New England Revolution 3-San Jose Earthquakes 1
NE Deserves Better. Those were the words of the New England Revolution supporters group The Fort on Saturday night. After a week which saw the side lose 5-0 and the firing of head coach Brad Friedel the question was how the Revolution players would respond, whether they could do better. The answer at least for one match is yes. Thanks in part to an early goal from Juan Agudelo the Revolution snapped a four game losing streak, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1.
Agudelo’s goal came in the 18th minute, finishing off a cross into the box from Edgar Castillo with a volley into the back of the net. The goal was his second of the season. They doubled their lead in the 29th minute after Teal Bunbury earned a penalty off of a foul by Earthquakes defender Harold Cummings. Cristian Penilla stepped up to take the shot and coolly knocked it into the back of the net for his second of the season.
With a two goal lead and coming off of an emotionally taxing week one might have expected Revs interim head coach Mike Lapper to take things a bit easy in the second half. But the new coach continued to push his side to attack, bringing on energetic young midfielder Tajon Buchanan in the 66th minute. The move paid off just two minutes later with Buchanan sliding in a pass for Carles Gill to get his fourth goal of the season.
San Jose did get a goal late with Vako scoring in the 88th minute. But the Revolution defense kept the Quakes at bay for the majority of 90 minutes with center-backs Andrew Farrell and Jalil Anibaba each making several key clears. Goalkeeper Matt Turner made five saves to preserve the win.
With the win New England snapped their four game losing streak and get a little bit of positive energy. In the short-term that should help the club but the long term questions about the club’s future remain very much a topic of discussion. That one of their supporters group, The Rebellion, sent a letter to club management asking for a town hall meeting to discuss the club’s future shows that supporters aren’t satisfied with short-term wins or coaching changes.
On hand to cover the match was Prost photographer Kari Heistad. You can check out more of her Revolution photos on SmugMug and give her a shout out on Twitter and Instagram .
NE Revolution
San Jose Earthquakes
