MLS New England Revolution

Revolution blank Chicago 3-0

Published on April 27, 2005 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


Chicago, Ill. - The New England Revolution (3-0-1, 10 pts.) secured the Eastern Conference's first place position with a 3-0 win against the Chicago Fire (2-2-1, 7 pts.) Saturday night at Soldier Field. This past week's MLS Honda Player of the Week Clint Dempsey scored New England's first goal in the 32nd minute and forward Pat Noonan added a goal to the total in the 43rd minute. With seconds left in added time of the match, Taylor Twellman scored the 50th goal of his Revolution career to give New England the 3-0 win.

New England made their first scoring opportunity in just the 5th minute of the match on a Noonan header. Midfielder Andy Dorman took a free kick from 30 yards off the endline into the center of the penalty area. Noonan slipped free in traffic and headed the ball toward the goalmouth but the shot went just wide of the right post.

The Revs went close again in the 12th minute when Dempsey had his first chance of the game. Twellman lifted a short pass into the area that Dempsey was able to run onto for a hard, first-time shot that sailed over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, New England got another free kick opportunity, this one also served in by Dorman. The ball curled over the crowd of players in the area to Noonan, who was positioned alone on the left side of the area. Noonan took a shot toward the goalmouth, but Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton got a hand and deflected it across the goalmouth. There were, however, no New England players close enough to finish.

The Revolution got on the board first with Dempsey's goal in the 32nd minute of the match. Revs captain Shalrie Joseph played a give-and-go with Twellman in the right flank before passing it into the area to Dempsey. Dempsey received the ball and popped it up into the air. The Nacogdoches, Texas native then took a swinging kick to blast the ball into the upper, right corner at the near post to put the Revs up 1-0. The goal was Dempsey's third goal in as many matches and his 10th goal in a Revolution uniform.

New England doubled their score in the 43rd minute when Noonan scored his third goal of the season. Off of a Fire corner kick, rookie defender James Riley played the ball out to the far sideline. Dempsey ran onto it and dribbled all the way up the right flank. As he neared the area, Dempsey dumped the ball off to Riley who turned and sent a ball all the way across the area. Noonan, who had ghosted in uncovered once again, took a one-touch blast to the far, right post past a diving Thornton to give New England the 2-0 lead.

After the intermission, Chicago came out on the attack but it was New England that got an opportunity early in the second half when Riley served a cross in from the right flank. Twellman ran onto the ball to head it into the area, but Thornton pulled in down just as Twellman got there.

In the 49th minute, Chicago got a chance when forward Nate Jaqua had the ball in the area. As defender Avery John attempted a slide tackle, Jaqua got a shot off. Reis, who had already dove, reached up and stopped the shot.

The Fire had another opportunity minutes later when forward Thiago attempted a direct kick in the 52nd minute. Thiago shot toward the left half of the goalmouth, however, Reis was able to make the save and keep Chicago off the board.

Chicago got close again in the 78th minute after forward Justin Mapp beat New England defender Avery John in the right corner before cutting into the area. Once past John, Mapp crossed the ball parallel with the endline across the goalmouth. Substitute forward Andy Herron ran onto the cross and would have had an open shot, however, was not able to connect and it rolled through the goalmouth and out over the endline.

With seconds left in added time, Twellman scored his milestone goal. After receiving a ball from substitute midfielder Luke Vercollone on the right side of midfield, Twellman carried the ball all the way up the flank.

Slashing into the area with Vercollone and Andy Dorman in support, Twellman drew Thornton off his line and powered a shot high to the near post side to give New England a 3-0 victory.

The Revs return home for their third game in an eight-day stretch at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at Gillette Stadium against CD Chivas USA. The match will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. To commemorate the historic match, the Revolution several exciting events planned as part of Budweiser's Hispanic Heritage Night. Local performer Veronica Robles will sing the National Anthem and Estampa de America and Xuchipilli Danza y Cultura will entertain the crowd prior to the match and at halftime.

In addition, several local companies haves partnered with the Revolution by donating thousands of tickets for Saturday night's match to support Hispanic Heritage Night and local youth initiatives. The New England Revolution would like to thank Bank of America, Blais Co. and Lighthouse Computer Services for their generous donations.

For ticket information call 1-877-GET-REVS.

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 27, 2005


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