Photo/Kari Heistad
FOXBORO, Mass. – The New England Revolution couldn’t find their scoring touch in a 0-0 draw with DC United in Saturday afternoon’s home opener at Gillette Stadium.
The Revolution, who managed to stay undefeated and notch their first shutout of the season, came close to putting the ball in the back of the net numerous times, including midway through the second half when Lee Nguyen hit the crossbar, but ultimately came away with nothing for their efforts.
D.C. United, who absorbed a crushing 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the season opener one week ago, took a much more compact approach against the Revs.
And, to their credit, it worked out well as rookie goalkeeper Travis Worra, an alumni of the University of New Hampshire, made three saves to stifle the Revolution in front of their home fans.
Though the Revolution out-shot the visitors 17-6, they managed to put just three of their attempts on target. In fact, all nine of the host’s first half scoring chances were at net.
Charlie Davies, who exited the game with an undisclosed injury in the 34th minute, came closest to opening the scoring when his bicycle kick on a Teal Bunbury feed was blocked from flying into an open net by D.C.’s Bobby Boswell.
Nguyen hit the crossbar from the top of the box after receiving the ball from Bunbury in the 55th minute, then, three minutes later, had another effort knocked wide by Worra.
In the final seconds, Kellyn Rowe, who snuck into the penalty area unmarked off a Nguyen pass, fired wide of the far post for the game’s last play.
Despite not having lost their first home game of the season since a 2-1 loss to Chicago in 2006, the Revolution have tied each of their last home openers by 0-0 scores.
