Winning the US Open Cup was on the New England Revolution’s to-do lost heading into the season, but a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Union in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday night cut that goal short and kept the Revs on a downward spiral.
“It was definitely a disappointing loss for us,” said Revolution forward Teal Bunbury. “We were two games away from making it to a final, so that’s definitely disappointing.”
Coming into the tilt at PPL Park, New England had dropped two straight MLS matches, including a 3-1 defeat to the Union on June 29, following their fourth and fifth round USOC victories.
Now their current run of form seems to be weighing on the club at one of the most crucial points in the season, and they will look to rebound as quickly as possible.
“We have to come together as a team,” said Bunbury. “We have to look forward, this really will test everybody’s character. We can’t dwell on the past. We can’t dwell on this.”
After conceding goals early in the first and second halves, the Revs were forced to wait out a comeback run due to a 64-minute weather delay.
Prior to the stoppage, the team did have some momentum in their favor as their attack produced chances from Bunbury and Steve Neumann moments before the game was halted in the 61st minute.
“I thought we lost some steam after the break, which we can only fault ourselves for,” Neumann said. “I thought we played well enough the majority of the time to get a result at least, it just wasn’t our day.”
Once one of the hottest teams in the league, the Revs are now looking to regain the lethal touch that netted them 19 goals in seven games.
“The biggest game is our next game and that’s what we have to focus on,” said Bunbury. “We have to get back, get recovered, get a few good days of training and be ready for Chicago on the weekend.”
