; Reckless Foul) 73
NE -- Andy Dorman (caution; Reckless Foul) 76
Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: -Robert Fereday; Jorge De la Bandera
4th Official: Gus St. Silva
Attendance: 13,662
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Cloudy-and-60-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
