NEW ENGLAND HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the frantic pace of play at the end of the match:
“It was hard right there at the end, that’s a rotten way to lose the game. In the space of two or three minutes we nearly won it and we ended up losing it. We couldn’t ask for anything more from the players. They played some decent football at times, as well.”
His overall thoughts on the match:
“We got punished for three mistakes. We end up coming away with nothing. I think from start to finish we played solid, we played organized - we tried to play where it was right. We made some decent decisions at times, but the bottom line is we end up with zero.
On what he can take from tonight’s match:
“The main thing we came here to do tonight was to be solid. We feel as we go forward, we can make chances. It doesn’t matter where we play to make chances and tonight we did that again. We really wanted to be solid and I think we were solid. The goals don’t exactly reflect on that, but I think a large percentage of the game we were.”
On the play of Zak Boggs:
“He has done fantastic. His second goal was a finish anyone would be proud of, I don’t care what league you’re playing in. The first one he got a bit lucky, but the second one was a great move, a great goal. And he nearly got his hat trick at the end from a great shot that just drifted right. He had a great performance tonight and if he continues to put in shots like that he’ll be fantastic for a long time.”
NEW ENGLAND GOALKEEPER PRESTON BURPO
His overall thoughts on the match:
“We’ve got San Jose back at home next week and we’ve got to keep doing what we sort of starting doing tonight. Defensively, I thought we were pretty well organized, although obviously, there were a few letdowns, one of which was an unlucky break on the own goal. We’ve got to take the positives out from a defensive standpoint and keep building on that towards San Jose next Saturday. “
NEW ENGLAND DEFENDER/MIDFIELDER PAT PHELAN
His thoughts on the Revs’ performance tonight:
“I thought it was an inspired performance. I think for 91 or 92 minutes, we stuck to our game plan, we did our job and to be honest, this hurts a lot more than getting blown out. I think we deserved a point. We dodged some bullets, but I thought it was a much bigger step in the right direction than from the last few games that we’ve had, so we’ll take the positives from it and move on.”
COLUMBUS HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
On the multitude of goals scored in this match and around the league:
“There were lots of goals today, not only in Columbus, but I’m happy we scored three and not two.”
On Robbie Rogers:
“Lets talk about the positives, he’s trying hard. He’s not producing because of different things, but I have to say he is trying hard and working very hard on both sides of the ball.”
On the play of Eddie Gaven:
“He had a very good game in Seattle and obviously today. He was very active. He was getting behind the defense quite a bit, especially at the end of the game. We’ll see what is going to happen. He worked so hard in the preseason and in the beginning of the season in the past few games. He was playing on one side and I don’t think we’re going to switch and change something yet.”
On his substitutions at the end of the game:
“I was trying to help the team. I think Stevie [Lenhart] was getting chances, but for some reason he wasn’t finishing them. I thought if somebody else was in his place, maybe he was going to get lucky. It wasn’t like he had a bad game and I had to reward the guy from the bench, I was trying to change the luck.”
On preseason games and gaining rhythm:
“Those games gave us confidence. They were good games and I wish we had competition like that before every season. That was our third game in a row and we’re starting to get a rhythm. We had those two by weeks and I think those two weeks, especially after Dallas, helped us a bit to get on our feet because we were nursing some injuries, but from a rhythm standpoint, that didn’t help. I thought that the second half today showed the signs of the team we had in 2008 and 2009 when we had the best games, when we were creating the chances and were very creative. We scored at the end of the game. This team is finding a way to win the games.”
COLUMBUS MIFDIELDER EDDIE GAVEN
On the Crew’s offensive play tonight:
“I think we probably created enough chances to get four or five goals and they were actually really, really good chances that we created, they weren’t just ones that maybe go in or maybe not; they were all chances that really we should have put in. So like I said, that’s definitely a good sign for us, now we just have to do a little bit better job of putting it in the net.”
COLUMBUS GOALKEEPER WILLIAM HESMER
On New England’s first goal of the night:
“It’s an easy, routine save that I’ve got to make. I really let the guys down, but fortunately for us, they really started playing after that. You never want to give up a goal like that; ever. It made it very interesting for us there at the end, but hopefully that gets us playing well, because up until that point, we hadn’t been playing very well.”
COLUMBUS MIDFIELDER ROBBIE ROGERS
On the importance of getting all three points in home matches:
“Getting three points at home is what was most important, and now we’re 3-0 at home. I think a draw tonight would felt like a loss, for sure. I’m just really glad we got the three points and we’re at home again next weekend when we play Chivas [USA], which is awesome.”
On the club’s perseverance in the match:
“I think we find ways to get a result. When the game’s not going our way, we work hard defensively. When we have games like tonight, we just keep creating chances. Even though we weren’t scoring, we kept going; we kept getting crosses in and getting shots off.”
