FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Charlie Davies is the only player in the New England Revolution’s storied history to score two goals in an MLS Cup Playoff game.
And now he’s done it twice.
Davies scored both of the Revolution’s goals in Saturday afternoon’s 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls, a result which earned the Revs a 4-3 aggregate win in the Eastern Conference Championship and sent the club back to MLS Cup for the first time since 2007.
Combined with his two-goal performance in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Columbus Crew, Davies now has four goals this postseason, eclipsing his three-goal total from the regular season and tying him for the goal-scoring lead in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
It’s a remarkable renaissance for a player who five years ago was laid up in a hospital bed following a life-threatening car accident, and five months ago had still never started a game for the Revolution.
“Words can’t really describe it for me,” Davies said after helping his hometown team lift the Eastern Conference Championship trophy for the fifth time in the past 13 years. “It was such a long season, so many ups and downs, but we’ve always stuck together and continued to get better.
“For me, personally, it’s unimaginable, really – these five years, really just grinding it out. Things would go against me and there’s a lot of tears and pain, but through it all I just continued to fight and stay with it and things have turned out for the best.”
Both of Davies’ goals against the Red Bulls – and his first against the Crew – came via header, an aspect of his game that the 5-foot-10 striker has in the past claimed to be a weakness. It’s a fitting representation, then, of the way in which Davies has reinvented himself since arriving in New England.
Using his strength and anticipation, Davies fought his way through a crowd to bundle home Chris Tierney’s cross shortly before halftime, leveling the score at 1-1. He tied things up again in the 70th minute, slipping between two New York defenders to power home another Tierney delivery.
It was a performance which earned Davies the game ball from head coach Jay Heaps, but there was more behind that decision than simply rewarding the player who scored both of New England’s goals.
“We were hard on Charlie this week,” said Heaps. “We thought in New York – he always plays hard – but he didn’t find the right angles, the right gaps, and this week we were asking a little bit more of him.
“I thought today, from the opening whistle, the number of times he got behind their backline early and then took chances – Charlie Davies can score, and I think when he gets in those areas, he’s going to put them away.”
There was never any question that Davies could score, but for years concerns lingered about whether he’d ever be able to do it as consistently as he did before the accident. Four goals in four playoff games suggest he’s inching closer to the player who rose to prominence a half-decade ago.
Getting back to this point has taken remarkable dedication from Davies, but he admits he never could’ve navigated the journey without the help of those around him, including his teammates and coaches.
“What’s really important, the guys in this locker room have pushed me since I’ve been here,” Davies said. “They’ve really seen the potential that I have and they want me to succeed. That goes a long way.
“That’s why I’m playing the way I am now. These guys have all the faith and confidence in me and have built me up from the bottom, as well as the medical staff here. Keeping me healthy, that’s been extremely difficult over the last five years. Finally, to feel healthy and be able to play week-to-week at 100 percent is a great feeling.”
