Revolution at D.C. United, 5.26.12

Who knows what best motivates professional sports teams: encouragement, threats of getting cut or of having to endure brutal workouts, inspirational speeches, bonuses. New England Revolution coach Jay Heaps hit upon something that worked during halftime of last Saturday’s game against D.C. United. The Revolution were down 2-0 after conceding two set-piece goals, one in added time. Heaps looked furious as he led his team off the field at the break, and it’s easy to imagine that he gave his squad a heated speech in the locker room. Given the start of the second half, I’d be interested to know what he said.

The Revolution charged back after halftime, scoring in the 48^th minute off a nice buildup that saw Shalrie Joseph receiving a pass from Saer Sene about thirty yards from goal. Joseph laid off a short pass to an onrushing Benny Feilhaber, whose strong shot on goal was deflected by D.C. keeper Bill Hamid. Sene slotted the rebound home near post and the lead was cut in half. The Revs equalized just a couple of minutes later off a set piece of their own. A.J. Soares ran onto Chris Tierney’s in-swinging corner kick, heading the ball back and down towards the far post, where it slipped past Hamid and into the side netting. It wasn’t Didier Drogba in the Champions League final, but it was a good, strong, fearless run by Soares in traffic and a nice finish. Soares had yet another good match, and it’s increasingly easy to imagine him becoming the face of the franchise after Joseph retires.

Having talked up Soares (not uncommon for this blogger) it’s only right to observe that he had a hand in D.C.’s first goal. That came off a free kick granted at the New England edge of the midfield circle, when Soares fouled a D.C. player on an aerial challenge in the 14^th minute. Heaps later called the foul “loose” during his sideline interview, adding that the Revs “didn’t need to foul there.” In any case, on the ensuing free kick, D.C. defender Brandon McDonald flicked the ball off the top of his dyed-blond faux-hawk, sending it over Matt Reis and into the back of the net. Soares was marking McDonald on the play, though Soares was right on McDonald’s back and it’s hard to imagine he could’ve done much more than he did within the limits of the game.

Soares and his mates on defense had a decent night during the run of play. The one exception came on the game-winning goal, when New England didn’t just look disorganized, they looked inanimate, like plastic orange discs meant to represent obstacles on a training ground. In the 61^st minute, D.C.’s Maicon Santos received the ball on the left sideline and drew four Revs’ players. Meanwhile, Dwayne De Rosario, last year’s league MVP, drew zero attention from the Revs’ defense and midfield, and made an unmarked run to the end-line. Santos found De Rosario, who in turn drew the helpless, late-to-the-party Feilhaber and Soares with him. De Rosario then played the ball back to a wide-open Santos, who was near the penalty spot when he received the pass. With zero defensive pressure, Santos side-footed the ball past Reis.

D.C. has beaten New England twice this season, is in sole possession of first place in the eastern conference, and appears to be a team destined for the playoffs. If New England hopes to make the playoffs themselves this season, they’d better tighten up on defense when the game’s on the line, or post-game stories will continue to be surmounted by some variation of the following: “Revs again come up short.”