New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps
I thought we came out again the right way. I thought it carried over well from Saturday, and we got good pressure and good commitment from everyone on the field. I think it was a hard-fought match but I think we got what we deserved.
It’s the mentality. It’s been a tough stretch obviously and within that stretch there have been ups and downs, and more downs. I felt that, to be honest with you, the let-down from Saturday was big and so I’m proud of our guys for the quick turnaround. We were really prepared for tonight’s match and the guys were ready for that. We did a lot of film, a lot of walk through stuff, going into tonight’s game, and all the guys were on point.
I want to give Charlie (Davies) a ton of credit. First and foremost, he’s been pushing. He’s had a couple injuries to fight through and tonight I thought he really led the line well: held the ball, battled. He showed a ton of heart. The guys, they like Charlie. You can see it. The guys like playing with Charlie. Charlie brings a great energy. Unfortunately, I don’t think he got credit for that assist, but he set up Lee (Nguyen) and that was a great little combination.
I think defensively, obviously, we didn’t give up a goal. And I think it was a complete defensive performance. Everyone was locked in and I think we’ve had a couple of those games with one mistake here, one mistake there, that really causes a problem. But I think tonight everyone was spot on in how they approached the game defensively.
Lee (Nguyen) is for me one of the best players in his position in the league. I think when he’s playing well, he’s leading the attack in the other team’s half. He’s not dropping back too deep. He’s getting the ball in advanced positions and he’s running at teams because he has that innate ability to find the open guy or take the shot himself. He set up Kelyn (Rowe) perfectly. I don’t think Kelyn knew the ball was there. Next thing it was on his foot and Kelyn did a great job finishing.
We need Kelyn (Rowe). Kelyn had that tough hamstring injury and he’s fought hard to get back. Kelyn, to me, has all the talent in the world and when he’s playing well he’s almost unstoppable and we need him to be a good team. I’m happy to have him back.
We had a tough stretch of some key injuries and we’re still kind of in that. We have a couple players out with injuries. I was really happy that Kevin (Alston) was able to go tonight. He shows what he can do. No one can get by him. His pace is unmatched in this league and when he’s on his game, Kevin is one of the best backs in the league.
New England Revolution midfielder Kelyn Rowe
Obviously, it’s great getting a 3-0 win. We got a shutout, got a big win. Lee (Nguyen) was absolutely incredible tonight, getting two goals, I hope they gave him the first.
I actually planned not to celebrate, just because we’ve lost so many games in a row. The emotions got the better of me, and I just kind of got the monkey off my back, it was good.
From my viewpoint it was definitely going on target, and it’s a guy like Lee (Nguyen) we want taking that shot. A guy like Lee stepping up in a big spot today, which he has done the last couple of games for us. Again it’s a great performance by Lee today, great two goals by him.
Charlie (Davies) was incredible tonight. It was an overall great team effort tonight. Charlie held the ball really well, had that great pass to Lee (Nguyen) for the goal. He was getting in behind the defense in the second half, and a great result for Charlie tonight.
It was a little bit of both. Obviously, the back line was tightening up, making sure we were defending and not allowing an equalizer. It’s great to have the lead. All the attacking players were pushing forward trying to score more goals and build our confidence.
It was one of those games we couldn’t let get away from us. We’ve been there and we know we are going to have to fight for the three points. We knew they were going to come out and fight so we just had to come out in the second half and make sure we really zoned in.
It’s a great result. It’s been nothing but adversity for us for a really long time. It’s great to get over that hump but the hump’s not over yet. We need to make a solid push for the playoffs and New York will be our next challenge.
New England Revolution forward Charlie Davies
You definitely felt the pressure building, not only in games, but every day. Every time we came into training you could feel the emotions and I think it was weighing on everybody. We had to stay positive and stick together and tonight was huge for us to kind of get back on the saddle and hopefully play like we did in the beginning of the season.
I think it was very important that we came out and scored first. Once we were able to do that, I think it kind of relieved the pressure from everyone. We were able to go out there and have fun and feel free and play free. I think the energy was there, the passion was there and it was a very, very important win for us.
(On the first goal) I checked away and I checked two and Kevin (Alston) had a great throw-in. I saw Lee (Nguyen) make a run off me and I was able to get him the ball and the rest was history. Again, once that ball hit the back of the net it was just, oh my god, the chains are off, we can finally play without pressure and it showed, I think. Then for the next five minutes there was a burst of energy from everybody. One guy would work hard, the next guy, it would trickle down and it was exciting to see. I think the end of the first half really felt good for all of us to really know that we’re over the hump and now we just have to continue to play the way we were playing in that first half and sure enough it opened up for us in the second half.
I’ve really grown a lot as a person and a player throughout these past couples of years. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and I think what I’ve learned is just to stay positive and just work hard every single day and I’ve managed to do that and just have to wait to get your chance. Fortunately, today it came and I tried to make the most of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t score in the second half when I had that good chance but those things happen and I’m looking forward to the next time I get a chance to play.
I think when we scored, the most important thing was not to relax, not to take the foot off the peddle. The second half, the first 10 minutes are the most important, we didn’t want to give them confidence to think, “OK we had a bad first half but now we can get back in the game.” We had to keep the ball, had to keep pushing it down their throats and we were able to do that. I think they started to be like, today is not our day. Once those thoughts start creeping into their heads then the game is over.
As a striker, you just want to be up top and sometimes you wish you had somebody a little bit closer to you, but tonight Kelyn (Rowe) was right under me, every single time I had an option. Lee (Nguyen) was underneath me, so it worked out. Now, I think it’s just getting into a rhythm. I think we’re going to be very dangerous. I’m excited, I think everyone is excited. We put in the hard work, I’m very proud of everybody and just got to take it game by game. I think it’s very important that we don’t get too high after this win, you still have to keep an even keel and still know we have to get better. It’s important this Red Bull away match we continue to play the way we did tonight.
Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni
What do I take away? Just everything. Everything from the preparation, the mindset, the desire to compete – none of it was there from top to bottom today. I never felt like we looked dangerous, always looked like we were on the back foot instead of the front. But obviously there are games that you have to take something from, they’re going to happen, especially with a relatively young group. We just have to take our lumps and move on.
It definitely looked like there was a team playing with a greater purpose tonight. Again, on the front foot, just imposing themselves, early and often in the game, set the tone. These guys were hungry and we were late to the dance tonight. But I credit those guys to come out and really set the tone for the game and really make it really difficult for us.
There are 22 bodies out on that field that influence defense, that influence offense. It might have been poor defending, it could have been very good attacking at times. It just looked like when we ended up getting the ball, we didn’t do anything to keep it. We weren’t working hard enough to earn possession higher up the field and then it becomes a slippery slope – you end up defending on your heels a lot. They did a great job of making it a real ugly game and really putting us deep and pinning us into our half. That’s as ugly of a soccer game as it gets, but they were better at it than we were tonight.
Obviously coming off a performance from the weekend you want to throw in some fresh legs, bring some vitality to the group. It’s not a perfect science by any stretch, but I think you have a squad of 30 players and you try to utilize them to the best of your ability - not for this weekend, not for the following weekend, but for the course of the next couple months and the course of a season. It was an opportunity for players to step on the field and contribute and tonight collectively, I think we fell short.
That’s the task, right? There’s no motivating for a game of this magnitude. If you can’t get motivated, if you can’t dig deep and find it within yourself, there’s no business playing this game. It’s a quick turnaround. I think any time you step off the field you know what kind of performance you put forth, individually, collectively, as a coach myself, and from top to bottom, it wasn’t good enough. We have to now feel what this feels like and ask ourselves some really big questions. This is not the team that we want to be. It’s important to feel what this feels like so that next time we step on the field, if this is what it’s going to do, you better be missing arms and legs and that type of mentality - that there’s no tomorrow. I think the feeling that I have in my stomach is just that. It’s a feeling that we just didn’t approach the game the right way, from me all the way down, and don’t want to feel this again.
Colorado Rapids midfielder Nick LaBrocca
I think they were just a little bit sharper than us. They were a bit more lively and they were able to just keep pressuring and they got their goals first when they had momentum and then they capitalize on it after a little while. And then the second half, I felt like we were starting to get some momentum, we were starting to create some chances and then, it was a good free kick. Unfortunate for it to be a red card and that was that.
You just kind of have to really focus on one game at a time. You can’t really think about streaks or anything like that because a three game streak isn’t anything without the first and the second win. So, we just have to take it one game at a time and we have to focus on what we need to do and we need to continue learning from our mistakes.
It’s not a normal week. It’s a little harder, every week for us traveling across the country. But, it doesn’t matter we will be ready to go by Saturday.
Colorado Rapids forward Edson Buddle
We were up against a team that needed a win. They hadn’t won in eight games and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. With a game last Saturday and a game today on the road, it wasn’t easy. We have to give credit to New England, they did what they had to do and they got the result. We have to put this one behind us and think about our next home game.
Recovery is important today and tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll prepare as best as possible to perform our best on Saturday. With that being said, we want to use the home crowd to our advantage. We knew it would be a tough stretch overall, but we were aware of what lied ahead.
It something to expect with a young team like ours, it’s not easy. Every team is competitive in this league. We worked hard for the position we are in right now and we have to keep moving forward. We have to put this behind us and keep moving forward
The red card hurt us. While we positioned ourselves to do well and get an equalizer; it went downhill after they went one man up. You have to give them credit for capitalizing and taking advantage of having one more man on the field.
