FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One look at the standings told the New England Revolution that Saturday night's 1-0 loss to Columbus was a game they had to have.
The Revs started the day five points behind the Crew with five games to play. Chad Marshall's 35th-minute header extended the deficit to eight points with four games to play and crippled the Revs' hopes for the Supporters' Shield and the Eastern Conference title in the process.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol wasn't pleased with how his team adapted to the Crew's defensively attuned, pressing style.
"In the first half and for most of the game, we were just dumb," Nicol said. "If you look at how they played, especially in the first half, we tried to make passes in the middle of our own half and they just squeezed us. We tried that and it didn't work. We weren't smart enough to change it. We're trying to stretch out the game and get it wider earlier and we couldn't do it."
Revs midfielder Shalrie Joseph said that Nicol expressed those views at halftime to the team in an attempt to prod them forward in the second half.
"He wanted us to push up some more and win some more second balls," Joseph said. "We were trying but it wasn't happening. Even when they went a man down, we weren't moving the ball well enough. We didn't pick up second balls and we didn't create enough chances. We didn't put them on their back heel. It was a frustrating game."
Not even Frankie Hejduk's second-half red card could spark the Revs out of their stupor. The ball didn't get wide enough quickly enough, Nicol said. Instead, the Revs played right into the Crew's hands by keeping the ball in the middle of the park.
"It had nothing to do with attitude or commitment," Nicol said. "We just weren't smart. We went about it the wrong way. We have to realize that when we're doing one thing and it's not working, we have to change it. If you keep banging on the door and no one opens it, you have to find another way of getting in."
The alternative way never came. Chances were few and far between after Hejduk's dismissal as the Crew held their lines and the Revs struggled to break them down. William Hesmer rushed out to block Sainey Nyassi after Steve Ralston played him through, but the Revs couldn't create the one or two quality chances they needed to turn over the result.
"They played like the best team in MLS," Joseph said. "We weren't good enough to match them. We put out the effort but it wasn't enough at the end of the day."
Joseph said his team needs to rebound ahead of its last four games. With Chicago only a point behind in third place, New England doesn't have any margin for error when Real Salt Lake come to Gillette Stadium next weekend.
"We have to find some positives," Joseph said. "We created some chances but it wasn't good enough. They did what they were supposed to do and got the early goal. They defended for their life and created one or two chances after that as well."
FRISCO, Texas -- With two consecutive wins, FC Dallas now find themselves back in the thick of the race for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Hoops will look to win a third match in a row for the first time in 2008 when San Jose visits Pizza Hut Park on MLS Primetime Thursday.
On Sunday, FCD dispatched D.C. United 3-0 with goals from Andre Rocha, Jeff Cunningham and Kenny Cooper, the Hoops' first victory in four tries against United in Frisco. One week earlier, they went into Toyota Park and handed the Chicago Fire a 4-1 defeat to capture the Brimstone Cup for the seventh consecutive season.
"I think we are coming to the point where we are really strong in our game," said FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala. "In the last two games, we have scored seven goals and gave up only one. So, we have a lot of confidence to get the three points against San Jose on Thursday."
San Jose, on the other hand, heads into the contest off a 3-2 loss to Real Salt Lake, a setback that ended a nine-game unbeaten streak. The Quakes last won on the road on June 7, when they prevailed 2-0 against Columbus at Crew Stadium. Since then, San Jose is 0-2-4 on the road.
As has been the story since both were added to the Quakes roster, Arturo Alvarez, acquired in a trade with FCD, and Darren Huckerby, continue to have big impacts for the Bay Area side. Alvarez has registered a goal or assist in the last four games while Huckerby is San Jose's leading scorer with six goals and four assists in only nine games.
It's a tandem that FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman is well aware of.
"They obviously have done well of late of getting their strike force in place," Hyndman said. "Everybody is on the same page. They play an open 4-4-2 where they get the balls from the flanks. You've got Ronnie O'Brien on one flank and then you got, (Darren) Huckerby on the other flank.
"Our defense has really done a good job and they will really be under pressure," Hyndman continued. "This is a huge game for us as it is for them. But we're at home. I wish we would have had a little more rest time."
For Sala, the game shapes up to be a scintillating battle between two of the hotter teams in the West.
"They (San Jose) have come on strong in the last part of the season but so have we," he said. "So, I think these two teams have played the best soccer in the conference over the last month. It's going to be a good match. We desperately need the three points. We're a very organized team right now and we don't give up many goals.
"In the offense, we are creating our chances and scoring on the counterattack," Sala continued. "I think it's important that we get the first goal. When we score first, we know what to do with them in the counterattack. San Jose is a good team but they don't have the weapons that we have."
One player every member of the FCD starting 11 will have to keep an eye on is Alvarez, who was traded to the Quakes earlier this year after spending five seasons in hoops.
"He's on fire right now because he has scored in a couple of games," Sala said. "We know what he can do on the field. He's a really skillful player and really talented. We're going to take care of him, don't worry."
When Alvarez was traded, Hyndman said it was the best decision for both FCD and Alvarez. And the FCD coach admits it has brought a smile to his face to see the former FCD man perform well -- as long as it doesn't come at his former team's expense.
"It really does ... I'm glad he's doing well but I also don't want him to do well at our expense," Hyndman said. "When he was traded, this was the game he was looking at and saying it will be good to have a chance to go back. So, I would expect nothing but the best. We want the best for him as well but we don't want it to be a direct point steal from us."
The FCD backline will look a bit different as veteran center back and captain Duilio Davino looks to be ready to return to the starting 11. The Mexican international had missed seven matches with a toe injury before returning for the final 22 minutes of Sunday's win against D.C. United.
"Arturo has helped them a lot," Davino said. "But at this moment, it comes down more to what we're doing and how we're doing things. We're passing through a good time right now after two good games. Obviously, being at home, we need to continue having the mentality of picking up points and going ahead."
FCD midfielder Andre Rocha, who has a goal and two assists in his side's last two games, sat out of training on Monday with what Hyndman called a slight groin strain. However, the Brazilian who leads FCD with eight assists returned to practice on Wednesday with no issue.
1. Rising to the occasion: When it comes to marketing, Major League Soccer is just like any other professional sport: a big percentage of the enterprise is about the glam, wham and shazam of the big stars.
But when it comes to performance, when it comes to creating headlines in and around postseason money time, the DPs and the big earners just beneath DP status can't do it all. The teams that will rise over the last five weeks of Major League Soccer -- it wouldn't be a stretch to say these will be the most pressurized five weeks ever of regular season play, considering the number of teams contending fiercely for playoff spots -- are teams where a mid-rung player or two can find the next level.
We give you Chicago's Chris Rolfe and Wilman Conde.
The Fire's most acclaimed man, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, certainly did his part in Thursday's telling 3-1 match, one that pointed Chicago back in the right direction, while further tamping down the Los Angeles Galaxy's diminishing playoff hopes. Blanco was livelier than he's been in two months, and it showed in an enlivened Fire attack.
Brian McBride, as well-known, respected and popular as they come in U.S. soccer circles, had a relatively quiet night. And although Justin Mapp, a one-time poster boy for U.S. soccer's new generation, had his moments, he was somewhat contained as well.
Rolfe, meanwhile, following some time on the bench in Chicago's previous game, willed his team to an early 1-0 lead. He did it by scrappily refusing to quit on an early sequence, finally finding net when the Galaxy defense couldn't collectively match his spunk and persistence. Rolfe, a player on the fringes of national team consideration -- although that could be changing -- later added a second strike to punctuate a huge night at Toyota Park.
(Yes, Rolfe was also marking Eddie Lewis as the Galaxy midfielder scored his team's only goal. But let's give Lewis some credit for a highly athletic play despite Rolfe's satisfactory marking. And don't forget that Rolfe was tracking all the way back as a forward, who found himself matched with Lewis in front of his own goal.)
Speaking of huge efforts: Conde has that rare combination of skills, smarts and passion, all of which can be brewed up into quite a soccer stew. Five days earlier, as Chicago fell meekly to Dallas, Conde was perhaps the only man in a Fire kit who had acquitted himself adequately in that ugly 4-1 setback.
He was often a man among boys on Thursday, shepherding what suddenly looked once again like the league's best defense. Individually, Conde might be the best defender in the league at the moment. Similarly, it would be difficult to make the case that he and Bakary Soumare aren't the best central tandem.
Thanks in large part to Conde and Rolfe, the Fire once again had that look of a top MLS contender on Thursday.
2. A little more DP talk: As we look at the playoffs, considering above all who's in and who still wants in, one hard truth is hard to escape: once again we see that clubs do not necessarily require a designated player to turn over success in Major League Soccer.
Columbus is in the playoffs. No DP there.
Houston and New England are in great shape. DPs? Not so much.
Now look at the five teams with DPs currently attached: Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, New York and D.C United. Some can like their playoff chances better than others, but none will book passage without sweating it a bit. (Chicago's big win Thursday can allow the Fire to breathe a bit easier, at least.)
So what's the point? That DPs can sometimes drive team performance, in addition to marketing initiatives, but they aren't the be-all, end-all. Just like horse racing, there are no sure things.
3. A little good news for RSL: Real Salt Lake's playoff chances may well come down to those two remaining home games. Problem is, the first of those two critical opportunities correspond with the club's new stadium debut in Sandy. And these midseason facility debuts aren't very helpful for the W-L mark. Dallas and Chicago managed only draws in similar circumstances, while Toronto FC fell on the day they raised the curtain at BMO.
But news from halfway around the world this week may be tilting matters back in RSL's direction for the big day in Sandy, the Oct. 9 opener of the league's seventh soccer-specific venue. That's because Venezuela has named important Red Bulls Gabe Cichero and Jorge Rojas to the roster for two World Cup qualifiers. Venezuela meets Brazil and Ecuador on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15, which would likely make the pair unavailable for the Oct. 9 MLS date.
Furthermore, there is a growing buzz that in-form striker Juan Pablo Angel could be in Colombia's plans for those same fixture dates, as a new manager tries to rebuild some burned bridges in that national team program.
If Angel goes south for the next round of qualifiers, that would be happy news, indeed, for RSL supporters. Angel has seven of New York's last 12 goals.
4. Dick's jinx?: If you've watched any soccer this year, you've probably seen the Dick's Sporting Goods commercial, where four prominent MLS players goof around with a soccer ball; boys-will-be-boys high jinks ensue. Odd thing is, misfortune has befallen three of the four. Ben Olsen, around whom the TV spot is built, has been hurt all year. Dallas' Duilio Davino has been hurt for weeks, mending more slowly than he or anyone else around Pizza Hut Park would like. Christian Gomez can't get out of the Colorado Rapids' doghouse.
Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching is the "last man standing." So, if I'm Ching, I'd be very careful getting in and out of the bathtub and such.
5. Respect is in, animosity out: Maybe you were looking for some of those rivalry-inspired U.S.A.-Mexico shenanigans to spill over into Thursday night's MLS contest at Toyota Park. Maybe you thought it would tumble out in the form of a little business-on-the-side between Landon Donovan and Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Well, you were surely disappointed.
Both have had their moments sowing and harvesting antics in the border rivalry. But they've seemingly made peace with it all. The pair spent time together a couple of months ago during the MLS All-Star break, and Donovan emerged with peaceful, easy feelings toward the Fire playmaker.
So, if you like your sports stars toting big bags full of fashioned animosity and acrimony when it comes to all rivals, you'll have to look elsewhere to find it.
Here's what Donovan told MLS Magazine for an upcoming article on Blanco:
"As a player, he's talented, he's fun to watch, he's entertaining," Donovan said. "And a lot of players are all those things, and then they're not productive. He's also productive. He gets goals, he get assists, he gets his teammates involved. From that aspect, you couldn't not want him on your team."
And about the renowned Blanco gamesmanship? Donovan seems pretty forgiving here, too.
"It's a Latin-American thing, and he's one of the masters at it," Donovan said. "It's weird because you see him off the field and he's so quiet -- a lot like Carlos Ruiz is. He's very quiet and contained. And then they get on the field and it's a whole different element, it's a whole different animal. It's just who they are, it's what they do, and it's just the way it goes."
E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Toronto FC kept its slim playoff hopes alive Saturday night, earning three valuable points with a vital 3-1 road victory against Eastern Conference rival New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium.
TFC striker Chad Barrett scored on either side of halftime, netting the game-winner in the 65th minute. Substitute Abdus Ibrahim, 17, put the game away when he headed home Johann Smith's cross three minutes before the final whistle. Dane Richards got New York's lone goal in the 49th minute.
The win is essentially worth six points for the visitors, since New York is one of the teams TFC is chasing for a postseason berth. Another is D.C. United, which lost to Chivas USA on Saturday, keeping TFC in the thick of the hunt with three regular season matches remaining.
Given the tilt's importance, both teams came out cautiously during the opening stages.
Neither side managed a shot on goal through the first 20 minutes. Then New York created a pair of quality chances, forcing Toronto 'keeper Greg Sutton into two diving saves. The first was on a close-range shot from Juan Pablo Angel, the second on a Mike Magee volley.
Toronto FC, however, struck first. In the 25th minute, Reds striker Chad Barrett took advantage of Gabriel Cichero's latest blunder, running past the Red Bulls defender and pouncing on his weak, headed pass-back attempt before lofting the ball over the head of 'keeper Jon Conway, who was stranded hopelessly off his line, and into the unattended net. The home team was none too happy about falling behind. In the 34th minute, tempers boiled over and a scrum broke out after Juan Pablo Angel caught former Red Bulls midfielder Amado Guevara in the back of the leg near midfield. When the dust settled, Angel, teammate Jorge Rojas and TFC defender Kevin Harmse had been booked by referee Ramon Hernandez.
New York midfielder Seth Stammler had an opportunity to even the score on the stroke of halftime. But his eight-yard shot off Richards' pass was well saved by Sutton and TFC went to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
New York pulled level just four minutes after the second half began. Angel headed on Kevin Goldthwaite's throw-in on the left side and Richards cleverly allowed the ball to go over his head and into space so he could run onto it. With TFC's back line retreating, Richards darted into the area and fired a low shot past Sutton to even things up.
Moments later, Richards nearly put his team ahead when he chased down a defense-splitting through-ball, but Sutton saw the danger early and got there first to clear the ball away.
In the 65th minute, Toronto went ahead for good. After successfully defending a New York free kick, Marvell Wynne sprung a lightning-fast, odd-man counter-attack when he picked up a loose ball deep in his own half and raced 60 yards into the Red Bulls box.
With Wynne approaching, Conway had to come out to play the shot. But at the last possible second, Wynne served a perfect square pass across the face of goal for Barrett to steer into the gaping goal from the doorstep.
Toronto FC added an insurance goal in the 86th minute as Ibrahim beat Cichero to a cross by Johann Smith and headed the ball past Conway at the far post. It was the third straight game the Red Bulls have conceded three goals or more.
TFC now has 31 points from 27 games. The Reds' next match is against FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas next Saturday. The Red Bulls remain on 35 points, with their hold on a wild card spot in real doubt. They face a huge game against another team tied with 35 points, Real Salt Lake, next Thursday as the Utah club opens its new stadium.
FRISCO, Texas -- The 2008 season has been something of a rollercoaster for FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha. In the first half of the season, the Brazilian international was a revelation, leading the Hoops with six assists. However, between June 15 and August 23, he struggled and was absent from the scoring column.
Part of the reason was that FCD made a coaching change in mid-June. Gone was the 3-5-2 formation employed by Steve Morrow and in was a 4-4-2 from new coach Schellas Hyndman, who expected Rocha to man the right flank and get up and down the field.
When the Brazilian wasn't able to meet those expectations, Rocha became frustrated. It began on July 27, when he played just 66 minutes in a 4-0 home win against the LA Galaxy. And on Aug. 23 at Kansas City, he left the field after being subbed out at the 66th minute.
Rocha didn't play a full 90 minutes until Sept. 13, when his second goal of the year allowed the Hoops to leave RFK Stadium with a point in a 2-2 tie with D.C. United. In the meantime, Hyndman came to realize that a traditional 4-4-2 wouldn't work with his current roster and has instead used a formation with a tighter diamond, which has benefited Rocha greatly.
"It's a 4-4-2 but not a traditional 4-4-2," Hyndman said. "It's been compromised to play more of a diamond because of the qualities of our players, not just him but Eric (Avila), Marcelo and Dax (McCarty). When you look at how many players we have on our team, they're all pretty much central midfielders. The only one that's probably a natural flank player is Victor (Sikora).
"So, I think understanding that and giving players a little bit more freedom also brought the best out of Andre," Hyndman continued. "But since I've been here, it's been a rollercoaster for him. He came out after 70 minutes and didn't want to come to the bench. Now, he's one of the players we rate as having a very good game."
Part of the issue for Hyndman with Rocha during that stretch where he wasn't playing a full 90 minutes was what he perceived as a lack of fitness, something he no longer sees as a problem.
"He's really worked hard these last four weeks to improve his fitness," Hyndman said. "The reason I was taking him off the field was that his fitness wasn't good enough to do that work rate. It could've been worse. He could've been a flank player in a 3-5-2 and had to go from penalty box to penalty box. But now, I see he's at his best when the ball is on his feet and a lot of people are. Being out wide, he wasn't getting the ball enough. This way, he might be on the right side of the diamond but at any moment, he could be up top or on the left side. It's very mobile."
However, Hyndman admits that since he has tweaked the 4-4-2, he has seen Rocha respond in a positive manner.
"Once we did that, he started being a better player instead of getting stuck out wide and trying to do the things maybe he wasn't able to do," he said. "I've never really had a problem with Andre on the field. I think he's tried to do the things I wanted him to do. I think sometimes off the field with issues that carry on maybe affect his mentality and his play.
"I think recently he's been very good for us. He's assisting on goals. He's being part of the strike force. He's serving balls and he's working on both sides of the ball. I think he's been a good addition to the team."
In Sunday's 4-1 win at Chicago, Rocha assisted on two goals and also figured in a third, clearly one of his best performances of the season.
"It was a good game," Rocha said. "I think our team went in very well. We have good concentration as we're heading into the end of the season. Each of us knows that we have to give more of ourselves. What's important is getting those results. We knew we were playing away from home and had to go in there ready. We knew that they had players like (Cuauhtemoc) Blanco and that we had to be at our highest level. We think that if we continue playing like that and that if everyone keeps giving 100 percent, it will be very difficult for us to lose."
Like his coach, Rocha clearly sees a positive change in playing in Hyndman's system.
"One of the things with me before when we were working it, I was very opened up and distant from the others," Rocha said. "Now, I'm in the middle, where I feel the closeness and am more involved. The three guys -- Pablo (Ricchetti), Marcelo (Saragosa) and Bruno (Guarda) -- are all good players. They know how to touch the ball quickly, which contributes to us being able to play that way. We understand each other. It seems to be helping me more as well as the team."
That formation also allows him to see play develop much quicker, which in turn, allows him to be more involved in the attack as well as on defense.
"One of the things is that it depends on how the plays develop," Rocha said. "When I'm defending, I have to be near the line and stay close. But when we do have the ball and depending how it's developing, I can go wide, I can go in and go up. Those are the kinds of things that you can see more from that spot."
FRISCO, Texas -- With FC Dallas ahead of D.C. United 2-0 on Sunday at Pizza Hut Park, FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman went to his bench. He brought on veteran center back Duilio Davino, who had missed seven games with a toe injury for Aaron Pitchkolan.
It was the Mexican international's first action since a 4-0 win against the LA Galaxy on June 27 and from all indications, it was a clear signal that he will return to the starting XI this Thursday when San Jose visits Frisco for an ESPN2 MLS Primetime Thursday matchup.
"It was a situation where we had dropped into a Level Three defending, which is something we didn't want to do," Hyndman said. "We had talked about it before the game and we talked about it at halftime. We started off on Level One and that's why we were causing so many problems. Then, through fatigue and heat, we dropped ourselves back to Level Two. Then, eventually, we went back all the way to Level Three, which was hardly any pressure on their defense and they're able to come into our half."
He then explained his rationale behind the change.
"I thought what was happening was as great as (Pitchkolan) and Drew (Moor) have played for us, it needed somebody with experience to kind of calm things down, set the line and provide a little more of a leadership," Hyndman said. "He (Davino) probably has more experience than everyone else back there put together, so you need him on the field. He's healthy. He wants to play but as a coach, it's always tough to make changes when the team is doing so well. Those are always tough decisions for coaches. I thought that would be the right decision to make and it paid off."
Davino had played all but 45 minutes in his first 18 league games with FC Dallas, missing only the second half of the 2-2 draw with Houston on May 28. But then came the toe injury that has sidelined him since the start of August.
"I felt good," Davino said. "It had been a long time since I had played but I felt good. Playing those 20 minutes were good minutes for me."
FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala, who got his seventh clean sheet of the 2008 season, offered the following assessment of Davino's performance.
"It's hard to tell in a couple of minutes but I think overall, he did OK," Sala said. "He played well. So did Pitchkolan. It's nice to have two guys at a good level who are challenging for the starting position. I think the decision is now with the coach. Whatever he (Hyndman) decides, we're going to support 100 percent. Either of those guys can do the job."
It was only fitting that Davino made his return on Sunday. The club had designated that game as "Davino Wig Day" where the first 5,000 fans got a replica of his 'do.
"If that's how my hair looks, then it looks pretty bad," Davino joked. "Yes, maybe (they should do) something different like that (maybe a Davino headband night)."
If Davino is to return against the Earthquakes this weekend, Hyndman has one question: Is the veteran fit enough to take on strikers such as ex-FC Dallas man Arturo Alvarez and English Premier League veteran Darren Huckerby?
"I'll have a conversation with him. What we need is exactly that. I know we're going to get his best and I know that we're going to get his experience and leadership. Is his best good enough for 90 minutes?" Hyndman said. "I think with the strike force they have with Darren Huckerby, Arturo or Ronnie O'Brien, there are some players there that are going to cause some problems. And I'm thinking that we don't want to get stretched out or pulled out of position. I think we'd like to go with him and see how we can do. And we always have (Pitchkolan) there."
Said Davino: "I don't know (if I'm fully fit) but I believe that I am. The only way that you can get back into form is to get rhythm and get into games."
Even though Sunday was his first game back, Davino admits that continued offensive prowess from the FCD attack, which has seven goals (while allowing one) in their last two games can only make the job of he and his fellow defenders even easier.
"Any time the game can get to 2-0 or 3-0, everybody feels a lot better," Davino said. "It's better than when it's just 1-0 and everybody knows that you've got more pressure on you."
The veteran who has considerable experience making a push for the playoffs during his time in Mexico admits he loves this time of year when every match carries with it huge stakes.
"The best (thing) would be to have already qualified (for the playoffs)," Davino said. "But it's nice. The pressure to always have to win is something that we like."
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With a playoff berth sealed, the Columbus Crew have their eyes on a couple shiny pieces of hardware.
The path to the Supporters' Shield just got a little easier after the Crew defeated the second-place New England Revolution 1-0, to extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to eight points.
"It's super," Crew head coach Sigi Schmid said. "We're focused on the rest of the season. The way we look at it now, we have eight more games. We want to make use of all of them. We want to continue to play well."
The team extended its unbeaten streak to seven games -- 6-0-1 -- with the victory and maintained its supremacy for the league's top overall spot.
"It's huge for us," Crew defender Chad Marshall said. "We've clinched the playoffs and we want to win that Supporters' Shield. We want the best for the club. Wins on the road are a great thing."
It didn't come easily for the Crew as the visitors had to battle a Revolution team that wanted revenge for a 4-0 drubbing in Columbus three weeks ago and had to battle Tropical Storm Kyle and the rain it dumped on New England.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Marshall said. "The last time we played them, we got a favorable result at home. We knew they'd want this one at home. We just came out and did what we had to do. We got out of here with three points."
Marshall had much to do with the Crew's success. A resolute defensive display kept the Revs at bay and his 35th-minute header -- set up by a corner kick from the vibrant Robbie Rogers -- gave the Crew all they would need for victory.
"Their defenders seemed to be waiting in there for us to make the run into the box," Marshall said. "I just went far post and Robbie hit a great ball. I got lucky with a couple of picks or screens and I was there to knock it in."
After a first half where the Crew created chances through Rogers, the play shifted in the second after Frankie Hejduk picked up his second yellow card for interfering with Matt Reis as he tried to punt the ball.
Hejduk's dismissal invited the Revs to push further forward as the home side went in search of the three points it desperately needed.
"It was unfortunate to go down a man for the last 25 minutes, but we did what we had to do," Marshall said. "We kept numbers behind the ball. We didn't really give them anything. It was important for our team defense."
That defense yielded few chances in the 25 minutes after Hejduk picked up his second yellow. William Hesmer came out to thwart Sainey Nyassi once, but the Revs generally struggled to get in behind the Crew backline.
"We work a lot on keeping it in front of us," Schmid said. "One of our strengths all season long was that our guys cover for each other. As long as guys play unselfishly like that, it makes it easier to defend."
