FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It was one of those nights in which a goalkeeper can only throw his mitts in the air and curse the soccer gods.
On Saturday, Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttelworth was snakebitten by pair of long-range efforts from Adam Moffat that found the back of the net in a 2-1 loss to the Dynamo.
“I don’t think you are going to see two goals like that very often,” Shuttleworth said. “That first one is probably [going] to be up for goal of the year at the end of the season. Second one is coming off the post, hitting me in the back. That has never happened to me before.”
OPTA Chalkboard: Moffat makes 'em count for Dynamo
The way the first half unfolded, with Shuttleworth largely untested by a Dynamo attack that failed to put a shot on net, it appeared the second half was going to be smooth sailing for the goalkeeper who was looking for a league-leading ninth clean sheet.
That hope lasted until the 49th minute. Chad Barrett headed away an Andrew Driver corner kick, but it didn’t make it far enough to evade Moffat, who was stationed near the top of the box. The veteran immediately volleyed it past Shuttleworth, who reacted too late to do anything to stop it.
“Yeah [the ball] pops out and I can’t see the ball,” Shuttleworth said. “I can’t see him, trying to find where it is. I don’t see it until it is maybe right over the top of my head. So I am just trying to react as fast as possible. I got my fingertips on it but not enough to put it over.”
Usually, a player only succeeds once on a chance like the one Moffat blasted through four minutes into the second frame. But, unfortunately for Shuttleworth, lightning struck again just over a half our later.
In the 80th minute, Moffat ripped another one from outside the area that, initially, hit the post. But the ball then caromed off Shuttleworth’s back before it landed in the net.
“The second one he smashes it and I am just landing from trying to stretch out to tip it around the post and it just hits my back and goes right in,” Shuttleworth said.
While Shuttleworth still felt the sting of Moffatt’s strikes after the match, teammate Chris Tierney didn’t believe that the blame should be leveled on the Revolution keeper.
“I’m not sure there’s anything Bobby can do on either one of those,” Tierney said. “Moffat’s one of the best strikers of the ball in the league.”
