FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Saer Sene scored his fifth goal of the season for the New England Revolution, but the visiting Houston Dynamo rallied to knot the score in the 76th minute as the teams played to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
With the draw, both teams picked up one point in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference standings. Houston (12-10-8, 44 pts.) maintained fourth position, but New England (11-11-8, 41 pts.) slipped to sixth place from fifth – and out of a playoff spot for the time being – as Philadelphia earned a win on Friday night and leap-frogged the Revs. A New England victory tonight would have sent the Revs into fourth place by virtue of tie-breakers with Houston.
After a scoreless first half, Sene broke the deadlock in the 64th minute. Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe combined to play Lee Nguyen into space, who then turned and dribbled toward goal. Sene, coming down the right wing, picked up Nguyen’s pass just inside the penalty area and curled his left-footed attempt around Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall for the 1-0 lead.
Houston, however, didn’t lie down and leveled the score in the 76th minute behind Will Bruin. Houston broke out through the midfield and Cam Weaver came away with the ball down the right wing. His centering pass was cleared to Boniek Garcia, who slid a low through ball to Bruin in the middle of the box. Bruin turned and split a pair of Revs defenders and then rocketed a shot past New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, tucking the ball just under the cross bar for the 1-1 score.
The Revs had several late chances – from Rowe, Juan Agudelo, Fagundez and Nguyen – and even had a free kick in the final minute of stoppage time that Sene ripped just wide left, but the team was unable to find the go-ahead goal.
The Revolution returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 5, when the team travels to Red Bull Arena to face the New York Red Bulls. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on TV by Comcast SportsNet and on the radio by 98.5 The Sports Hub.
New England Revolution vs. Houston Dynamo
September 28, 2013 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
New England Revolution 1, Houston Dynamo 1
Scoring Summary:
NE – Saer Sene (Lee Nguyen) 64
HOU – Will Bruin (Boniek Garcia) 76
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell, Diego Fagundez, Lee Nguyen, Scott Caldwell, Kelyn Rowe, Saer Sene, Dimitry Imbongo (Juan Agudelo 62)
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Darrius Barnes, Andy Dorman, Chad Barrett, Charlie Davies, Stephen McCarthy
STATS: Shots 15, Shots on Target 3, Corner Kicks 5, Saves 2, Fouls 6, Offsides 5, Passes 340 (74.7%), Possession 51.2%
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall, Corey Ashe, Kofi Sarkodie, Bobby Boswell, Jermaine Taylor, Warren Creavalle (Cam Weaver 73), Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia, Brad Davis (Jason Johnson 89), Giles Barnes, Will Bruin
Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Omar Cummings, Aleander Lopez, Servando Carrasco, Tyler Deric
STATS: Shots 11, Shots on Target 3, Corner Kicks 5, Saves 2, Fouls 10, Offsides 3, Passes 327 (70.3%), Possession 48.8%
* Note that all statistics are unofficial as supplied by Opta
Misconduct Summary:
HOU – Brad Davis (caution) 52
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant Referees: Sean Hurd (AR1), Peter Balciunas (AR2)
Fourth Official: Mathieu Bordeau
Weather: Clear and 58 degrees
Attendance: 21,297
Team Records
Houston Dynamo – 12-10-8 (44 pts)
New England Revolution – 11-11-8 (41 pts.)
GAME NOTES
- With the draw on Saturday night, the Revs moved to 11-11-8 overall and 9-7-5 against Eastern Conference opponents
- The draw, combined with other results around the league, pushed the Revs out of the fifth and final playoff spot and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with four regular-season games remaining
- The Revs are now 7-4-6 against Houston all-time and 2-2-5 at home
- Saturday’s game marked the first time the teams have played three regular-season games in one season
- Saturday’s game was just the second time this season the Revs used only substitute in a game
- The Revs used the same starting 11 in back-to-back games for just the fifth time this season on Saturday night
- Saer Sene scored his fifth goal of the season against Houston … he now has five goals and five assists on the season
- Lee Nguyen recorded his sixth assist of the season on Saturday night … Nguyen now has three goals and six assists on the season … Nguyen is tied for second on the team in assists with Diego Fagundez, who are both one behind team leader Kelyn Rowe (7)
- Matt Reis posted two saves in Saturday’s draw to remain unbeaten on the season … Reis is 4-0-3 in eight appearances this season
- Reis made his 250th appearance (249th start) as a member of the Revs … Reis has made 289 appearances overall in his 16-year career
- Chris Tierney moved into a tie for eighth place on the Revs career starts chart, tying Kevin Alston with his 117th start on Saturday night
