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MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Fall to Columbus Crew SC, 1-0, in Eastern Conference Final

December 6, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The New England Revolution (8th seed) fell to Columbus Crew SC (3rd seed), 1-0, in the Eastern Conference Final of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs at MAPFRE Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner delivered six saves to keep New England within striking distance until the final whistle, but Columbus advances to MLS Cup through the game's lone goal in the 59th minute from midfielder Artur.

The loss ends the Revolution's deepest playoff run since 2014, as the Revs equaled single-season records for postseason wins (three) and away wins (two). The eighth-seeded New England side defeated the Montreal Impact in the last minute of second-half stoppage time of the Play-In Round, before eliminating Supporters' Shield winners Philadelphia in Round One, and finally knocking off fourth-seeded Orlando City SC.

The Revolution's all-time postseason record moves to 20-18-9 with today's result, and 4-1-3 against Columbus in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

New England managed to out-possess the hosts on the night and recorded 10 shots, but could not put one of its three on target past Crew SC goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell. In net for the Revolution, Matt Turner set a new personal best in postseason play with six saves, including several key stops highlighted by a diving deflection on a long-range bid from Pedro Santos in the 39th minute, and a denial of a point-blank chance from Gyasi Zardes in the 58th minute.

Forward Gustavo Bou paced the Revolution with four shots, while Adam Buksa added three - with each putting one on frame. In the midfield, captain Carles Gil led the team with 75 touches and won four fouls.

POSTGAME NOTES

New England Revolution 0, Columbus Crew 1

December 6, 2020 - MAPFRE Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)

Revolution Fall to Columbus, 1-0, in Eastern Conference Final at MAPFRE Stadium

The New England Revolution fell 1-0 to the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Final of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday afternoon at MAPFRE Stadium.

Columbus midfielder Artur scored the lone goal of the match on assists from Jonathan Mensah and Lucas Zelarayán in the 59th minute.

Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena's all-time postseason record shifts to 35-13-6, including a 3-2-0 mark with the Revolution.

New England's all-time postseason record shifts to 20-18-9, which includes a 7-16-3 mark on the road and a 4-1-3 record against Columbus.

The Revolution matched club records for playoff wins (3) and wins on the road (2) in a single postseason.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner Registers Postseason-Best Six Saves

- Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner logged a postseason high six saves in today's contest, surpassing his MLS Cup Playoffs high of four saves set three times.

- Turner, who finished second in 2020 Allstate MLS Goalie of the Year voting, finished the postseason with 16 saves over four contests.

- Turner's all-time postseason record shifts to 3-2-0 and his career mark against Columbus across all competitions moves to 0-2-1.

- Turner's three victories this postseason match a club record for a single postseason, also set by Adin Brown (2002) and Bobby Shuttleworth (2014).

New England's Designated Player Trio Paced Revolution's Attack

- Forward Gustavo Bou posted a team-best four shots today, including one on target. Fellow Designated Player Adam Buksa followed with three shots, one on target.

- Midfielder Carles Gil, wearing the captains' armband, successfully completed 42 of 53 pass attempts, won four fouls, created two chances and logged 75 touches.

- The Revolution's Designated Player trio, which played just 250 minutes together during the regular season, recorded its fifth consecutive start together in today's match. The trio accounted for six of New England's seven goals this postseason and all three players logged full 90-minute shifts today.

Revolution Deploy Unchanged Starting Lineup

Bruce Arena deployed an unchanged Starting XI from last Sunday's Round One victory at Orlando, marking the third consecutive game in which the Revolution's lineup featured no changes.

Tajon Buchanan recorded four tackles, three clearances and one interception in his fourth consecutive start at right back.

First-year defender Henry Kessler posted team highs in clearances (6) and interceptions (4), while successfully completing 36 of 44 pass attempts over a full 90-minute shift.

Kelyn Rowe logged his 12th postseason appearance in today's match and eclipsed 700 career minutes played in MLS Cup Playoffs with his 20-minute shift off the bench.

Homegrown Player Justin Rennicks recorded his third career postseason appearance with a five-minute shift off the bench. The South Hamilton, Mass. native, who won four of five duels today, appeared in three of four contests this postseason.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Assistant Referee: Frank Anderson (AR1), Eric Weisbrod (AR2)

Fourth Official: Robert Sibiga

Video Assistant Referee: Jon Freemon

Weather: 36 degrees and cloudy

Scoring Summary:

CLB - Artur (Jonathan Mensah, Lucas Zelarayán) 59'

Misconduct Summary:

CLB - Pedro Santos (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 90+3'

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones (Justin Rennicks 85'), Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell, Tajon Buchanan (Kelyn Rowe 70'); Matt Polster, Scott Caldwell (Tommy McNamara 70'); Teal Bunbury (Brandon Bye 61'), Carles Gil ©, Gustavo Bou, Adam Buksa

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Michael Mancienne, Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez, Kekuta Manneh

Columbus Crew: Andrew Tarbell; Josh Williams, Jonathan Mensah ©, Milton Valenzuela, Harrison Afful; Darlington Nagbe, Pedro Santos, Artur, Lucas Zelarayán, Luis Diaz (Emmanuel Boateng 80'); Gyasi Zardes

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Lampson, Fanendo Adi, Hector Jimenez, Aidan Morris, Fatai Alashe, Krisztian Nemeth, Aboubacar Keita, Youness Mokhtar

New England Revolution Team Statistics Columbus Crew SC

10 (4) Shots (on Target) 16 (7)

3 Blocked Shots 3

6 Saves 4

4 Corner Kicks 9

1 Offsides 5

7 Fouls 15

467 (81%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 421 (77%)

52.7% Possession 47.3%

POSTGAME QUOTES

New England Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce Arena

On the team's scoring chances late in the game:

Arena: "We had some chances. The one good one [Gustavo Bou] had, he cut it back to his right foot. He probably should've shot with his left foot. But on the day Columbus was the better team, I think. I think they deserved to win the game. Give them credit for the goal they created. Just better at anticipating chances than we were. I thought on the day, in the middle third of the field, they were good. Not that they did anything that goes into highlight reels, but they won tackles, they anticipated plays, and they were a little bit sharper in the middle of the field. They did a good job paying attention to Carles [Gil] and Tajon [Buchanan], and they neutralized us in those positions."

On building off this year's playoff run moving forward:

Arena: "We made progress last year. We made progress this year. I think we want to continue that. In the offseason, we're looking to bring in two or three players that can solidify our first 11. We got to get a little bit better there. Technically, we're not as good as we need to be. We need to bring in a few better players to help us in the attacking end of the field. And we can use help in other positions. We'll do our best to try to make our roster a little bit better."

On if taking Tajon Buchanan off in the second half was a tactical decision or due to fatigue:

Arena: "That was a tactical choice. I thought they did a good job against him. He didn't play his best today, but he was okay. He looked a little fatigued as well. We just had to make some changes, get in some fresher players, and see if they could give us a bit of an edge. I thought the guys that went in the game helped us."

On the team's push for an equalizing goal in the last 15 minutes of the game:

Arena: "It's pretty natural that at the end of the game, the team trailing is going to push numbers forward and try to create some chances, which we did. Columbus had a difficult time keeping possession of the ball. They gave away the ball a little bit too easy in the last 10 minutes of the game and allowed us to get forward and be a little bit more dangerous. But we weren't able to get a clean chance and try to equalize."

On not seeing the team that entered the 2020 season at full health until the playoffs:

Arena: "Yeah, possibly. Obviously, we brought in more players mid-year, so it wasn't going to be the team we had in the beginning. In my own mind, I almost discount the regular season, because I think it was such a difficult regular season for everyone. I really do. The teams that ended up first in their respective conferences didn't make it to the MLS Cup Final. In fact, they get eliminated early if I'm not mistaken, with Kansas City the other day. I think the regular season was not a good judgement of teams because of the nature of it, the scheduling. I would say we didn't play, my guess would be 18 teams in the league in a 26-team league. Figure that out. How can you even look at the regular season and try to see what kind of sense that made."

On Adam Buksa's performance today:

Arena: "I thought Adam [Buksa] played well today. He's gotten better - that's been really encouraging. His playoffs have been good, he's been a strong target, and he had a couple of chances today. He hit the post in the first half, had another good chance I think in the second half. He held the ball up, he's gotten better in the air. His performance was encouraging."

Revolution Defender Andrew Farrell

On how surprised he is that some of the team's changes didn't go in, and how disappointed the team is with the way the season ended:

Farrell: "Obviously, that's why we have those guys in those spots, because throughout the playoffs they've stepped up, scored those chances, and created for us. I don't know if I'm surprised, but sometimes it happens in games where the ball doesn't go the way we want it to. I think we're very disappointed. Columbus is obviously now the best team in the East[ern Conference] but just a couple of the little things that we've done so well in these games in the playoffs that tonight Columbus was just that much better. Obviously give credit to them, they're a great team, well-coached, and they were better on the night."

On what Columbus did to keep New England on the back foot:

Farrell: "I think it was five or six corners, kept us pinned in, put in good balls. We didn't communicate as well as we could maybe on certain plays to get out and stop crosses but we knew it was going to be like that. Columbus is a great team and they put you on the back foot. They kept us under pressure but again, we did well. Obviously we didn't play really well in the first half but at halftime we came in 0-0 so we were excited about that but we just didn't make the plays that needed to be made. We had chances and they had some chances as well. Matt [Turner] came up big, and again give them credit because the chance they had they scored."

On the performance of Matt Turner:

Farrell: "All year, Matt [Turner] has been great. It's great to see his development and finally getting the recognition he deserves. He kept us in the game, made some big saves early on, and he's better at commanding his box, communicating. He kept us in the game. Obviously that's his job but some of those saves were really good for us. We wish we could've rewarded him with being a little bit better and a little more clinical with certain chances but again, it wasn't our night."

On if the team's postseason run can help build for a future:

Farrell: "I think all of it. Part of being in sports, part of being part of this team under Bruce [Arena], obviously this team isn't going to look the same as it did tonight. We're disappointed since we didn't win, didn't bring hardware to our club, but enjoyed this run with these guys and this coaching staff. It's been a lot of fun. We won three games where not a lot of people had us winning. So that especially with this year, it's been a crazy year for everybody, not just us but being able to still play sports, it's been a hard year. So just enjoying the time with friends and family throughout this crazy run and we're obviously disappointed with not being able to play in the [MLS Cup] Final."

On how close he feels the club is to being where they want to be:

Farrell: "I guess it's, if you asked me today, just a couple tackles and a couple shots on goal and we could be in the MLS Cup Final. But I think if you told me, and Bruce [Arena] asked us this last night, that we would be playing in the Eastern Conference Final just one step away from MLS Cup, would you believe me? We've come a long way but I think you know as well as I do that Bruce is not happy with losing, he loves to win. You can tell his winning mentality has been contagious within the organization. And the Krafts also love to win. This is obviously a great run and we're happy we made it this far but Bruce isn't here to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals, he's here to win Cups. I think we still got a few pieces we can add and we can all get better. We saw a few young guys play really well, and guys like [Henry] Kessler and Tajon [Buchanan] and DeJuan [Jones] all had really good ends to the season. In another year under Bruce is going to give them a really good push for our team. And I'm sure there will be guys who aren't going to be here anymore but the team is in good hands and I know Bruce will do the right things."

On how to get increased media attention:

Farrell: "Winning. Boston fans and the city of Boston loves to win. When you're winning, people start talking about you. When you put in the resources like the Krafts have bringing in guys like Carles [Gil] and Adam [Buksa] and Gustavo [Bou], the team's going to do well. We're in a good spot right now and obviously to keep that spotlight on we've got to come back next year and keep getting into these games and playing meaningful games. Hopefully next year we can have a lot of home games and have a lot of our fans there."

Revolution Goalkeeper Matt Turner

On whether anything could've been done to prevent Columbus' goal in the 59th minute:

Turner: "There always is. Goals are a commodity. Anytime somebody scores you can track back to four or five things going wrong. It was a great finish so you tip your cap but at the same time we cleared a set piece, didn't get close enough to the ball and they crossed it. Ball-watching, lay-off, nobody's there to block a shot and a really great finish. Credit to Artur, he put it in the bottom corner. I thought I read it well, I thought I saw it well but at the end of the day I couldn't get there."

On whether the postseason run can serve as a building block for the club moving forward:

Turner: "I think last year when we went down to Atlanta and we lost in the first round, we lost 1-0 but we were probably the better team on the day. We had a lot of hope going into 2020. Obviously it's been a challenging year for everybody, not just soccer players. But we stuck together. I'm definitely going to remember the good times. I thought we didn't put our best foot forward today, that's for sure. So that's disappointing. But at the end of the day, I'm going to take some time to reflect. I'm still a little emotional right now because it hurts to lose and to lose when you were so close to winning a championship. I'll take some reflect but definitely more on the good than the bad."

On how close the team is to reaching its aspirations:

Turner: "I think we're well on our way. If you see the last few games we played, those were good teams that played against. Beating Philly in Philly, beating Orlando in Orlando and giving Columbus a really good run for their money here in Columbus all the way down to the final whistle. We were pushing for that equalizer. I think we're well on our way. We're going to have higher standards next year, from the start. We're not going to be able to accept mediocrity. I think people now see the culture and what it takes to be successful in this league and to win and get that ultimate goal, which is MLS Cup. I imagine that preseason will be very intense and hopefully we can start the year off on a strong foot rather than picking up steam down the stretch."

On the importance of team camaraderie through the ups and downs of the 2020 season:

Turner: "So important. So, so important. I can't emphasize that enough. The camaraderie on this team, and it starts on the coaching staff. They're all buddies, they're getting along, they're joking around when we're traveling, playing cards and that trickles down to the players. We're close and that makes it easier for us to demand more out of each other in my opinion. Some people will say 'you don't want to have friends on your team' but I'm not really a believer in that. I think guys that have closer relationships, you can see it on the field because they know what to expect from each other, they know how to push each other's buttons and get the best out of each other. We've spent a lot of time together. It was a long year. We're playing all the way now in December. We started back in January so you don't want to be around guys for that long that you don't like. I think down the stretch that really helped us and it kept our positive vibes and our momentum going. Honestly, it's a shame to see it come to an end the way it did."

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