The New England Revolution lost 2-1 at the San Jose Earthquakes over the weekend, a lose keeps New England in 5th place in the Eastern Conference.
For the first time this season, Revolution head coach Steve Nicol was able to name an unchanged starting lineup and New England got off to a good start in San Jose, controlling possession in the early stages of the game.
Nut it was San Jose which created the game’s first scoring chance in the seventh minute when Joey Gjertsen’s drive from the top of the box, forced Matt Reis into a smart save.
Reis then had the crossbar to thank for keeping the game scoreless in the 13th minute, when Khari Stephenson’s free kick beat the wall and crashed off the woodwork.
New England continued to probe at the San Jose defence and should have had a penalty in the 37th minute when Tierney was pulled down in the box, but no call was given.
Despite holding the upper hand through large parts of the match, a defensive mistake cost the Revs in the 71st minute as Wondolowski cross found an unmarked McLoughlin at the back post for a free header.
Wondolowski almost made it 2-0 eight minutes later when his shot from 20 yards out whistled past the right post with Reiss beaten. Then four minutes later Convey put the game beyond New England’s reach when instead of crossing from a free kick toward the right touchline, Convey instead whipped a vicious shot into the far upper corner.
While Tierney pulled one back for the Revolution with a curling free kick in the 86th minute, the game was beyond New England at this points. The Revs are very good and controlling the game if they score first, but they don’t have the firepower to come from behind and win games and that showed today. Once San Jose got that first goal, you knew it was game over.
The Revolution’s league schedule will resume on Saturday, May 28, when the club hosts the LA Galaxy at Gillette Stadium.
