up and down. It's disappointing because over the course of eight months you're working towards one goal and not knowing which team is going to come out and play on a given day, it's pretty frustrating. It's not for a lack of effort. Our guys work hard every day. But when it comes to concentration and little things that make differences in games, we let ourselves down."
On New England's home-field advantage:
"They're the home team and that team tends to play more aggressively. They did one thing better than us tonight -- they scored a second goal. They finished off a play and you can credit Ralston with the finish or you can look at ourselves and say 'Could we have done better at defending?' Both teams fought hard and played like it mattered and they made one more play than us. We thought it would be a one-goal game and that's what it was. That's our season right there.
On the Fire's overall season:
"I'm embarrassed because it's the first time we don't make the playoffs. The fans deserve better. We deserve better. We've had a lot of support from everyone and we let people down but we'll move on and put together a better effort next year. Again, it wasn't for a lack of effort. I think everyone can count on a better team in 2005."
