COLUMBUS, Ohio – The New England Revolution saw their five-game winning streak snapped by the Columbus Crew tonight as Federico Higuain scored a free-kick goal early in the second half and the Revs were thwarted in their come-back efforts late in the game.

New England (13-13-3, 42 pts.) had a chance to equalize through Charlie Davies at the end of regulation, but Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark made a fingertip save to prevent the sure goal. Kelyn Rowe and Chris Tierney also saw shots go close as the final minutes counted down. Columbus (10-9-10, 40 pts.) has now won both meetings against the Revs this season with one remaining: October 4 at Gillette Stadium.

Higuain scored his second free-kick goal this season against the Revs in the 48th minute, putting Columbus ahead for good. He also scored – from almost the exact same spot – at Gillette Stadium on July 26. He now has four career free-kick goals against the Revolution.

The Revs will return to action on Friday, September 26, when they travel to play Sporting Kansas City at Sporting Park. NBC Sports Network’s coverage will begin at 8 p.m., while 98.5 The Sports Hub will also carry the game on the radio.

Key Plays
·         8’ – CLB’s Justin Meram curls a shot toward goal from 24 yards out but it’s high of frame | WATCH THE PLAY
·         13’ – CLB’s Aaron Schoenfeld gets in behind the Revs’ defense off Ethan Finlay’s through ball, but his shot to the far post is wide | WATCH THE PLAY
·         15’ – NE’s Scott Caldwell plays Lee Nguyen into space and the midfielder gets off a low shot that forces Steve Clark to make a low save | WATCH THE PLAY
·         15’ – NE’s A.J. Soares gets a deflected ball off a Kelyn Rowe corner kick, but his shot from eight yards out is blocked | WATCH THE PLAY
·         19’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen intercepts at the edge of the attacking third and plays Diego Fagundez out wide left, who then cut in and tried to curl his right-footed shot past Clark, but Clark made the kick save | WATCH THE PLAY
·         23’ – YELLOW CARD: CLB’s Justin Meram is shown a yellow card for a tackle on Kelyn Rowe along the sideline | WATCH THE PLAY
·         29’ – CLB’s Eric Gehrig’s flicked-on header from 10 yards forces Bobby Shuttleworth to make an acrobatic save to his right | WATCH THE PLAY
·         35’ – CLB’s Aaron Shoenfeld takes a turn at the top of the penalty arc off a Federico Higuain pass from a free kick, but Schoenfeld’s shot was wide | WATCH THE PLAY
·         38’ – CLB’s Eric Gehrig’s near post header off Federico Higuain’s corner kick service clanks off the post | WATCH THE PLAY
·         39’ – YELLOW CARD: CLB’s Tyson Wahl shown a yellow card for an open field tackle on Lee Nguyen | WATCH THE PLAY
·         44’ – CLB’s Ethan Finlay gets down the right wing, cuts inside and sees his shot deflected by Darrius Barnes before A.J. Soares clears off the back post | WATCH THE PLAY

HALFTIME SCORE: New England Revolution 0, Columbus Crew 0

·         47’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Darrius Barnes shown a yellow card for a tackle on Ethan Finlay | WATCH THE PLAY
·         48’ – CLB GOAL: Federico Higuain scores directly off a 27-yard free kick, finding the upper right corner past a diving Bobby Shuttleworth | WATCH THE GOAL
·         55’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez curls a right-footed shot off the dribble off the side netting after Kelyn Rowe fights off a pair of defenders to set him up | WATCH THE PLAY
·         64’ – NE’s Jermaine Jones has a chance from outside the area off a feed from Lee Nguyen, but his shot is high | WATCH THE PLAY
·         68’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen takes the free kick from 20 yards on an angle, forcing Steve Clark into a rising save with A.J. Soares charging | WATCH THE PLAY
·         72’ – YELLOW CARD: CLB’s Federico Higuain shown yellow for time wasting | WATCH THE PLAY
·         75’ – YELLOW CARD: CLB’s Eric Gehrig shown yellow for a tackle on Kelyn Rowe | WATCH THE PLAY
·         84’ – PK AWARDED: CLB’s Justin Meram draws a PK after A.J. Soares catches him in the area | WATCH THE PLAY
·         85’ – PENALTY KICK SAVED: NE’s Bobby Shuttleworth saves Federico Higuain’s attempt to Shuttleworth’s left | WATCH THE SAVE
·         87’ - CLB’s Steve Clark makes a diving fingertip save on Charlie Davies’ curling effort to equalize from just outside the area | WATCH THE PLAY
·         88’ – NE’s Kelyn Rowe sees his shot from distance skip just wide of the goal | WATCH THE PLAY
·         94+ - NE’s Chris Tierney has his free kick attempt from outside the area skip through the defense but saved  by Steve Clark | WATCH THE PLAY

FINAL SCORE: Columbus Crew 1, New England Revolution 0

Santander Man of the Match
·         M Lee Nguyen – had a game-high four shots, putting three on goal, and playing solid both ways to help the Revs create

Next Game
The Revolution are back in action on Friday, September 26, when they travel to face Sporting Kansas City at Sporting Park in a nationally-televised game on NBC Sports Network. The network’s coverage of the match will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
·         TV: NBC Sports Network
·         Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

New England Revolution at Columbus Crew
September 20, 2014 – Crew Stadium (Columbus, Ohio)

Columbus Crew 1, New England Revolution 0

Scoring Summary:
CLB – Federico Higuain 10 (unassisted) 48’

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth, Darrius Barnes (Chris Tierney 56’), Jose Goncalves ©, A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell, Kelyn Rowe, Scott Caldwell, Lee Nguyen, Daigo Kobayashi (Jermaine Jones 46’), Diego Fagundez (Steve Neumann 74’), Charlie Davies

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Kevin Alston, Tony Taylor, Patrick Mullins

STATS: Shots 11, Shots on target 6, Saves 3, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 0, Fouls 12, Possession 43.8%, Passes 312 (72.4%)

Columbus Crew: Steve Clark, Waylon Francis, Tyson Wahl, Michael Parkhurst ©, Eric Gehrig (Chad Barson 77’), Justin Meram, Tony Tchani, Federico Higuain (Bernardo Anor 86’), Will Trapp, Ethan Finlay, Aaron Schoenfeld (Jairo Arrieta 89’)

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Lampson, Kevan George, Hector Jimenez, Romain Gall

STATS: Shots 13, Shots on target 4, Saves 6, Corner kicks 7, Offsides 3, Fouls 18, Possession 56.8%, Passes 396 (80.1%)

Misconduct Summary:
CLB – Justin Meram (caution) 23’
CLB – Tyson Wahl (caution) 39’
NE – Darrius Barnes (caution) 47’
CLB – Federico Higauin (caution) 72’
CLB – Eric Gehrig (caution) 75’

Referee: Ted Unkle
Assistant Referees: Jeff Muschik (AR1), Kyle Longville (AR2)
Fourth Official: Sorin Stoica

Weather: Partly Cloudy and 72 degrees
Attendance: 21,318

Team Records:
Columbus Crew: 10-9-10, 40 pts.
New England Revolution: 13-13-3, 42 pts.

Additional Game Notes

• With the loss, the Revs saw their overall record dip to 13-13-3 on the season … the Revs remain in third place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of fourth-place New York and three points back of second-place Sporting Kansas City
• The loss dipped the Revolution’s all-time record against Columbus to 20-31-11, including an 8-17-6 mark in Columbus
• Columbus has now won back-to-back games against New England for the first time since the 2011 season … the teams will close the three-game series at Gillette Stadium on October 4
• Tonight’s loss snapped the Revolution’s second five-game winning streak in league play this year … it remains tied for the longest in league play this season with Seattle and LA
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made two changes to the squad that beat the Montreal Impact last Saturday … Scott Caldwell came in for Jermaine Jones (L lower leg bruise) and Diego Fagundez coming in for Teal Bunbury (yellow-card accumulation suspension)
• Three players were unavailable for the game because of injury: Andy Dorman (R MCL sprain), Stephen McCarthy (L Meniscus injury) and Shalrie Joseph (R quadriceps strain)
• Tonight marked the fourth-straight game in which the Revs conceded the game’s first goal … the Revs had won each of their last three matches when they surrendered first … on the season, the Revs are now 4-12-1 on the season when allowing the first goal
• The Revs were shut out for the first time since July 19 – a 2-0 loss at Dallas – and for the ninth time this season
• The Revolution suffered their sixth one-goal loss this season, and their third 1-0 loss in 2014
• Jermaine Jones made his fifth appearance and his second substitute appearance when he was a halftime substitute for Daigo Kobayashi … Jones left the Revs’ last match on Sept. 13 against Montreal at halftime with a left lower leg contusion
• Chris Tierney made his first appearance since July 26 – also against Columbus – when he came on as a second-half substitute for Darrius Barnes at left back … Tierney left the July 26 match with a sprained left MCL … he was available for the Revs’ last match against Montreal, but was not used in that match
•  Bobby Shuttleworth saved his second penalty kick attempt this season – and the second of his career – when he stopped Federico Higuain’s 85th-minute attempt … he also stopped a PK attempt on April 19 at Chicago … on the season, opponents are now 3-for-5 against Shuttleworth from the spot
• Steve Neumann made his MLS-leading 18th substitute appearance this season when he came on in the second half