Revolution "Gutted" After Being Eliminated From Playoff Contention

Porter: “We're all down. Obviously gutted, the whole team. We believed that we were going to win this game and that we still would have a chance."

Photo Courtesy of J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday when they lost 2-1 to D.C. United.

The away side had a quick start, as Pedro Santos scored a beautiful goal in the third minute. Christian Benteke doubled the lead in the eighth when he pounced on a loose ball.

Substitute Ian Harkes forced an own goal from Matti Peltola in the 75th minute, but the Revs couldn’t find another.

“We're all down,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “Obviously gutted, the whole team. We believed that we were going to win this game and that we still would have a chance.

“Start was not good. We were not ready for the race. You have to be ready for the race. The guys knew what the race was about. It was going to be about all the things that happened in the first 10 minutes. First and second balls, very direct.

“It was going to take fight and doing little, dirty things to win second balls, first balls, battling duels, and we just weren't ready to start the race. So, that cost us the game.

“Proud of the effort, obviously, in the second half and proud of the fight until the very last second. I thought when we went 2-1, that we would win the game. It just didn't happen for us.”

Dave Romney also thought the Revs exhibited energy after the opening stanza.

“We fought really hard, honestly, for I feel like the majority of the game,” Romney said. “Just that first kind of spell. There were stretches in the first half, but second half we just gave everything, and guys were fighting until the last whistle.

“Everyone’s giving all and everything they have. It just feels like things haven’t bounced our way this year. It’s been very frustrating, so guys are obviously down and dejected.

“It’s tough to have a season full of these games where we feel like we left points on the board. But I’m not going to get mad at anybody for the effort they gave. Everyone kind of left it all on the field.”

The result means that the Revs won’t play post-season soccer, a disappointing prospect given preseason expectations.

While some pundits had the Revs finishing as low as 12th in the Eastern Conference, most had them in the playoffs.

Preseason predictions courtesy of MLSSoccer.com

“Obviously very frustrated,” Dave Romney said. “We feel like we have enough talent to do really, really well in this league. I mean, we showed we could in spells this year. We had a spell where we won five of six games.

“We had some good stretches, but we just couldn’t put it together consistently enough. And we would have stretches where we would play good for 75 minutes of games and just not for the full 90.

“And that’s kind of the story of our season, just not being clinical enough, I would say, in both boxes the majority of the year. I feel like we had decent control of the game between the eighteens, but then we just weren’t clinical enough in our eighteen, keeping goals out and then there were times when we just didn’t finish our chances in the attacking half.

“But yeah, conceded way too many goals than I would want to, so just very, very frustrated about that.”

The Revs still have two regular season games left to play, as they travel to face the Columbus Crew and Inter Miami CF.

The game against Miami will be particularly interesting because the Herons can set a new single-season MLS points record—which is currently held by the Revs—with a win.

Romney noted that both games will serve as a “benchmark” to see where the team is. He added, “I’m going to give 110% every single time I step on the field, no matter if we’re in playoffs or not.”

Porter also stated that the team has plenty to play for in their final two outings.

He said, “Two things. We play for pride. Obviously, it's a big thing, chance to show our character, play for pride, pride in the club, our supporters.

“Obviously, it's been disappointing season, but we have an obligation to continue to evolve and grow and develop for next year and the future. We're playing for pride. Pride for our club, pride for our job, pride for just who we are as people.

“And we have an opportunity, playing the best two teams in the league, to kind of measure ourselves at the end of the year. We want to be where they're at – the last MLS Cup champion and the Supporters’ Shield winner this year. So, that's what we want to be, so we have a chance to, in the last two games, measure where we're at going into next year.”