Take a bow

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Shalrie Joseph scored the lone goal of the game to lift the New England Revolution over the Kansas City Wizards Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Joseph, who’s fourth goal of season put the Revs on top in the 31st minute, led the attack all night. Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth collected four saves to earn his first career shutout, which knocked the Wizards out of playoff contention.

Bobby Shuttleworth got his first career shutout on Saturday. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

“I think we showed alot of heart and defended well,” said Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph. “Tonight we showed that when we work hard, we can be victorious.”

Without starting central midfielder Pat Phelan, who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, the Revolution defenders were tested early and often by the Wizards, who were seeking to squeak into the playoffs with only two matches remaining.

In the tenth minute, Kansas City came dangerously close to securing the opening goal when Josh Wolff sent a cross ahead to Kei Kamara on the far post, where the striker tried to steer it through but was quickly smothered by defender Seth Sinovic.

Although they struggled in the possession department, the Revolution capitalized on a golden opportunity after the half hour. After surviving another Kansas City attack, Chris Tierney lobbed a long ball down the field, where Joseph caught up with it. With keeper Jimmy Nielson well off his line, the skipper headed it around Nielson, and banged it through to give the home side the lead in the 31st minute.

“Chris played me a great ball over the top,” said Joseph. “I just tried to head it around the goalkeeper and finish it.”

The Wizards find tried to find a reply in the 42nd minute off a counterattack as Teal Bunbury streaked down the left and fed it right to Davy Arnaud, who redirected it inches wide of the near post.

New England’s midfield sharpened in the second half as Phelan’s replacement, Jason Griffiths, a rookie from Kentucky, began to find his form alongside Joseph.

But the Wizards were far from finished. With their playoff hopes on the line, the guests exploited every opportunity to level it.

“They were in a position where they needed a win to stay in the playoff hunt and we knew that we’d have to match their energy,” said Sinovic. “We just tried to say with them as much as we could and put pressure on them.”

Kei Kamara nearly leveled from thirty yards when he scorched a free kick around the three-man Revolution wall before it whistled wide of the far post in the 59th minute.

Three minutes later, Kamara found another chance when he ripped a shot just outside the box that deflected off of a Revolution defender and skipped on frame before it died in the arms of Shuttleworth in the 62nd minute.

“I thought we created a couple of clear chances that we should have actually put away,” said Kansas City manager Peter Vermes.”But we didn’t have the final touch on the ball.”

The last quality chance the Wizards would find arrived in the 69th minute. Securely encamped in the Revolution end, the Wizards switched the point of attack from the right to the left, where Bunbury spun two defenders and whipped a shot that banked off the bar.

In the waning minutes, Shuttleworth and his defenders did well to suffocate Bunbury and his boys, as the Revolution sent the supporters home happy for the final time in 2010.

“I thought the back four was really solid,” said Shuttleworth. “We picked alot of second balls up and I thought we stayed pretty tight on guys. We were really good marking guys through the box, so it was a pretty easy day (for me).”