MONTREAL – The New England Revolution are playoff-bound for a second straight year – and this time they didn’t even have to sweat it out until the final game of the regular season.
Twice the Revs clawed their way back from one-goal deficits to pull themselves level with the Montreal Impact on Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo, ultimately settling for a valuable 2-2 draw.
The result was enough for the Revolution to officially book a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs and lift themselves back into second place in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
“It’s a goal at the beginning of the year,” said head coach Jay Heaps, who is now just the second coach in Revolution history – along with Steve Nicol – to guide the Revs to the playoffs in multiple seasons. “It’s step one in the process – we wanted to get into the playoffs and now we want to make sure we finish strong.”
Saturday’s precious point didn’t come easy, as Marco Di Vaio scored a pair of stunning goals to twice peg the Revolution back in the first half. The Italian forward’s first was quickly answered by Kelyn Rowe, but his second gave the Impact a 2-1 lead at the break.
Montreal’s effective approach – sit behind the ball, defend resolutely and hit on the counter – made it difficult for the Revs to break through in the second half, but a characteristically big-time goal from Lee Nguyen brought the Revs back to level terms in the 69th minute.
Second-half substitute Scott Caldwell started the scoring sequence by smartly stepping up to intercept a pass, before quickly feeding Nguyen at the top of the box. What followed dropped jaws – a brilliant, looping finish which arched over Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush and just under the crossbar.
But Nguyen admitted his effort might’ve had a little help along the way.
“Of course I meant to chip him,” he said with a laugh before coming clean. “No, I took a shot and it took a blessed little deflection. We were just happy to get the second goal there and hold on to that tie.
“These guys showed a lot of character, showed a lot of resilience pushing for that second goal. At the same time, we did well to hold that. Credit to the guys, credit to the whole team and the backline for playing a great game.”
Although a place in the playoffs is secure, there is still plenty for the Revs to play for in their final two games against the Houston Dynamo and Toronto FC. Mathematically, New England can still finish anywhere from first to fifth in the East, but the Revs do have the inside track on a top-two seed heading to Houston on Thursday.
“It’s a little different than last year, locking it up a little bit earlier, which we’re thrilled about,” said A.J. Soares. “But it’s not over. You’ve got to get into the playoffs and do something. We’re not satisfied going in there and losing in the first round like we did last year.
“There’s still a lot of work to do. We want to win these last two games to keep our position in the table and have some momentum going forward.”
