Jose Goncalves and the Revolution braved severe weather for the three points. Photo/Kari Heistad
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Saturday night will be one of the most-remembered nights in New England soccer history—not because the Revolution beat the Houston Dynamo 2-0—but because of the two separate weather delays that altogether lasted nearly three hours.
Jose Goncalves and Juan Agudelo both scored in the second half to bring life into a wet, mid-August night that had, until that point, only featured crowds ducking for cover inside the Gillette Stadium concourse.
There were 21,723 fans in attendance when match referee Jose Carlos Rivero halted play just 12 minutes and 40 seconds into the first half because of nearby lightning strikes. Play resumed one hour and 49 minutes later with most of the crowd still in attendance.
During halftime, though, the rain and lightning picked up again and play was postponed for another hour. By 11:30 p.m., when the second half kicked off, only the official supporters groups in the Fort and a small percentage of fans at the sidelines and under the concourses remained. Those that did stay, though, cheered and clapped until the very end.
“Even after the first delay, there were so many people, and after the second one you could still hear people,” said Coach Jay Heaps. “The fans that finished the game, I thought, were simply amazing.”
Both teams warmed up three times on the night, first during pre-game, then twice more in between the weather delays. The Revolution tried staying game-ready in the locker room during the delays, too, hopping on the exercise bikes or inside the training room’s hot tubs. The result was the Revolution looking sharp and dominating play in both halves.
“The message in the locker room is that we can’t control that, we have no control of what goes on out there,” said Heaps. “When we step on the field, we can control how we go about the game. I thought our guys were excellent in approaching it, showing some real resolve and mental toughness.”
Jermaine Jones returned to the starting lineup. Photo/Kari Heistad
Jermaine Jones returned to the starting lineup, playing 45 minutes before being subbed out for Daigo Kobayashi at halftime.
It was Lee Nguyen, though, who had the Revolution’s best chances in the first half. His point-blank bid in the 20th minute and his shot from the top of the box in the 34th were both knocked away by Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
Kelyn Rowe thumped a 25-yard bomb off the top of the crossbar in the 49th minute, which was an electrifying start to the much-anticipated second half.
Chris Tierney sent a freekick over the bar in the 60th minute, while Nguyen was snuffed out a third time by Deric on another bid from in-close in the 63rd minute.
The Revolution’s luck changed in the 68th minute, though, as Goncalves emerged at the back post to pound a Nguyen cross into the back of the net for his first goal of the season and a crucial opening tally. The play started as Nguyen played a corner kick short to Kobayashi, who returned the ball back to Nguyen for the on-the-money cross to Goncalves.
Goncalves gets the game winner. Photo/Kari Heistad
“At this time I am in bed, usually,” joked Goncalves.
“The ball came great,” he added. “I took my chance for a volley. It was slippery. There was no way, if I caught the ball well, that the keeper was going to stop it.”
Agudelo sealed up the result in the 88th minute, depositing another feed from Nguyen into the goal off a breakaway.
Curiously, the Revolution’s last rain delay at Gillette Stadium had come nearly 12 years ago. On Aug. 16, 2003, the Revolution played the San Jose Earthquakes to a 1-1 tie, but had to deal with a 26-minute lightning storm delay before concluding the game in overtime.
Saturday night’s result, which could actually be construed as Sunday morning’s result, extends the Revolution’s unbeaten run to four games. It also puts them in a tie with the Columbus Crew for possession of third place in the Eastern Conference.
The Revolution’s final 10 games of the season are all against Eastern Conference opponents. But Saturday’s win—and everything that went along with it—will be savored.
“We suffered the week, hard training,” said Goncalves. “We came out on Saturday to win the game. That’s what we did. If it takes 90 minutes or three hours, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, we need the three points.”
If you want to reach Julian, email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
