But New England Revolution 'keeper Doug Warren hasn't started a game in 90 games and the last time he started, he beat D.C. United 2-1 at home in 2005.
Considering the Revs beat United 2-1 again on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium and Warren was again between the posts, the Revolution players and coaches were quick to praise Warren's ability to take over for the injured Matt Reis.
"(Warren) looked confident," Revs head coach Steve Nicol said. "He had a couple of things he had to make decisions about and when he had to make decisions, he made the right one, which is half the battle with goalkeepers. It is great they can make fantastic saves, but if they can make good decisions on a regular basis, it makes it look easier than it actually is."
Warren didn't have a whole lot to do and saw Jaime Moreno chip him in the second half, but Revs defender Jay Heaps said Warren's presence helped the defense figure things out to minimize dangerous chances.
"Dougie did a great job of stepping in," Heaps said. "There was a lot of pressure on him and I thought he did great. He was communicating well. He was in a great position."
Warren credited the players in front of him for making it easy for him to step into the lineup.
"It makes it easy when the guys in front of you are doing their jobs, and are doing it well," Warren said. "I don't think I was in many positions to make gutsy decisions because the guys in front of me made it easy. Overall, we won, so that's all that really matters."
The positive momentum started with a Taylor Twellman goal. Steve Ralston sprung Khano Smith down the left, and the cross deflected off Adam Cristman through United's Marc Burch and right to Twellman six yards from goal.
"I was a big Cam Neely fan growing up," Twellman said. "He always tried to get in front of the net. Khano and Adam did a great job getting the ball in front of the net."
Jeff Larentowicz added a second goal shortly after halftime with a swerving drive that eluded Louis Crayton.
Insteda of pushing on and consolidating, the Revs let the game slip after that and Moreno drew one back for United.
"We were in control up until the 60th minute and then we lost our way a little bit and they put us under pressure," Nicol said. "We lost a goal from our own bad play, we should have just stopped the ball up the other end of the field and cleared it and we didn't.
"We tried to be too clever in the wrong area, lost the ball and then Jaime (Moreno) scored a great goal. If that falls to anybody else it is not a goal -- it was a fantastic goal from him. It was difficult after that. All of a sudden, they're one goal in it. You're stuck between going forward too early and back too far and that is what happened after they scored."
Collecting three points tends to calm those misgivings. Revolution captain Steve Ralston said his team did a nice job of holding the ball and keeping their composure after a 4-0 loss in San Jose last weekend.
"We kept possession well," Ralston said. "I thought our forwards kept the ball well. It made it a lot easier for all of us. We were able to get up the field and keep possession. We needed to make the final pass a little bit better. We could have had more opportunities."
Premier League Replay: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
New formation comes easy to Revs
Terry & Essien Delighted After ‘Rollicking’
