FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – After toiling through a stretch of results where the New England players and technical staffers felt they deserved more than they received, the Revolution secured an emphatic 4-1 victory over Vancouver on Saturday night.
HIGHLIGHTS: NE 4, VAN 1
Although the triumph continued a fine run of three wins in four attempts at Gillette Stadium, the overall performance did not place the Revs under any illusions about the work still ahead as they attempt to mount a viable playoff push this season.
“It felt good to get the win and get three points,” Revolution defender A.J. Soares told MLSsoccer.com. “We've shown that we're a tough team to play at home and that's what we want. We still have stuff we need to tighten up, though. We're not satisfied with the game. We're happy with the result and the three points, but we're really looking at it [and saying] that we need to learn from it.”
Revolution head coach Jay Heaps admitted that he wanted to see his players muster a better start in the wake of Eric Hassli's fifth-minute goal, but he also noted that his squad responded quickly to the setback and showed the type of competitive mentality he has demanded throughout his first season in charge.
“We passed the ball well, we defended well and we competed,” Heaps said. “Rather than putting our heads down, we went right back at them. That's the mentality we want to have.”
The tricky prospect for the Revs now according to Heaps? Finding a way to replicate the application and the spirit exhibited against the Whitecaps on a weekly basis.
“We need more performances like that,” Heaps said. “We had a lot of guys have very good games. We need to continue that. We need the very good games to become the consistent games, as opposed to one very good game and then a poor game.”
It isn't an easy objective to accomplish, but Revolution forward Blake Brettschneider said he and his teammates will use the positives from Saturday's victory to help their preparations for Houston's visit this weekend.
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“We'll take our results and learn what we can from them,” Brettschneider said. “You saw what happened last Saturday. It is about being consistent and getting results, especially at home. Houston are definitely on our mind and they won't be taken lightly. We'll take it one day at a time and make sure we take care of them.”
