New England Soccer Today

D.C. defeated

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Zack Schilawski opened the scoring and Shalrie Joseph grabbed his second goal of the year as the New England Revolution improved to 1-0-1 on the season with a 2-1 victory over visiting D.C. United (1-1-0, 3 points). The victory, giving the crowd of 12,914 who turned out for the Revs home opener on a cold and windy night something to cheer about, leaves the Revs in second place with four points after two games.

Zack Schilawski opened the scoring for the Revs with his first goal of the season in the 8th minute. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

“The conditions were pretty tough to play, for both teams,” said Revs head coach Steve Nicol. “The wind played havoc with the ball. It makes it difficult to connect your passes, but obviously we won the game and we’re delighted with that.”

Coming off a 1-1 road draw to open the season against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Revs entered Saturday’s match with confidence and it showed as Schilawski opened the scoring for the Revs in just the 8th minute. The second-year striker collected a long ball near the penalty spot from Shalrie Joseph then managed to control it, though there was some hint of a hand ball, before sending a shot on frame. His first effort was deflected, but the second-year striker got the ball back shot past goalkeeper Pat Onstad inside the near post to give the Revs a 1-0 lead.

“I kind of just pulled away from the center back towards the middle of the field,” said Schilawski. “[Joseph] clipped a great ball into me. I just tried to get it down and get a shot on goal as quickly as possible. Luckily the ball popped out to me and I got a second chance at it.”

While Joseph didn’t get an assist on the play, his perfectly played ball allowed Schilawski to find some space behind the backline.

“Once I got it I turned and I saw [Schilaswki] start peeling off a little bit and I just wanted to get it to his feet,” said Joseph. “I tried to play it to his feet. He took a great first touch and I think they blocked [his first effort] and then the second one he just stuck with it and it was just a great finish by him.”

The Revs doubled their lead in the 17th after earning a penalty kick. Pat Phelan, charging into the box as the Revs were on the attack, was taken down by Kurt Morsink as the D.C. midfielder attempted to clear the ball with a high kick. Referee Baldomero Toledo immediately pointed to the spot, much to D.C.’s chagrin, and Joseph slotted it past Onstad, who managed to get a touch on it but couldn’t keep it from entering just inside the post.

“I just tried to tuck it in the corner,” said Joseph. “I knew once I got it in the corner and put a bit of power on it, it’s going to be hard for him to save it. He guessed the right way, but I put enough power on it and it went in for me.”

The 2-0 lead left the Revs in a comfortable position going forward and the Revs held onto the shutout until late in the match.

“It’s always good to get your nose in front, as long as you can keep it that way,” said Nicol. “We got ourselves ahead because we were pushing, and we wanted to keep pushing and try to kill the game.”

D.C. finally found the scoreboard in the 90th minute and native New Englander Charlie Davies got his name on the scoreboard when Toledo gave D.C. a late penalty kick after Ryan Cochrane was whistled for a foul on Joseph Ngwenya on a D.C. free kick. Davies stepped up and blasted the penalty down the middle to bring D.C. within a goal.

Neither side created much in the opening minutes until Schilawski’s goal gave the Revs the lead in the 8th minute. Joseph’s penalty in the 17th minute would be just the Revs second shot on target during the match.

The Revs were hit with an injury scare in the 28th minute as Zak Boggs went down after an elbow from Rodrigo Brasesco. Boggs, who missed most of last season with concussion symptoms left the pitch and was substituted out for Kheli Dube a few minutes later.  Fortunately, according to Nicol, Boggs just received a gash on his head, but nothing more serious.

Two minutes later the Revs had another penalty shout as Nyassi was taken down in the box attempting to use his speed to get around a D.C. defender. Toledo waved away the Revs protest

The visitors switched to a more attacking line-up at half time, bring Davies on for Josh Wolff and Fred on for Brasesco.

“[Davies] definitely got class and Fred definitely has class,” said Reis. “He likes to find the ball a little bit and be creative. We had to be aware of that and I think we did a good job of shifting inside and covering him.”

D.C. threatened in the 57th minute as Chris Pontius headed an Andy Najar corner towards the far post. Kevin Alston was there to clear the ball over the line.

D.C. again was on the attack in the 66th minute as halftime substitute Charlie Davies controlled a long ball and sent it back to an onrushing Pontius who hammered a shot just high of the net.

“The second half we just didn’t keep the ball enough,” said Reis. “We let them back in it and we gave them life and hope because we didn’t posses the ball enough.”

Schilawski, who worked hard up top all night, found himself in space 30 yards from goal in the 71st minute and unleashed a drive on frame. His effort was denied by Onstad, but New England nearly got on the end of the rebound.

Reis came up big to temporarily preserve the shutout in the 83rd minute as Davies sent a low pass across the top of the box to Pontius. The D.C. midfielder sent a powerful shot towards the lower right corner, but Reis was there to make an impressive diving save.

Shortly after D.C. got on the scoresheet with a penalty kick, frustrations boiled over late in the match as Dejan Jakovic shoved Reis after the veteran goalkeeper grabbed a cross. Jakovic was subsequently confronted by Revolution defenders Ryan Cochrane and A.J. Soares and was ejected after the ensuing fracas.

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