Scotty on the Spot
- Updated: April 26, 2015
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
FOXBORO, Mass. – The reactions told you everything you needed to know.
Seconds after New England’s third-year defensive midfielder and Homegrown Player Scott Caldwell deposited his first career goal in the 84th minute and raced to the corner flag, all of his teammates on the field had sprinted to him and mobbed him in celebration.
Head coach Jay Heaps and his coaching staff were all wearing huge smiles on their faces.
Kelyn Rowe gave him a big hug just prior to his postgame interview on the field.
As Chris Tierney put it, it was “long overdue.”
“I was real excited about Scotty tonight,” Heaps said, joking about Caldwell’s number six, the same number Heaps wore for the Revolution. “He puts in a great effort every training session, every day and every game. He gets out there and does all the hard work. He’s one of those people you just want on the field and do well. When he does, and scores a goal like that, that was special because it was his first goal so we were all excited.”
It took nearly 5,000 minutes of game play and before Caldwell found the back of the net in his 63rd appearance for the club. But scoring isn’t even close to his top priority and in typical Caldwell fashion, it was more about the team and the win.
“It was a good feeling definitely, to get that kind of monkey off my back,” Caldwell said. “But it was more important to get three points and it was a great team performance the whole night.”
Caldwell’s 84th minute goal capped off an impressive 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake for New England, the club’s first win against RSL in eight tries. The recently-turned 24-year-old also picked up his seventh career assist, sending in a perfectly weighted ball right to the top of the six yard box to find the head of Charlie Davies to make it 3-0 in the 50th minute.
“Dorms and I were talking a little at halftime and I said one of us was going to get one so it just turned out that way,” Caldwell said, then quickly turning the focus back on the team. “Like I said it was great to get the good team performance and win.”
Caldwell has been a rock in New England’s lineup in his time with the club. Just last month, Jermaine Jones told MLSSoccer.com he endorsed Caldwell as his replacement as center defensive mid for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
In a video package released by MLSSoccer.com earlier this year in March, Philadelphia’s Maurice Edu and New York Red Bull’s Bradley Wright-Phillips both picked Caldwell as who they think is the most underrated player in the league.
“That’s been such a long time coming,” Tierney said of Caldwell’s goal postgame. “Scott is such an underrated player in my opinion. He does so much for the team. He’s really stepped into a role on this team where a lot of guys look to him and really respect him. He brings it everyday. He’s phenomenal in training and he’s even better in games so we’re really lucky to have him and it’s great to see him get on the scoresheet, it’s long overdue.”
Fittingly, it was Caldwell that started the build up, taking a pass from Andy Dorman before springing Steve Neumann wide with one touch. Neumann’s service into the area found Diego Fagundez, who laid the ball off for an oncoming Kelyn Rowe. Rowe laid a low pass through the area that Juan Agudelo slightly touched leaving a wide open shot for Neumann. Salt Lake keeper Jeff Attinella made a miraculous save to rob Neumann, and then stopped Agudelo’s follow up touch. Rowe was able to get the slightest of touches to move the ball back to the top of the 18 where Caldwell hit it one time with his left foot and the ball found its way through the defense and into the back corner.
It was Caldwell’s first goal in a game since his senior year at Akron, where he racked up 20 goals in four years.
“It’s definitely not the first thing on my mind each game,” Caldwell said about scoring. “But I’ll definitely try to get into the attack if I can to help out. It’s not my first responsibility at all but it comes about that way I’ll definitely look to join the attack.”
Though Caldwell was greeted by all of his teammates in the corner after the goal, it was no surprise who was the first one there, despite how far he had to go to get there.
“I noticed the first guy that got to me was our center back Andrew Farrell so that was interesting,” Caldwell said with a big grin after Farrell himself joined the postgame media scrum and asked a question. “I was bracing myself for a tackle but luckily he just kind of picked me up a little bit.”
Caldwell, a Braintree native, becomes the second ever Homegrown Player to score for the Revolution.
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