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Kristine Lilly and the Breakers hope to rebound Saturday against the first-place Los Angeles Sol. (Photo by Robin Chan) |
The Revs find themselves tied for third place with Toronto in the MLS’s Eastern Conference as a result, while the Breakers drop to third, with the Red Stars leapfrogging them into the second behind the L.A. Sol, whom Boston will host Saturday night.
The Revolution return to Gillette Stadium next Sunday to take on the Houston Dynamo.
RSL 6, Revs 0
Six different players scored goals for Real Salt Lake in a remarkable second-half performance, as the New England Revolution fell to its first defeat of the season in convincing fashion at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The six-goal outburst in the second half marked the first time in club history that the Revs conceded six goals in one half, as the previous mark of five was set on Aug. 11, 1996, against the San Jose Clash. Meanwhile, the six-goal loss was the worst regular-season defeat in club history, besting a pair of 6-1 losses in 1996 and 1998. The Revs did lose 6-0 once before in the postseason, to the Chicago Fire in Game 3 of the 2000 MLS Cup quarterfinals.
New England (2-1-2, 8 points) was put under heavy pressure in the opening minutes as Real Salt Lake (3-2, 9 pts.) pushed for an early goal. The home side’s best chance during the stretch came in the sixth minute, when Javier Morales’ 20-yard drive sailed just high and wide of the upper right corner.
While RSL continued to create the majority of the scoring chances in the first half – the Revs were outshot, 12-3 - the pace slowed down considerably after the opening 10 minutes. Real Salt Lake didn’t seriously threaten to score until the 37th minute, when Morales’ long ball over the top of the Revolution’s backline sent Yura Movsisyan one-on-one with keeper Brad Knighton. However, Movsisyan struck his shot low and directly at Knighton, who made a comfortable save.
New England’s best opportunity of the game fell to Sainey Nyassi in the 38th minute. The 20-year-old Gambian drove forward to the top of the box, but his low blast from 20 yards out was hit straight at RSL keeper Nick Rimando.
The second half began with Real Salt Lake continuing to control possession. The hosts were finally rewarded for their pressure with two goals in the space of two minutes early in the second half, both from Morales corner kicks.
Jamison Olave opened the scoring for RSL in the 53rd minute, rising unmarked near the penalty spot to power a header past Knighton and inside the right post, while Clint Mathis doubled the lead with a spectacular goal in the 56th minute. Morales’s driven service from the right corner reached Mathis at the far post, and the veteran forward used his first touch to strike a full, left-footed volley which sliced into the near upper corner.
Salt Lake put the game out of reach with a third goal in the 70th minute, when Yura Movsisyan scored his first goal of the season. Mathis slipped a pass through the Revs’ backline and sent Movisyan into the right side of the box, and the 21-year-old finished past Knighton inside the far post.
The score was pushed to 4-0 in the 81st minute when second-half substitute Luis Miguel Escalada recorded the first goal of his MLS career. The goal was scored from a similar position as Movsisyan’s earlier strike, as Ned Grabavoy laid off a pass to Escalada in the right side of the box and the first-year player placed his shot inside the far post.
RSL notched its fifth goal in the 85th minute when former Revolution midfielder Andy Williams placed a free kick from the left wing into the far upper corner, while the scoring was complete in the 89th minute when Robbie Findley finished a breakaway chance after being played through by Williams.
The Revs will return home for their next match on Sunday, May 3, when they’ll welcome the Houston Dynamo to Gillette Stadium for the first time since last year’s SuperLiga championship match.
Chicago 4, Breakers 0
The Boston Breakers came in with strong momentum on the heels of back-to-back wins against Saint Louis and Washington, but saw its streak come to against the Chicago Red Stars in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) action at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
Brittany Klein led the way with a goal and two assists for the Red Stars, while Megan Rapinoe added a goal and an assist.
“Chicago was better in every aspect of the game,” said Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco. “We have to extract the lessons learned from this game and get better.”
Carli Lloyd got the scoring started in the 21st minute when she took a low free kick off the feed from Karen Carney from 25 yards out, which redirected off a Breakers defender in the box and bounced harmlessly into the right side of the goal.
Rapinoe made it 2-0 in the 39th minute after she ran into the box from the right side after receiving a pass from near the top of the area by Klein. Rapinoe ran toward goal, cut to her left and shot the ball into the upper left corner.
Carney added a third just moments later in the 42nd minute off another assist from Klein and from a similar area inside the box with a shot into the upper left corner.
Klein added a goal of her own in the 51st minute after a run by Carney down the right side. Carney sent a low cross along the top of the 18-yard box that was touched by Lindsay Tarpley into the path of Klein, who was had a clear shot into the lower left hand corner of the goal from the top of the area.
The Breakers had an opportunity to grab an early lead in the 5th minute. Alex Scott built the play from the back along the right flank and found Amy Rodriguez running toward the area. She tried to find Angela Hucles in front of goal, but Chicago keeper Caroline Jonsson was there to cover it up.
Boston also had some late opportunities. First in the 82nd minute, Amy LePeilbet had a header in the center of the area off a Kristine Lilly free kick, but it was saved by Jönsson. A minute later, Lilly ran onto a through ball from Christine Latham into the box, but she was forced to the left and her shot went wide of the lower right post.
Breakers midfielder Kasey Moore cleared two balls off the line in each half, the first in the 14th minute to prevent Klein from giving Chicago the lead with an open net goal from six yards out.
Boston played without WPS co-scoring leader Kelly Smith following her match for the English national team on Thursday against Norway, although the forward was available.
“If it was a closer game we could have played Kelly, but I didn’t want to risk her,” said DiCicco. “It is no excuse though. There will be times later on this season when we are going to have to play without her as well.”
Saturday’s match against the Sol - led by Brazilian three-time reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Marta - is the first of back-to-back games between Boston and L.A., as the teams will meet at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on May 10.
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