FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Ryan Guy’s first goal of the season gave the New England Revolution a lead entering the closing stages of Wednesday night’s meeting with Real Salt Lake, but a pair of late goals from Devon Sandoval and Olmes Garcia sent the Revs to a 2-1 loss at Gillette Stadium.

Guy put the Revs ahead when he volleyed home Kelyn Rowe’s inviting cross in the 51st minute, but Sandoval (77th minute) and Garcia (89th minute) both finished rebounds to turn the tides in RSL’s favor. The Revolution had a late chance to snatch a draw but Saer Sene’s penalty kick was turned away by RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando deep into stoppage time.

The loss kept the Revs (2-4-3, 9 pts.) winless against RSL (5-4-2, 17 pts.) since 2009, having gone 0-5-1 in their last six meetings with the Utah side.

Andrew Farrell and Chris Tierney both returned as the Revolution’s starting outside backs after missing last week’s 0-0 draw in Portland, while Braintree, Mass., product Scott Caldwell earned his third career start in a holding midfield position.

The Revs started brightly and had the game’s first quality chance in the seventh minute. Lee Nguyen’s penetrating through ball sent Jerry Bengtson in alone, but the Honduran forward was pushed wide as he tried to round Rimando and the ensuing scramble resulted in a corner kick.

Neither team generated a shot on target until the second half and it was the Revolution which forced Rimando into a strong save in the 48th minute. Diego Fagundez worked a clever one-two with Nguyen at the top of the box before firing a shot which Rimando got down well to push away.

Rimando could do nothing to stop Guy’s sumptuous volley just three minutes later, however, as the Revs jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Rowe surged down the right wing and weighed his options before delivering a cutback to Guy at the top of the box. Guy used his first touch to drill a rocket just inside the right post.

RSL responded to the deficit by pushing numbers forward and forced a pair of saves out of Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth with long drives in the 58th and 73rd minutes. Shuttleworth then came up with a big stop on Sandoval’s powerful header in the 76th minute.

But Sandoval needed just one more minute to break through as he notched his first career MLS goal to pull the visitors level at 1-1. Shuttleworth was alert to save Sebastian Velasquez’s initial shot, but Sandoval was on hand to drill the rebound into the roof of the net from inside six yards.

The game appeared to be headed for a 1-1 draw until a bit of late drama. Real Salt Lake took the lead in the 89th minute when Kyle Beckerman’s powerfully struck volley – direct from a corner kick – forced a strong save out of Shuttleworth, only for Garcia to pounce on the rebound and roll a shot inside the post.

It appeared as if the Revolution would get a late reprieve when the home side was awarded a penalty kick as the clock pushed past 90 minutes, but Sene’s effort low to Rimando’s right was saved and the visitors left Foxborough with the full three points.

The Revs will be home again in just three days when they’ll host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 11. Kickoff from Gillette Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.

New England Revolution vs. Real Salt Lake
May 8, 2013 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Real Salt Lake 2, New England Revolution 1

Scoring Summary:
NE – Ryan Guy (Kelyn Rowe) 51
RSL – Devon Sandoval (unassisted) 77
RSL – Olmes Garcia (unassisted) 89

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth, Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, Stephen McCarthy, Andrew Farrell, Ryan Guy, Lee Nguyen (Juan Toja 74), Scott Caldwell, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez (Saer Sene 65), Jerry Bengtson

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Reis, Andy Dorman, Clyde Simms, Dimitry Imbongo

STATS: Shots 11, Shots on Target 3, Corner Kicks 10, Saves 5, Fouls 17, Offsides 1, Passes 317 (71.0%), Possession 41.4%

Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando, Chris Wingert, Chris Schuler, Carlos Salcedo, Tony Beltran, Ned Grabavoy, Javier Morales, Luis Gil (Sebastian Velasquez 59), Kyle Beckerman ©, Joao Plata (Olmes Garcia 68), Devon Sandoval (Kenny Mansally 83)

Substitutes Not Used: Josh Saunders, Aaron Maund, Lovel Palmer, Khari Stephenson

STATS: Shots 13, Shots on Target 7, Corner Kicks 2, Saves 2, Fouls 11, Offsides 1, Passes 478 (81.5%), Possession 58.6%

* Note that all statistics are unofficial as supplied by Opta

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Carlos Salcedo (caution) 35
NE – Lee Nguyen (caution) 59
NE – Juan Toja (caution) 74
RSL – Carlos Salcedo (second caution) 91+
RSL – Carlos Salcedo (ejection) 91+

Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Gregory Barkey (AR1), Claudio Badea (AR2)
Fourth Official: Edvin Jurisevic
Weather: Rain and 66 degrees
Attendance: 8,040

Team Records
New England Revolution – 2-4-3 (9 pts.)
Real Salt Lake – 5-4-2 (17 pts.)

GAME NOTES

• With the loss, the Revs are now 4-8-4 all-time against Real Salt Lake
• The Revs are now 2-4-2 in matches played at home against RSL since the team entered MLS as an expansion team in 2005
• The lose moved the Revs’ home record to 1-2-1 on the season
• New England is now 0-5-1 against Real Salt Lake in the teams’ last six meetings … the last Revs win came on Aug. 23, 2009 – a 3-1 win at Gillette Stadium
• Tonight marked the first of five home games in a six-game stretch … the Revs are set to take on the New York Red Bulls on Sat., May 11 at home, before traveling to Houston for a May 18th match-up … the team then returns home for three consecutive home games:
• Sat., May 25 vs. Toronto FC; Sun., June 2 vs. LA Galaxy and Sat., June 8 vs. D.C. United
• After giving up a pair of goals tonight, the Revolution has allowed eight goals in nine games, with four coming in one game at New York
• The team’s 10 corner kicks were a season high through nine games, besting last Thursday’s seven taken against the Portland Timbers
• Jose Goncalves served as team captain for the second-consecutive game tonight … he remains the team’s third different game captain this year through nine games
• Bobby Shuttleworth made his seventh start of the season and his sixth in a row … it was his 27th career appearance and his 26th career start
• Three different players were unavailable tonight because of injury/illness: Kevin Alston (leukemia), Donnie Smith (groin) and A.J. Soares (hamstring)
• Chris Tierney, who missed the team’s game last Thursday against the Portland Timbers while serving a one-game suspension handed down by the MLS Disciplinary Committee, returned to the starting lineup at left back
• After missing last Thursday’s game against the Timbers because of an injury picked up in the April 27th game against Philadelphia, Andrew Farrell returned to the starting lineup tonight at right back
• With the loss, Bobby Shuttleworth now has a 0-2-0 career record against RSL, allowing  a total of four goals … in his last game against RSL, he conceded two goals in the 2-0 loss at Gillette Stadium on April 9, 2011
• Ryan Guy’s 51st-minute goal marked his first of the season, tying him with three other players for the team lead with one goal apiece
• Kelyn Rowe earned the assist on Guy’s goal, extending his team-leading assist count to three