by Adam Vaccaro
Having played the final 22 minutes of last night’s match against FC Dallas down two men — and the final 39 down at least one — the New England Revolution were happy to walk away with one point, drawing the Hoops by a score of 1-1.
Kheli Dube, who assisted on New England’s lone goal, and Joseph Niouky were both handed red cards in the match’s second half when the contest started getting a bit chippy. Holding on for the draw is indicative of just how badly the club did not want to miss out on that point, and perhaps of how much New England needed it.
“We shouldn’t put ourselves in that situation under any circumstances,” said midfielder Pat Phelan. “I think the ref got himself into a bit of a predicament to start having to give cards for things he might not have otherwise. At the end of the day, we’ll take the point.”
“Everyone put a lot into it in the last 20 minutes, which is what we needed to preserve a tie,” goalkeeper Preston Burpo said. “All things considered, to walk out with a point, I think everyone is content – sure as [anything] not happy – but content would be the best way to say it.”
Burpo may have been the star of the game. He recorded a career high ten saves in his effort, many for which he left his feet. And when he was caught out of his position, his defense made several spectacular plays to help the Revs earn the draw.
“[Defensemen] Cory Gibbs and Darrius [Barnes] in the middle were amazing,” said Burpo.
Gibbs and Barnes were responsible for much of the defense’s success, but Kevin Alston saved the game for the Revs in its final minutes. With Burpo out of position on a Dallas spurt, Atiba Harris rushed the net with the ball. Alston came out of seemingly nowhere and made an amazing tackle right on the goal line. Harris’s knee went into Alston’s head in the process, but the second year defender, despite being shaken up, stayed on.
Alston’s effort play reflects the hustle with which the team played in the second half.
“Effort-wise tonight – absolutely fantastic,” said coach Steve Nicol. “What more can you say? Nine men? They had a couple of chances, but you should when you have a two-man advantage. Preston made some good saves. The back four were solid and did a decent job, threw themselves in front of shots – you name it. Everybody played their part.”
Nobody will dispute the Revs’ effort last night. However, the club is quick to admit that Dallas controlled the game from the outset. Possession remains a problem in Shalrie Joseph‘s absence, and it showed once again last night.
“Truth be told, we didn’t play well, even when it was 11 v 11,” said Nicol.
“It’s pretty clear they had the run of play for most of the game,” Phelan added. “I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t to work on keeping the ball more than the last couple of games because we put ourselves in that predicament going two men down.”
The Revs lost their two men in a span of sixteen minutes. The call on Dube was a questionable one that resulted in a bit of a tirade from Nicol. Niouky’s, on the other hand, was deserved, and also a bit predictable.
Dax McCarthy warranted a yellow on a rough play on Niouky earlier in the half. In the sixty-seventh minute, the Revs’ rookie responded in his defensive end by drawing a yellow of his own on McCarthy. McCarthy responded in kind by placing a beautiful kick for Harris that tied the game in the 67th minute.
Five minutes later, perhaps frustrated, Niouky went very hard into McCarthy who did not have the ball and was quickly handed a red.
“Violent conduct,” said referee Jeff Gontarek. “The ball was away and he tackled him from behind.”
The Revs scored as the first half neared its conclusion. When Dallas’s veteran Argentine goalie Dario Salva left the box to play a ball, Dube quickly bolted for it and was able to round the keeper. He centered a ball beautifully to rookie Zack Schiwalski, who was able to put it away for his team-leading fourth goal of the season. The goal allowed New England to enter halftime with a lead for the first time this season.
Schiwalski, though, did not play past halftime. With Dallas pressuring so effectively, Nicol opted for a 4-5-1 formation and replaced Schiwalski with Khano Smith.
Nicol explained the move: “We were getting totally out-played through the middle of the park. They were just rolling balls in between us through the middle of the field. It was only a matter of time before they scored if we continued to let them do that. I thought we had no choice.”
For Schilawski, the coach’s decision was understandable.
“I would’ve liked to be out there, for sure, first thing’s first,” he told Danny Picard of CSNNE.com. “But coach said that he needed to make some tactical changes, and unfortunately that didn’t include me. I understand why, and we got the point.”
The Revolution, now 2-3-1, next see action on Wednesday night against Chivas USA. The Revs, already worn out last night, will be without Dube and Niouky against LA’s second team. Managing the match will prove a challenge for Nicol.
The one thing that actually hurts us as much as anything, never mind having to play with nine men tonight, is the amount of games we have this month,” the coach said. “We play Wednesday, we play Saturday. We’ve got 10 guys, nine guys, who have effectively played an extra 25 minutes and that’s going to affect them on Wednesday.”
Scoring Summary:
NE – Zack Schilawski (Dube) 41
DAL – Atiba Harris (McCarty) 67
New England Revolution: Preston Burpo (GK), Kevin Alston, Cory Gibbs ©, Darrius Barnes, Seth Sinovic (Kenny Mansally 81), Sainey Nyassi, Pat Phelan, Joseph Niouky, Marko Perović, Zack Schilawski (Khano Smith 46), Kheli Dube
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Edgaras Jankauskas, , Nico Colaluca, Michael Videira, Zak Boggs
STATS: Shots: 10; Shots on Goal: 5; Saves: 10; Corner Kicks: 4; Offside: 2; Fouls Committed: 12
FC Dallas: Dario Sala (GK), Heath Pearce (Jason Yeisley 75), George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez, Atiba Harris, Brek Shea, Daniel Hernandez ©, Dax McCarty, David Ferreira, Jeff Cunningham
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Hartman (GK), Bruno Guarda, Eric Avila, Zach Lloyd, Eric Alexander, Anthony Wallace
STATS: Shots: 22; Shots on Goal: 11; Saves: 4; Corner Kicks: 9; Offside: 2; Fouls Committed: 14
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Seth Sinovic (caution) 14
DAL – Jair Benitez (caution) 25
DAL – George John (caution) 42
DAL – Dario Sala (caution) 42
NE – Kheli Dube (ejection) 56
DAL – Dax McCarty (caution) 62
NE – Joseph Niouky (ejection) 72
NE – Sainey Nyassi (caution) 77
DAL – Atiba Harris (caution) 78
NE – Marko Perović (caution) 92+
NE – Preston Burpo (caution) 95+
Referee: Jeff Gontarek
Referee’s Assistants: George Ganser, Adam Wienckowski
Fourth Official: Andrew Chapin
Weather: 68 degrees, Cloudy
Attendance: 10,057
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