COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Based on the scoreboard alone, Juan Toja’s 15th-minute goal gave the New England Revolution just the sort of strong start it desired on Wednesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
But despite carrying that lead into halftime, Revolution head coach Jay Heaps was none too pleased with his side’s performance during any point of New England’s eventual 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids.
Heaps pointed primarily to the possession statistics as the Revs managed just 34 percent of the possession in the first half and a mere 37 percent through the full 90 minutes.
“We really felt that in the first half we were second to balls and some of the things we’re good at, we just weren’t doing,” said Heaps. “It’s disappointing because we want to keep the ball when we can. We knew it was going to be tough, but we didn’t play well at all.
“We didn’t keep it, we dribbled too much. There’s got to be more flow. We as a staff have to be better and the players have to be better. We all have to be better.”
A turning point seemed to arrive midway through the second half when central defender Stephen McCarthy was forced off because of injury. After requiring medical attention late in the first half because of a cut on his head, McCarthy appeared to block a shot with his head in the 58th minute and was immediately replaced by A.J. Soares.
While Soares – making his first league appearance in almost three months – settled into the game, Colorado pounced for a pair of goals in the 62nd and 67th minutes.
But Heaps refused to feel sorry for his side about the unfortunate injury, noting it’s a situation the club is always prepared to handle.
“It’s not like it doesn’t happen in games; we have to prepare for that,” said Heaps. “Unfortunately tonight no one really stepped up when we needed to. We as a staff didn’t step up because we didn’t make the right subs.”
Any issues will need to be addressed in short order as the Revs have yet another quick turnaround, heading directly to Ohio to round out a two-game road swing against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.
“We have to get that feeling that we lost two in a row; we can’t let that happen anymore,” said Andrew Farrell. “But we have to move on. Columbus is a great team, especially at home. Some guys played full 90s, so we have to get those fresh legs going. I think it’s a must-win. We need those points and we need to get back to the winning ways.”
