MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Play Portland Timbers to 1-1 Draw

Published on September 1, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution (7-10-9, 30 pts.) played the Portland Timbers (11-7-8, 41 pts.) to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium on Saturday evening. Revolution midfielder Scott Caldwell opened the scoring and his 2018 account with a 58th-minute goal, but Timbers midfielder Lawrence Olum responded with an equalizer in the 70th minute that leveled the score at 1-1.

Caldwell's goal was his first since May 13, 2017, when he tallied in a 4-0 win against Real Salt Lake. The Homegrown Player now owns four goals for his MLS career. Playing alongside Caldwell in the midfield for tonight's contest was Kelyn Rowe, who made his first start since July 18. Rowe played 90 minutes in a central attacking midfield role, marking the second time he has started a match in that position this season. He also did so in the Revolution's match against Columbus Crew SC on May 19.

Defender Michael Mancienne, who joined the Revs on a free transfer from EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest on Aug. 3, made a third consecutive start in central defense. He registered one shot on target and 57 touches in his first appearance at Gillette Stadium.

New England returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 5, when it visits Yankee Stadium for a matchup with New York City FC. The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston. Fans may also listen on the radio in English on 98.5 The Sports Hub and in Portuguese on 1260 AM Nossa Radio.

New England Revolution 1, Portland Timbers 1

September 1, 2018 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Revolution Draw with Portland Timbers, 1-1

- The Revolution drew with the Portland Timbers, 1-1, on Saturday evening to move to 7-10-9 (30 points) on the season. The draw moves New England to 6-4-4 in home matches in 2018.

- Portland added to its advantage in the all-time series, as the Revs move to 1-2-6 in MLS play against the Timbers.

- New England controlled possession in the match with 62.4 percent of the ball, and outshot the Timbers 13-6, with a 4-1 edge in shots on target.

Caldwell Scores First Goal of 2018 Season

- New England midfielder Scott Caldwell scored his first goal of the year in the 58th minute of tonight's match. The Braintree, Mass. native owns four career goals and last scored on May 13, 2017 at home against Real Salt Lake.

- The 27-year-old finished the game with a 78.9 percent passing accuracy and 59 total touches after missing last week's matchup in Philadelphia due to a one-game red card suspension.

Mancienne Makes Home Debut

- Revolution defender Michael Mancienne made his home debut in tonight's draw with Portland. The center back finished with a passing accuracy of 81.4 percent in 90 minutes played.

- Mancienne has played 270 consecutive minutes since joining the team on Aug. 17, only two days before making his MLS debut at D.C. United on Aug. 19.

Caicedo Suspended for Next Match

- With a caution in the 60th minute, midfielder Luis Caicedo will miss Wednesday's match against New York City FC due to yellow card accumulation. The 22-year-old Colombian won four fouls and recorded four tackles in tonight's contest.

Revolution Make Three Changes to Starting XI

- Revolution Head Coach Brad Friedel made three changes to the club's starting lineup from its most recent match at Philadelphia on Aug. 25. Midfielder Scott Caldwell, midfielder Kelyn Rowe, and forward Teal Bunbury, midfielder Cristhian Machado, midfielder Wilfried Zahibo, and forward Juan Agudelo.

- Rowe's start marked his first since New England's match at Minnesota on July 18, when the midfielder played 90 minutes in the 1-2 loss.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero

Assistant Referees: Jose Da Silva (AR1), Eric Weisbrod (AR2)

Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu

VAR: Robert Sibiga

Weather: 70 Degrees and Clear

Attendance: 16,040

Scoring Summary:

NE - Scott Caldwell 1 (Unassisted) 58'

POR - Lawrence Olum 1 (Julio Cascante 1, David Guzmán 1) 70'

Misconduct Summary:

POR - Sebastián Blanco (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 19'

NE - Luis Caicedo (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 60'

POR - Lawrence Olum (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 67'

NE - Scott Caldwell (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 76'

NE - Michael Mancienne (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 87'

NE - Cristian Penilla (Yellow Card - Unsporting Behavior) 90'+1'

POR - Steve Clark (Yellow Card - Time Wasting) 90'+1'

New England Revolution: Matt Turner; Brandon Bye, Jalil Anibaba, Michael Mancienne, Andrew Farrell ?©; Luis Caicedo, Scott Caldwell (Wilfried Zahibo 77'); Diego Fagundez (Juan Agudelo HT), Kelyn Rowe, Cristian Penilla; Teal Bunbury

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Antonio Delamea, Zachary Herivaux, Brian Wright, Cristhian Machado

Portland Timbers: Jeff Attinella (Steve Clark 56'); Zarek Valentin, Julio Cascante, Larrys Mabiala, Alvas Powell; Lawrence Olum, David Guzman (Bill Poni Tuiloma 78'), Cristhian Paredes (Lucas Melano 70'); Andres Flores, Dairon Asprilla; Sebastian Blanco

Substitutes Not Used: Jorge Villafana, Tomas Conechny, Samuel Armenteros, Jeremy Ebobisse

New England Revolution

Team Statistics

Portland Timbers

13 (4)

Shots (on Target)

6 (1)

0

Saves

3

10

Corner Kicks

2

1

Offsides

1

16

Fouls

17

446 (73%)

Passes Attempted (% Completed)

279 (61%)

62.4%

Possession

37.6%

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION POSTGAME QUOTES

New England Revolution 1 vs. Portland Timbers 1

Saturday, September 1, 2018

New England Revolution Head Coach Brad Friedel

On the adjustments and the discussion at halftime:

Coach Friedel: "To be honest with you, I thought we were in control. It was defending a set piece and there's not a lot much more to say about it. They didn't have a lot of chances to score in the game. Another goalkeeping mistake and another mistake on a marking assignment. Simple."

On the decision to sub off Diego Fagundez at halftime:

Coach Friedel: "He wasn't playing well."

On Kelyn Rowe's play tonight:

Coach Friedel: "I thought Kelyn [Rowe] in the second half helped us a lot. I thought in the first half we were hesitant. I thought we were scared and nervous on the ball, which is normal sometimes, but we try to explain to the players, when you're going through bad patches, you're never as bad as you think you are. And when you're going through great patches, you're never as good as you think you are. It's always somewhere in between and you have to keep a level head. Hopefully, the talk at halftime helped them, because it looked like we were a little bit more fresh. I thought Juan [Agudelo] helped out a lot on both sides. Also, because we had a more balanced attack, it freed up [Cristian] Penilla. I thought we created enough chances to score a second goal at the end of the game. One point doesn't really help us at this stage, so that's why we were throwing bodies forward so much. It's not normal to stay one-v-one at times with none in the back, but we wanted the three points. That's why we sent players forward."

On starting the season so well and running into a tough stretch of late:

Coach Friedel: "Befuddled? Yeah. Disappointed? Yeah. But we're also learning--learning a lot about the players, learning a lot about what's happened here the last few years, learning the mentality of a lot of the players. We want winners. Actually, I've said it many times. We'll have winners here. And that's how it's going to be. The staff and myself won't accept things of this nature for long. Once you have your squad together, you persevere through the season and then, ultimately, you'll change personnel come the next season and we'll aim to be better."

On the final stretch serving as an open tryout for next season:

Coach Friedel: "Yeah. I've told the players to their face. Every single one of them are playing for their contracts, absolutely. And we're coaching for our contracts. That's professional sports."

On whether he envisioned discussing players playing for their contracts next season:

Coach Friedel: "You never know in this game. The LA Galaxy game, I stood up here in front of all of you. We lost and we probably played one of the best games of the year with 10 men and we lost. Why? Because we didn't have players who would take responsibility at key moments in the game and they made individual mistakes. And since that game, that's been a theme and they haven't been able to stop it no matter what's been tried. That is all up here [points to head] and in here [points to heart]. It has nothing to do with ability. I've said this many times and I believe it. We have a lot of very talented players in the locker room. But talent only gets you so far. Ask any of the great successes in the world. Best free-kickers of the ball are the best. Why? Because they work and they have the mentality to do it on the big stage. The best defenders, they have the mentality to head the ball away. They have this incredible work ethic and desire to be the best. And if you don't have it, it's really tough to be the best. It really is."

On whether or not he has everything needed to be successful at this moment:

Coach Friedel: "We don't know. We're still learning. We're still learning. We have eight games. If you go on an eight game unbeaten run in this league, which we and anybody else is fully capable of doing, and then you never know. Then we'll talk after 34 games. But if we don't make the playoffs and we're not successful, there will be changes. If we make the playoffs and we're successful, they'll be less changes. That's normal."

On if he had learned anything new tonight that he hadn't learned in the previous eight games:

Coach Friedel: "Tonight, in the first half, we were even more nervous and apprehensive than we have been. We're at home. They were a team that was going to sit off us and when they saw how nervous we are, they decided to press us. That wasn't their plan. So, I thought at halftime, you saw more of what we're capable of. But then I saw a lot of the same things that I've seen. They get a corner kick. We need to defend it. I don't know. That could've been the first corner kick of the game, as a matter of fact. Or second. Yeah, I think they had one in the first half maybe. So, yeah, same thing. Either the goalkeeper comes out, punches it, catches it, or a defender heads it away and players fall to their runner. It's not that difficult of a scenario to set up on a set piece and that comes down to up here [points to head] and in here [points to heart]. That's what it comes down to."

On Michael Mancienne's play tonight:

Coach Friedel: "Every day that Michael [Mancienne] gets here, he's acclimatizing. Michael's a very, very good player. You'll see great things from Michael here. I'm not worried about Michael."

New England Revolution Midfielder Scott Caldwell

On scoring his first goal of the season:

Caldwell: "Teal [Bunbury] had a chance to get in on a goal--it didn't happen, but as soon as that happened, the three of us made hard runs and he got a great ball across. I just tried to drag a defender--I knew I wasn't going to get to [the ball] and luckily Kelyn [Rowe] had a great shot and it popped up to me. I must say, if we get the lead in games like this down the stretch, we need to keep it. We didn't do a good enough job of that."

On what happened after the goal:

Caldwell: "Once we had the goal, for me, it felt like we slowed the game down a little bit, and maybe that's our fault for doing that. I think we maybe thought we could hold the lead. We need to keep going, keep attacking, and ultimately we can't give up set piece goals. Aside from a few counterattacks, I don't think they created a whole lot from their own play."

On whether or not the team is better than what recent results have shown:

Caldwell: "Absolutely. As players inside the locker room, we know how good we can be, we see each other every day on the practice field, and how hard we work. We need to start showing everyone that, and that's what I think is--aside from the results--that's what's most frustrating. We're not playing up to our abilities and we know we can be a lot better."

On if there is a disconnect between practice and games:

Caldwell: "You can look at something different every game. Tonight, we didn't get the result, and we need to be better."

New England Revolution Midfielder Kelyn Rowe

On tonight's match:

Rowe: "We gave up points that I think, unfortunately, we needed. It put us in a tough spot, but we have to get over it. We have a game on Wednesday to make or break our season."

On starting a playing a full 90 minutes:

Rowe: "Of course, you want to get as many minutes as you can. Obviously, I haven't gotten any minutes in the past two games, but happy to contribute as much as I can. I got the full 90 [minutes] today. Work hard this week to hopefully get more minutes on Wednesday."

On playing in a central attacking midfield role:

Rowe: "We're trying to find wins, we're trying to find goals, and obviously not conceding, which was unfortunately partly on me as well. It was good to get out there and get a run. I was able to stay in the middle for a full 90 minutes. It was a lot of fun, but it was also obviously very frustrating towards the end."

On controlling the game but not finding the second goal before conceding the tie:

Rowe: "It was a few mistakes on their goal, myself included, on the back post. We still played well, created chances. The final ball wasn't there and that's unfortunately part of our season at the moment, but we have to cancel this out because we have another make-or-break game on Wednesday. That final ball needs to be there."

On what it will take to finish the season strong:

Rowe: "All of it. We have nothing left to lose. We are at the part of our season when we've kind of dug ourselves a hole and we need to crawl out of it. We need to find a way to get confidence in ourselves, in each other. Because if not, it's going to be a long road these last eight games. We need to find it--all the heart we can, all the concentration we can in every minute. We got to have guys step up and back each other up."

On seeing this team dig itself a hole in the last few seasons:

Rowe: "I wouldn't say I'm confused. You can see each game. You can go back and watch the past three, five, seven years that I've been here. It's been a mentality. It's been how we're playing. It's about guys stepping up and doing our job maybe a little bit more. Sometime the balls go your way, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the goals go your way, sometimes they don't and the calls as well. The game of soccer is very up-and-down. Unfortunately, this is our down spot and we need to find a way to get back into the up."

Portland Timbers Head Coach Giovanni Savarese

On his overall thoughts on the game:

Coach Savarese: "We knew it was going to be physical. This is a very difficult place to play because they press the entire match, they're very athletic, they make the beginning very choppy and difficult. They never give up, also we have to match up physically and we did. That was the most important part. The guys gave everything, especially in the second half. I thought we were solid the first half, but the second we gave everything we have in order to be able to at least get a point."

On the halftime changes:

Coach Savarese: "We felt that [Lucas] Melano could give us speed in the open spaces because I thought they were wide open, and we had the possibility to counter. And then [Dairon] Asprilla, we put him wide on the right, so we did a four-four-one-one in order to be able to cover more space wide as well on that inside. Then I saw [David] Guzmán a little tired, that's why [Bill] Tuiloma came in and I thought everyone that came into the game did a fantastic job with the guys that were already in the game."

On the outcome of the match:

Coach Savarese: "We did the right thing and the team showed the character. Now, we have to go back, practice, make sure that the guys get fresh again, ready to be able to play the next game. I always say one game at a time, every game is tough."

On the status of Jeff Attinella:

Coach Savarese: "He had a hamstring pull. We have to see how bad it is."

Portland Timbers Midfielder Lawrence Olum

On playing a tough physical game across the country:

Olum: "We knew what we were coming in here for. We knew it was going to be a big fight. They needed points, and I think the boys matched up and we gave it all we could and got away with a point."

On scoring Portland's only goal:

Olum: "We knew we wanted to cause a lot of traffic in front of the goal. I just went back post and tried to redirect it back into the goal and it went in. So, we'll take that goal."

On getting a result given the travel and schedule:

Olum: "I think this is a big point. We know traveling seven, eight hours on the flight just to get here, and then the conditions of the field, and the team that we were playing against. We knew we had to get something on this trip and I think this one point puts us in a place that we're in a playoff spot. We've just got to keep going on."

On the importance of getting three points at home against Colorado next week:

Olum: "We want to make our home field like our fortress. Every time you play there, we want to get three points. So, this is a step for us to show the guys' commitment, their work rate and team effort. We do the same thing at home, good things will happen, and we'll try to get three points."

Portland Timbers Defender Zarek Valentin

On how important this game was for Portland:

Valentin: "I think it shows a level of maturity from the squad. I think we handled the game properly; it was going to be a battle. We're flying six hours after a mid-week game to the east coast, not the easiest of scheduling, but I think it shows, like I said, a level of maturity in the group to come out and just battle. It's ugly at times and it's a tough field, it's a tough way to go out there, but I think that coming back from a goal down and then securing it at the end was good for us."

On how important the leaders were in this game:

Valentin: "I think it was a collective group. There were a lot of guys talking out there. Even when Steve [Clark] came on, he provided good communication to get our line high. I think we saw a lot of players grow in terms of that leadership role, because it's a battle and in those games it's not always pretty, it's not always tiki-taka, but that's how the MLS is at times and especially when you travel, like I said, six hours. You go down a goal and you battle back, it just shows a good level of maturity for this squad and I'm happy. Obviously, we wish we could have three, but we'll take one right now."

On Dairon Asprilla's performance:

Valentin: "Dairon [Asprilla] always puts in a good shift for us. Kudos to him for waiting for his time. Obviously, it's been difficult for him. Sam [Armenteros] has been banging in goals and obviously, previously with [Fanendo] Adi, but kudos to Dairon for coming in and just being a handful. As you know, as a defender it's not easy to go against someone like that who's battling, who's fighting, who tracks back. When he's helping me on the left wing a few times, it's a credit to him and like I said, it's a credit to the coaching staff to get everyone to basically think as selfless as possible and you go out there and fight and get a good result for us."    

-end-

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 1, 2018


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