NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH JAY HEAPS
On the team coming back within one goal in the second half:
"It was a tale of two halves. I thought we came out in the first half and in the first ten or 12 minutes the game was going the way we wanted it to go. But we knew that at any moment they could strike. I feel like the first time they came down the field they scored - the first time they were dangerous. That was a real gut punch. The next two goals were pretty credible goals so I think we have to do better on not giving away the second and third goal in the half because if we go in 1-0 at halftime we can make some adjustments, which we did when we finally got to halftime we were able to make some adjustments. I thought the second half was a much better version of our team. We were more aggressive and moved the ball quicker and limited their chances when they got down on our end."
On what was going through his head when Juan Agudelo hit the crossbar in the 83rd minute:
"We've hit that crossbar before here. It was the MLS Cup crossbar. Is it regulation? Did they change the size in the second half? I did think that was going in and that would have been a great moment for us because we just pulled Jose [Goncalves] off with an injury. We had some concerns going into this came, Lee was carrying a bit of a knock and we had to be smart because it wasn't worth him getting more injured. We had a minute limit on him. We could have gone to 70, but I didn't want to see him get hurt and I was a little nervous about that."
On Robbie Keane's two goals and New England's lack of marking on him:
"It was poor marking on the first one. The second one I have not seen yet, but that one was a little different because they were inside our six. But the first one was just bad marking and if you leave Robbie Keane open at the back post it's not nine out of 10. It's 100 out of 100."
On if he felt that comeback was coming before his 60th minute substitution:
I thought it was coming. At halftime we had a real...let's just say it was a very emotional conversation in the locker room. I felt like we were going to test ourselves. I felt like I looked into a group of guys and said that first half was not good, we need to go out and win the second half. We need to win one play at a time, one goal at a time and I felt there was a real energy we left in the building. But you have to break them down and I think the guys that came in definitely gave us that lift that we needed to get over the hump. I thought Femi [Hollinger-Janzen] came in and did a great job. He was really dangerous. I thought Teal [Bunbury] came in and stretched the field and was able to open the space underneath for Juan [Agudelo] to get some balls underneath. So we made some tactical changes and put Kelyn [Rowe] in a position where we thought it was more of a 3-4-3 so he could get forward and help cover. In the end I thought it was good adjustments by our team to play smart in that second half. But, mind you, the first half was the completely exact opposite of that so we were disappointed in that."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD KELYN ROWE
On the team's performance and fight back in the second half:
"It just wasn't good enough in the first half. We dug ourselves into a hole, but we did start to dig ourselves out of it. I thought we came out in the second half and played very well. Even though we went down a man with the injuries and using all our subs, we were still going for that third goal. There is a positive in this game, but it just wasn't good enough overall. So we just need to go into this next three-game home game stretch and do a lot better. But I like the second half."
On what the team can take from the second half:
"If we want to be the top team in the East and want to be contenders for this club, we need to play like we did in the second half with that fight, that little bit of edge, bit of urgency. I think we've shown bits and pieces, we just need to put a full game together."
On what his role in the second half was and how it switched at halftime:
"It was a little bit different. We wanted to try and exploit that left side and I think there were times where we found a lot of space out there with Diego [Fagundez] tucked in. I thought with all that space out wide we were able to get the ball in the box and use our big guys in the air. You saw a couple times where we could get 1-2s around the box and create a little bit of havoc.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD JUAN AGUDELO
On the game:
“In the first 45 minutes there was nothing to be proud about. We kept our heads up and at halftime we talked amongst each other and we said we have to take it personally. That’s what we went out and did in the second half and it felt like we were battling more.”
On New England scoring two goals back to back:
“We seemed like we were back at it. We seemed like we were a whole different team and this is how we should play every single game with a little bit of anger. We got a shot off the crossbar, unlucky, and it could have been a tied game and we would have been happy going home with a tie.”
On hitting the woodwork for a second straight weekend:
“I guess I have to hit the underside of the woodwork now. Besides that I feel like we showed a lot of fight but the first half of the next game we have to play like this second half.”
On his first start since coming back from injury:
“I felt good, specially playing 90. Felt good after 65 minutes. I tried to do anything that I can and fight to come out with something out of this game because it felt like in the second half we deserved it.”
On the upcoming three game stretch:
“It’s a huge opportunity for us and couldn’t have come in the right time. We’ve been tying games, given up a loss. Three home games coming up is a chance to get nine points and it will be huge for us.”
