TORONTO – Saturday night’s 4-1 loss to Toronto FC is the type of game the New England Revolution will want to forget about as quickly as possible. Thankfully there’s Tuesday night’s massive U.S. Open Cup semifinal against the Chicago Fire to help in that regard.
There will be no time for the Revs to dwell on their defeat at BMO Field – reigning MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco’s second hat trick in the past four games sealing their fate – but they’ll undoubtedly need to draw lessons from their performance after conceding four goals for the third time this season.
“It doesn’t feel good, that’s for sure,” said Revs head coach Jay Heaps. “You’ve got to react and have a short memory, but at the same time, try to adapt and learn things from each game. This one certainly doesn’t sit well.”
Heaps rotated his squad with the Open Cup semifinal looming in three days, as regular starters Teal Bunbury, Scott Caldwell, Andrew Farrell and Je-Vaughn Watson took up places on the bench, while Darrius Barnes made his first appearance since April 2015 and Gershon Koffie started for the first time since suffering a knee injury in mid-May.
New England were satisfied with the opening 20 minutes as they muted Toronto FC’s powerful attack, but Giovinco showed his class with a pair of stunning finishes before the break and the Revolution struggled to gain a foothold after falling behind.
“You give Giovinco two chances, he’s going to put them away,” said Lee Nguyen. “Then we weren’t able to keep possession of the ball after that. Momentum kind of swung their way after the goal.”
Bunbury pulled back a late consolation goal for the Revs, only for it to be answered by Jozy Altidore with the final kick of the game. The loss snapped the Revolution’s eight-game unbeaten run against TFC.
Now the Revs return home for three straight games, beginning with Tuesday night’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal, and the magnitude of the opportunity before them is not lost on the players.
“It’s huge. It’s a semifinal – a chance to get to a final – and a chance to bring a championship to New England that hasn’t been brought there in a while,” said Barnes. “We’re definitely focused on this game. We’ll put this one behind us and move forward.
“We’ve got two days to recharge and then it’s back to business. (We have a) game on Tuesday and that’s all we’re worried about right now. We’re not worried about the games after that; we’re just worried about the semifinal on Tuesday.”
