New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol

The way they got that corner, as well, kind of sticks in your throat. Just kind of sums it up. Just a big punt up the field and we don’t deal with it properly. It hits the back of Pat (Phelan’s) head and goes for a corner. Set pieces-wise, they’re a handful. They’ve got, what, six, seven guys of six-three, six-four all of them. So it’s difficult set-piece wise against them; it’s really difficult. (Brad) Davis serves a great ball in, as well. But to lose the two points in the 90th minute obviously sticks in the throat, but if we’re honest we were under a lot of pressure tonight and we stood up well, but we just couldn’t hang on at the end.

(Ryan Cochrane) got a bang in the head and it was affecting him. He couldn’t focus properly on the ball, so we had no choice but to bring him off.

We got to be positive. They had a lot of set pieces, corners, free kicks. We had a couple of guys blocking balls on the line – obviously we’d hope they didn’t get a clean header, but they did but then the guys on the line did their job. I guess it’s too easy to say that’s what they’re there for, but they did a great job on the line.

I thought (Matt Reis) had a good game tonight. He came and helped the defense out, came and caught the ball numerous occasions. He had a good night.

Benny (Feilhaber) put a ball in – he plays the one-two with Chris (Tierney) and puts a good ball in and we got a wee bit of luck when their guy miscued it, but Ryan (Cochrane) was there to finish it off.

If you’re playing against a team that big and you’re just throwing balls in, then the chances are that you’re up against it. And it was the same on the other side of the ball. As I said, they have seven guys six-foot-three, six-foot-four. But it’s not always about winning headers cleanly. It’s about putting your body in the right place and just doing enough to put them off. And unfortunately at the end, we just didn’t do that.

I hope common sense prevails. It’s one of those nonsense things that happens now and again. Hopefully the officials will use common sense. Nobody deserves to get a red card. It’s a lot of huffing and puffing.

New England Revolution defender Ryan Cochrane

I don’t think we’re happy with what happened, obviously, but on a personal level - in the moment - it’s good to get that goal against your old team. Obviously, it means a little bit more than any other goal I would score. I had a nice little celebration planned out that I kind of pussed out on. So to be honest, my plan was - I thought about this if I had scored during the game - my plan was I was going to hop over the boards and sit on their bench next to (Houston head coach) Dom (Kinnear). But it didn’t work out. It’s probably for the best. I don’t think Dom would have been too pleased with that.

Houston is a good team. They push you and push you and attack you and they really had us back on our heels for moments in the game and long periods of time. I know A.J. (Soares) and I felt like we were kind of soaking up a lot of pressure like you said. But at the end of the day I think we could have had the result and it’s a huge let down to let three points slip away like that at the very end.

I just kind of got knocked in the head by (Cam) Weaver in the first half. I just had kind of like blurry vision for most of the game and I was trying to shake it at halftime. I didn’t really sit down at halftime, I was trying to walk around and keep my adrenaline moving, you know, pumping but in the end it was just kind of precautionary to get off the field. I just couldn’t shake it really. I think I’ll do an Impact Test tomorrow and hopefully be ready for the weekend.

Obviously you want to see that result through. You know, if I could have held on to a game-winning goal it would have been nice to have been on the field for that. You know, it’s a tough battle. Houston is a good team.

I think we got to come out strong like we did. I think we played all right for the first 30 minutes of the game and I think in the last 15 minutes of the first half and the second half, they really had us on our heels - we were soaking up a lot of pressure. I thought we were all right for spots in the second half but they had a little bit more of the play as tends to happen when you’re trying to hold on to a single goal lead, you kind of bunker in a little bit. We got to stop doing that. I think we could do a little bit better.

New England Revolution defender A.J. Soares

Ryan (Cochrane) is the bomb, you know? When he goes off you lose a little leadership there, a little experience. But that being said, Pat (Phelan) is an awesome player as everyone knows, so that’s not the problem. Then you have a leader like Ryan that goes off the field, it’s a bummer.

I think trying to prevent the corner at the end would have been the one thing we could have done because when you give Houston a corner, there’s a chance they’re going to score. They’re a big team so they’re going to lob it in there and jump up there. So, that’s what they did. It wasn’t really a problem with marking or anything, but knowing that they’re good in the air, the thing would have been to trying and prevent the corner. Maybe give them a throw or something but it was a tough one. Pat (Phelan) was running back and he made a good play to get the ball out of bounds, so that’s all he could really do.

It’s really tough. We needed three for the standings, we needed it for the spirit too, but that being said we’re going to drop this game tonight and we’re going to move on to New York for Saturday. It’s a quick turnaround.

That’s how soccer goes - it goes in waves. I’d argue that the second half came out and we had a lot of play in the second half, as well, so I thought the game was pretty even overall. Maybe the result is fair, but we would have liked to get the win. Maybe, I guess, what was the change? I don’t know. They probably were pissed off that they left a goal in so they maybe came out harder.

(Matt) Reis showed right there he’s the best goalie in the league and we’re lucky to have him. I mean, he kept us in the game the whole time. Everyone does a job and he did a great job tonight.

It’s a battle. It’s a physical game. You know, but every style has something you can exploit and something that makes it tough. The tough part is the physical battle of their game, like you said. They have big bodies up there and they’re going to bang around. I like doing that though, so it was fun. When they’re throwing numbers forward, then we can try and get them on that counter so, you know, we did that at times and, you know, maybe it was a fair result at the end of the day, but I’m not sure.

New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph

I definitely felt great scoring so early. It allows us to relax a little bit, but for some reason we didn’t relax, especially in the first half. We were just working really hard defensively trying to keep our shape and trying to close down the ball. Credit to them, they whipped in some great crosses. Matt (Reis) was huge for the whole 90 minutes. Even on the goal, he made a great save on the first one. We couldn’t ask for more from him, especially tonight he was huge for us. Our backline did well, even though they gave up some chances, they kept the ball in front of them and they allowed us to play. Me and Benny (Feilhaber) try to work in the middle. We kept possession, we worked hard defensively but at the end of the night we weren’t good enough. For 89 minutes we were good and then we gave up that kind of goal. It comes back to hurt us and it’s frustrating to lose like that.

I think the most he could get is a yellow. I mean, Michael (Kennedy) shouldn’t allow Pat (Phelan) to get hit like that. Especially Pat, who has probably had two or three concussions so far in his career and he’s got to protect the player. I mean, you knew something like that was going to happen. Patty and Matty (Reis) were just trying to shield off the ball and I think it was more (Adam Moffat). That was just irresponsible on his part, trying to hit Pat in the back. We were all worried about him. Matty is just standing up for his player. He’s one of the veterans. He’s probably a captain, unanimous captain, you could say co-captain, protecting his player and that’s what good players do.

Yeah, it’s frustrating. I mean, we were second best, especially a big portion of tonight’s game. We allowed them too much time and too much space to play. But defensively we were solid in terms of giving them half-chances. We were trying to stay cohesive as a group and don’t allow much, but as I said, we didn’t do enough offensively to create more chances or score goals. Credit to (Ryan) Cochrane for getting that early goal to help us to get that 1-nil up first in the game, but as I said we weren’t good enough for the whole 90 minutes.

We just have to try to hold our heads up and try to be positive for this Saturday. I mean it’s still ahead of us in terms of if we want to get to the playoffs. We’re at home this Saturday and there’s not a doubt we have to get three points. The last two games we talked about just getting six points and we’d be right in the thick of it, but we slipped up tonight allowing a late goal like that. So we have to keep our heads up and look forward to Saturday against New York.

Yeah, I mean all season I think we have done it. It’s a problem with this team, a problem with me and from my perspective a huge problem. We sit back and we allow teams to play us especially when we get down to a 1-0 lead and we can’t afford to do that. We started off the game right putting pressure on them and getting an early goal and for some reason, mentally or whatever it is, we just go back into a shell and allow teams to play and it comes back to hurt us every game now for the last couple of games and you can see that’s what is killing us … we just have to be mentally strong. First year, second year players it doesn’t matter. We have to be better on the team.

Houston Dynamo Head coach Dominic Kinnear

(I was thinking) I hope we score because Matt Reis was saving everything that was getting thrown his way tonight and luckily for us we snuck one by him. I think it was nothing short of what we deserved and I give Matt Reis a lot of credit, I thought he was great tonight.

I thought we dominated them. Like I said, Matt Reis is the best player for them in my opinion. We started the game sloppy, got punished for it and then got ourselves together and played some good stuff. Like I said when the goalie’s on as Matt was tonight, it looked like we weren’t ever going to score, but luckily for us we got it late.

Keep doing what they’re doing (in the second half). We just need to get that one clear chance. I think Matt Reis’ save on Geoff (Cameron) - I don’t know what minute it was - but it was excellent. So I just told the guys keep doing what we’re doing, we’re getting some chances and sometimes you think you’re doing to score, sometimes you don’t, but also the guys were pretty positive on what we were doing tonight.

I think we’re playing good. I think the last three, four games we’ve played, two on the road, I think we’ve been very good. We’ve created a lot of chances, we’ve scored some goals and I just like the way that we’re completing the game. It took us I think the 86th minute in Philadelphia to get a late goal, it took us in the 90th tonight, so I just think the guys’ attitude and character have been excellent.

Houston Dynamo Midfielder Geoff Cameron

It’s really hot and humid. Guys are dropping a lot of weight and what not, so Dom (Kinnear) wanted us to get out here, get in some better weather, especially with the game this past Sunday. It was a quick turnaround for a game Wednesday night and now we have another quick turnaround Saturday. So it was good to get away from Houston for a little bit, get to get back home, see the family a little bit and we had a great result tonight.

I told my friends and family to make a nice little meal for me. I gave them what to layout and we brought some of the guys over to the house and it was a great time. You got to remember where you came from, the roots and how you got there. And that’s one thing you always keep your head grounded.

Probably well over 100 or 200. It was good. It’s always great to come back home and play in the stadium that I grew up watching, you know, back to the old Foxboro stadium to the original Revs team. Growing up watching these guys … it’s always good to walk out and see your family there.

It’s been very fortunate. I think I’ve taken advantage of the situation and the opportunities that Dom (Kinnear) has provided with me and if I keep playing well with the club obviously my goal is to get back with the National Team and whatnot. And we’re coming off of four games unbeaten, a couple wins, and tonight we should have won; we dominated the play, had more opportunities, but Matt (Reis) came up big, had some great saves, and luckily we put the ball in the back of the net.
It’s tough when teams sit back a little bit more defensively and it’s hard to break down, but we kept on fighting and tonight it was one of those where we had opportunities but Matt (Reis) kept on coming up with some great saves and the perseverance of our team tonight, we (had a) never stop, never die attitude on the field tonight and put the ball in the back of the net and we lucky enough that we got a point.

Our size and our ability to crash in the box, our services are great. You get tall guys like Cam Weaver, Brian Ching, myself, Bobby Boswell - we’re crashing the net and we’re a force to reckon with and I think we’ve done well.

Houston Dynamo Midfielder Brad Davis

I thought it was pretty good. I thought we created some chances, there was a couple that were just a fuzz off, teammates were just a fuzz off, Matt Reis made some pretty darn good saves against us, so credit to him, I thought he had a fantastic game tonight. But the biggest thing is mentally staying strong and staying with it. It took us to the end of the game to get our goal, had a lot of chances, but fortunately we were able to get one.

No I wasn’t surprised (we scored a goal), I felt it was coming. I think we all felt it was coming the whole night. Like I said I think we had a lot of chances, there were a lot of balls cleared. I can remember three or four that were cleared off the line and (Matt) Reis made some great saves. So I really felt that it was coming. I think that it was definitely deserving and thank God it did come.

I think (the atmosphere) was pretty similar. I think Stevie (Nicol) and Dom (Kinnear) are quite similar coaches the way they go about the game and I think we’ve always had a good matchup against the Revolution. They’re a physical team - I think we’ve got some big boys, we’re a physical team - so I think it’s always going to be a tough matchup whenever we come up against one another.

Getting that goal. That was the biggest thing. I think everybody put in a good shift and worked very hard and sometimes that hardest thing is staying mentally focused for the whole game. It’s easy to put your head down and just not give up, but (think) maybe this isn’t our night, but credit to our guys over the last four games. I think everybody’s put it out there and really stayed together and concentrated for the full 90 minutes and luckily tonight it paid off.

I’ve been around for a little while so it’s part of maturing and becoming a pro. You have to. When you’re out there you have to want to fight for your teammates. You have to want to play for your teammates, you have to want to win, and that’s how I feel and that’s how I am right now. No part of me wants to leave anything on the field right now and that’s how the rest of the team has to be. My biggest thing is being a leader on the team, you have to show what needs to be done rather than talk sometimes

Referee Michael Kennedy
(Written answer to Pool Reporter’s written submitted question postgame)

Q: Please explain what you saw in the stoppage time scuffle involving A. Moffat and M. Reis and describe the final verdict in the situation.

A: #16 Adam Moffat of Houston received a second caution for committing an act which, in the opinion of the referee, shows lack of respect for the game and was sent off for a second caution offense. #1 Matt Reis was sent off for use of offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures.