SEATTLE – Going into CenturyLink Field to face the defending Supporters’ Shield champs without Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen was always going to be a tough task, but the New England Revolution refused to make excuses following Sunday night’s season-opening 3-0 loss to Seattle Sounders FC.
“We have players that can step up and play,” said Jay Heaps. “We didn’t do well enough tonight.”
A decent start was wiped away in the 25th minute when Clint Dempsey was clipped inside the box and buried the ensuing penalty, giving the Sounders a crucial lead.
From there New England was forced to open up as the visitors searched for an equalizer, leaving gaps for Seattle to exploit en route to further goals from Dempsey and Obafemi Martins.
“You just can’t play a team like Seattle from behind, so the penalty really killed us,” said Chris Tierney. “Chasing a game away at Seattle is always a tough task. They’ve got some top, top quality players and if you’re chasing the game and leave gaps, they’re going to punish you. That was the story tonight.”
New England managed only one shot on target, but it was so nearly the game-changing play the Revs required on a night when they struggled to create chances. Instead, it swung momentum the other way.
Kelyn Rowe’s dipping effort was spectacularly tipped around the post by Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the 39th minute. Moments later, Martins scored to double the home side’s lead.
“That was a momentum swing, for sure,” said Tierney. “I thought it was in the net.
“We just didn’t have the sharpness to take the few chances we did create in that first half. Had we snuck a goal it might’ve been a different story, but Frei, credit to him, made a big play for them. It was tough for us to find another chance from there.”
Ultimately it was the kind of night the Revs will put in the rearview mirror as quickly as possible as they push onwards to next weekend’s trip to Yankee Stadium, where they’ll visit expansion side New York City FC in the club’s first-ever home game.
“We’ll move on,” said Tierney. “Not a whole lot of positives we can take, but it’s a game under our belt and there’s plenty of motivation going into next week when we get to play a team in-conference.
“New York City FC is coming off a result on the road, so it’ll be a tough task for us away, but at the same time, we feel like if we play up to our standard – which I’m afraid we didn’t tonight – then we’ll have a good chance to win.”
