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Steve Ralston (right) and Taylor Twellman buoyed the Revs' attack Thursday. (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
"[Ralston]'s a huge influence both on and off the field here," said Revs� coach Steve Nicol. "To have him playing again is great. You see the quality he brings and it's a strange thing, but that couple of weeks' layoff has obviously energized him. He's got his legs back. We had more legs tonight than they had. We understand where they are looking at it from, but we looked as though we had a wee bit more legs tonight and hopefully we'll continue to get them back.�
Twellman had the Revs first chance in the 4th minute when he picked off a pass at the top of the box and got around a flat footed defense. Twellman ran into the box before unleashing a low shot that rolled just wide of the net and goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.
Twellman nearly opened the scoring in the 16th minute on a well played free kick from Ralston. Ralston chipped the free kick into the box where Twellman eluded his defender and directed a header low to the far post. Kennedy managed to just tip it out with a diving save.
The Revs had another chance in the 27th minute when Ralston got around Jim Curtin to a long clearance. Curtin fell down and could have been called for a hand ball, but referee Jair Marrufo played the advantage and Ralston dribbled alone into the box near the endline. One-on-one with Kennedy, but at a tight angle to shoot from, Ralston unleashed an effort that deflected off Kennedy and went out for a corner kick.
Revs' keeper Matt Reis came up big in the 29th minute, when Ante Razov got the ball about 30 yards from goal and unleashed a shot to the far post. Reis just managed to tip it wide for a corner kick.
Twellman put the Revs on top, 1-0, in the 53rd minute when he played Ralston down the right flank. The Revolution striker continued his run into the box and got on the end of a cross from Ralston to send the ball inside the near post for his 97th career goal.
"I just made a little diagonal run and he played a great ball," said Ralston. "The centering pass I think might have taken a little deflection, but it landed right in front of him and Taylor just gets in front of the goal all the time. [It was a] great finish."
�It's hard to deny how tired we are as a team mentally and physically," said Twellman. "We knew Thursday night, at home, on ESPN, let's try and make a little statement and then get four days off and really rest up."
Curtin nearly doubled the Revs lead in the 60th minute. The Chivas USA defender tried to stop a cross from Khano Smith, but instead redirected in on frame. Kennedy could only push it wide for a corner kick.
"We had three golden opportunities in the first half where we should have scored," said Nicol. "We could have made it a lot easier for ourselves, but the pleasing thing at the end was it was good to get another striker on and get us back into a good shape. When we got [Kenny] Mansally on and Shalrie [Joseph] dropped back in and Ralston dropped back in a wee bit, we looked a lot better. It was good to see that."
Jeff Larentowicz made it 2-0 in the 84th minute. A cross from Smith was challenged for by Twellman before eventually getting to substitute Wells Thompson. Thompson headed it to Ralston in the right side of the box and the Revolution captain laid it off to Larentowicz who was running towards the box. The Revolution midfielder hammered a low shot to the near post for his third goal of the season.
"It was one of those situations where in my position you just have to kind of come late and hope the space is there," said Larentowicz. "Steve picked his head up and just dropped it off. I just put my head down and shot it."
Smith made it 3-0 in the 90th minute using his speed and strength to hold off Bobby Burling on a long run into the left side of the box. The Bermudian international then slotted a shot past Kennedy to the far post.
"Hopefully this sets a tone for the rest of the season for us," said Smith. "It's crunch time now, so this is the time where we start playing good. Hopefully that carries on for the rest of the season."
Ralston added to the score sheet with his team leading seventh goal of the season in the second minute of stoppage time. On a counter attack the Revs found Twellman on the left flank, who sent a long pass across the field to Ralston. Ralston cut inside at the top on the box and released a powerful shot to the far post to give the Revs their biggest win of the season.
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