FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Trailing by two goals and down a man at halftime of Saturday night’s meeting with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the New England Revolution, metaphorically speaking, had a treacherous mountain to climb. And they so nearly reached the summit.
The shorthanded Revs put forth a dominating second-half performance and pulled to within a goal when Teal Bunbury broke through in the 84th minute, but ultimately the fightback fell short as the Whitecaps held on for a 2-1 win – New England’s first home loss since last July.
“I’m just really proud of the guys, what we did in the second half,” said Bunbury. “All these guys, looking at each other in the locker room at halftime, at the end of the game, just seeing how everybody was spent – it just shows that everybody’s working for each other. That’s all you can ask for in situations like this.”
New England so nearly walked off the Gillette Stadium field with more than pride. Despite playing down a man for the final hour following the 29th-minute ejection of Andrew Farrell, the Revs outshot the Whitecaps 12-7 in the second half and forced Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted into eight saves on the night, several of the spectacular variety.
Of particular note was a reaction save on second-half substitute Kelyn Rowe’s flashing header in the late stages, while Juan Agudelo will want another crack at the free header he sent over the crossbar just moments after Bunbury had drawn the Revs within a goal.
“I really did think we were going to equalize and maybe win it,” said Bunbury. “We had a lot of opportunities. Their keeper had an unbelievable game, making some big-time saves.”
It certainly didn’t look like the Revs were playing with 10 men, which they were from the time Farrell was issued the second red card of his career near the half-hour mark. As goal scorer Cristian Techera slipped into the box, Farrell reached out and slightly touched his arm, enough for Techera to go tumbling.
That meant Farrell was forced to watch the rest of the game from the locker room, and he was proud of the group for the fight they showed under trying circumstances.
“They gave it all out there,” Farrell said. “From Charlie (Davies) up top to Bobby (Shuttleworth) in goal and to everybody who came in. They played really well. Really proud of the guys. They battled even though I put them in a hole.”
It’s that battling spirit which Bunbury says will lift the Revolution out of their current funk, which includes three straight losses and a 1-5-2 mark in their last eight games.
“We’re going through a little tough stretch, but we’ve got to stick together as a unit,” Bunbury said. “That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this.”
