Kelyn Rowe’s two goals made the difference versus San Jose. Photo/Kari Heistad
By Julian Cardillo
FOXBORO, Mass.— Kelyn Rowe had the honor of scoring the New England Revolution’s first goals of the season on Saturday afternoon and ending a 290-minute goalless streak, his brace the difference in a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Gillette Stadium.
The win was the Revolution’s first of the season, coming before a crowd of 10,668 that braved snow, rain, and below-freezing temperatures—a rarity in late March for New Englanders—to be at the game.
Rowe’s performance made up for the dreary weather. The midfielder saw roughly an inch of snow per year growing up in Federal Way, Washington and even less as a collegiate player at UCLA, though he looked right at home on a slick field against the Earthquakes, firing a team-high seven shots—five on target—on his way to earning match MVP honors.
“You want to get shots on target because if you do, things are going to happen,” said Rowe after the game.” Whether it’s a deflection goal or a rebound…we pushed our luck a little bit. We created so many chances that at least one would go in.”
Rowe opened the scoring in the 21st minute. The decisive play started when Daigo Kobayashi won the ball outside the Revolution’s penalty area and dished it wide to Lee Nguyen, who found Rowe in space at the edge of the penalty area. Rowe uncorked a shot at goal which deflected off the head of San Jose defender Shaun Francis on its way into the back of the net.
Rowe redirected a cross by Chris Tierney toward the net with his gut in the 31st minute, San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham parrying the unorthodox scoring attempt.
But Rowe would add his second moments later. Tierney’s 35th minute freekick found Darrius Barnes in the box, who headed the ball down toward the back post. Rowe connected with the feed, poking the loose ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
“[Tierney] put in balls that were absolutely dangerous,” said Rowe. “[Nguyen] really created space for everyone else. We were pressing really high and putting balls in their half and that just put us on a counter and we were really good.
“It’s not easy, going three games without a goal and only having one point,” Rowe added. “Especially at home, it’s good to find those goals, it’s good to play well and get those chances.”
The Revolution went into halftime in full command, out-shooting San Jose 14-3, the most they’ve dominated an opposition this season.
But the Earthquakes were given a lifeline in the 61st minute as referee Jose Carlos Rivera called Scott Caldwell for fouling Clarence Goodson in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Chris Wondolowski converted to cut the Revolution’s lead in half, shooting right as Shuttleworth dove the opposite direction.
The goal energized the Earthquakes to push for an equalizer, setting up a nervy conclusion to the game.
Shuttleworth tipped a header at the near post by Victor Bernardez over the crossbar (84th), and in stoppage time, knocked away a line-drive by Wondolowski, who had cut past his marker off an Adam Jahn pass to get a free look at goal. Seconds later, San Jose midfielder Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi redirected a shot from outside the box by Wondolowski over the cross bar for the game’s final chance.
“We did a good job for the most part, put out some good fires when they were putting numbers forward,” said Shuttleworth, who had four saves. “We kept are lines pretty well and stayed tight. Obviously they scored a penalty, but we don’t real give away too many chances other than the one at the end.”
“You take it any way you can for the first one…unfortunately, it became a real game,” added Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “It was a good job to hold on. It probably shouldn’t have been as close, but it was.”
If there’s a word to describe the Revolution so far this season, it’s symmetrical. With Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Earthquakes, the Revolution have accrued the same record that they had at this time last season. They’ll try to extend their unbeaten run to three games—something they didn’t do this in game five last year—next weekend at Colorado.
If you want to reach Julian, email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
