Agudelo: ‘Floodgates Opening’ for Revs’ Offense
- Updated: April 5, 2015
Photo credit: New England Revolution
Have the Revolution finally turned the corner on the offensive woes that plagued them during their first three games? Juan Agudelo thinks so.
Following his team’s 2-0 victory over the Rapids – the first for the locals in Colorado since 2002 – the Revolution midfielder/forward suggested that the attacking struggles of early-March are now behind them.
“Definitely,” Agudelo said. “As soon as we had the first goal from Kelyn (Rowe) last game, and the deflection went in. The floodgates are opening now, and everybody’s feeling comfortable now in front of the goal.”
Agudelo can certainly speak to that level of comfort. In the 18th minute, he brought down long diagonal ball from Rowe and chipped Clint Irwin to put the Revolution on top.
But the early goal wasn’t the only occasion in which the Revolution threatened. Rowe and Lee Nguyen both fired away, and even though they may not have found paydirt, it was evident that the guests were playing with the swagger that was missing in Seattle and New York City.
The genesis of that newfound ambition can be traced back to last week, when after 290 minutes of scoreless play, the Revolution broke through on a goal from Rowe against the Montreal Impact.
“It’s not just a chemistry thing, it’s a confidence thing,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told the media after the match. “So we knew were going to score just like Colorado’s going to score. Once you get the first one, you start to get the confidence, and the guys feed off of each other.”
Some of that confidence allowed the Revolution come out strong early on, which is exactly what they had to do if they were going to get a result at altitude. Not only did they stay on the gas, but they slowed it down, too, when the occasion called for it.
“I thought we were really good in the first half,” Heaps said. “I thought our setup was good, the way were playing was good. We caught them off guard a little bit with our possession, and kept them back a little bit.”
The Revolution added to their lead when Nguyen scored from the spot in the 54th minute to make it a two-goal margin. But even though the Rapids’ attacking rhythm surged after Nguyen’s strike, they lacked the polish in the final third to do anything about it.
Rowe and his teammates know the feeling well – the ability to create only to watch those chances fall by the wayside. While he admitted that last week’s performance boosted the club’s confidence on Saturday, he threw a cold bucket of water on any notion that the goals will continue to flow unimpeded.
“You pick up a little bit of momentum, but you have to go game-by-game,” Rowe told the media after the match. “It’s one of those where it’s a great victory, and we’re going to hold our heads high, but come Monday or Tuesday, we’re going to get back in, and work towards that next home game vs. Columbus.”
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