[Nick] Rimando made some good saves and we clearly should have had a penalty."
TEAM NEWS
Dating back to the final game of the 2004 league season, the Revolution had a 12-game unbeaten streak, tied for third best on the all-time MLS list along with the San Jose Earthquakes (4/28/01-7/4/01), Miami Fusion (4/21/01-7/4/01), Kansas City Wizards (3/25/00-5/27/00) and Los Angeles Galaxy (twice: 10/9/99-5/20/00 and 4/13/96-6/26/96). The longest streak was set by the Columbus Crew, 19 games (ending earlier this season), surpassing the Los Angeles Galaxy's 15-game skein from 9/7/97-5/17/98.
''It is a good lesson and that is what I said just now [to the team in the locker room]. Unless you win the battle, and I've said it all year, but you have to win the right to play," Nicol said. "We were second on every single thing. The physical side, we were second best. You can't give a team like D.C. an easy ride."
Jose ``Pepe'' Cancela, who was pulled off at halftime for Andy Dorman, said the Revs dug too deep a hole in the first half. "We needed to keep it 2-nil down,'' Nicol said. "Maybe we should have been 4-nil down after losing the middle of the field. Pepe came out but it wasn't his fault. He came out because we needed a more physical presence and I think we got that.''
The Revolution didn't get a tough stretch of games off to a good start. They play three games this week and five games in 21 days, through the July 9 match in Chicago. Four of the games are on the road, including a trip to Los Angeles for a July 4 game.
''You grow every game, win, lose, or draw," Reis said. ''Some games this year we have done enough to win or tie but it wasn't complete domination. But you can't not show up and expect to win games. It is highly unlikely you are going to go a whole season without taking a loss. We are playing good teams and when you go on the road it is tough to get points."
