FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution posted a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo tonight at Gillette Stadium, avenging its opening day loss in Houston.

After a scoreless first half, the Revs took the lead midway through the second through defender Kevin Alston – who scored his first career goal – before Jerry Bengtson sealed the victory in stoppage time with his first goal this season.

New England (2-3-1, 7 pts.) held the Dynamo without a shot on goal and posted its second defensive shutout of the year, both by goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. The loss was Houston’s (2-3-0, 6 pts.) third straight after opening the season with back-to-back wins.

The Revs return to action next Saturday, April 19, when they travel to face the Chicago Fire on NBC Sports Net. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.

Key Plays

• 16’ – NE’s Saer Sene heads wide right while under pressure off of Andy Dorman’s delivery | WATCH THE PLAY
• 19’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez takes a quick shot from the left side of the area, but it’s deflected wide | WATCH THE PLAY
• 20’ – Houston’s Tony Cascio fires high and wide left after cutting inside from Boniek Garcia’s pass | WATCH THE PLAY
• 23’ – Houston’s A.J. Cochran’s header is high off Boniek Garcia’s free kick delivery | WATCH THE PLAY
• 25’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez cuts in from the left and fires towards the near post, but it’s tipped around the post by Tally Hall | WATCH THE PLAY
• 37’ – NE’s Saer Sene tries his luck from 25 yards but it bounces through to Tally Hall | WATCH THE PLAY
• 38’ – NE’s Lee Nguyen closes in on goal and lets fly from just outside the area but Tally Hall tips it over the bar
• 38’ – YELLOW CARD: Houston’s Ricardo Clark shown a yellow card for a tackle on Jose Goncalves | WATCH THE PLAY
• 41’ – NE’s Jose Goncalves is unable to continue after sustaining a right quad injury and is replaced by Darrius Barnes
• 44’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez picks up Teal Bunbury’s short pass and curls a shot wide left from 25 yards | WATCH THE PLAY

HALFTIME SCORE: New England Revolution 0, Houston Dynamo 0

• 61’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury makes a yard of space for himself at the top of the box but he slashes his shot wide left
• 65’ – Houston’s Giles Barnes heads Boniek Garcia’s corner kick service over the goal | WATCH THE PLAY
• 68’ – NE GOAL: NE’s Kevin Alston fires a rising shot past Tally Hall from 15 yards for his first career MLS goal. Assisted by Teal Bunbury and Daigo Kobayashi | WATCH THE PLAY
• 83’ – NE’s Diego Fagundez blazes a half-volley over the bar
• 87’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Scott Caldwell shown a yellow card | WATCH THE PLAY
• 88’ – YELLOW CARD: NE’s Kevin Alston shown a yellow card | WATCH THE PLAY
• 90’ – NE’s Teal Bunbury shoots wide while in the clear after being sprung by Lee Nguyen | WATCH THE PLAY
• 91+’ – NE GOAL: NE’s Jerry Bengtson beats Tally Hall to a ball over the top by A.J. Soares and finishes past the defender on the line. Assisted by A.J. Soares. It’s the Honduran’s first goal in 17 games since scoring the winner in the 2013 season opener against Chicago | WATCH THE PLAY
• 93+’ – Houston’s Ricardo Clark heads wide from just outside the six | WATCH THE PLAY

FINAL SCORE: New England Revolution 2, Houston Dynamo 0
Additional Game Notes

• With the win, the New England Revolution improve to 8-5-6 all-time against Houston
• The Revs are also 3-2-5 against the Dynamo at Gillette Stadium
• The Revs extended their home unbeaten streak to five matches (3-0-2), dating back to Sept. 21, 2013
• The Revolution haven’t allowed a goal at Gillette Stadium in 2014 … the team has posted back-to-back shutouts in its first two home matches of the year
• Kevin Alston scored his first career MLS goal, and his first goal overall since scoring in the 2010 SuperLiga final against Mexico’s Monarcas Morelia on Sept. 1, 2010
• Jerry Bengtson scored his first goal of the season
• Jerry Bengtson’s goal was his first goal in 17 appearances since scoring the game’s only goal at Chicago on March 9, 2013
• Teal Bunbury and Daigo Kobayashi registered their first assists with New England
• For Teal Bunbury, it was his eighth career assist and his first since Oct. 26, 2013, in a 2-1 Kansas City win at Philadelphia
• Daigo Kobayashi’s assist was his fifth career MLS assist, and his first since a 3-1 Vancouver loss at Colorado on Oct. 19, 2013
• A.J. Soares’ assist on Jerry Bengtson’s goal was his first career MLS assist
• The Revs made one change to last week’s defeat in D.C., with Kevin Alston replacing the injured Chris Tierney (left hip irritation)
• Kevin Alston made his first appearance since the opening day at Houston, when he was substituted after 20 minutes with a right hamstring injury
• Kelyn Rowe remained on the sidelines with a left hamstring injury… Donnie Smith (L foot contusion) and Chris Tierney (L hip irritation) were also unavailable
• Andrew Farrell saw his first minutes at center back since March 15 against Philadelphia after the injured Jose Goncalves (right quad injury) was replaced by Darrius Barnes – who slotted in at right back
• With the introduction of Jerry Bengtson in the second half, Teal Bunbury shifted to the right wing for the third game running
• Bobby Shuttleworth, A.J. Soares and Teal Bunbury have no played all 540 minutes of action this season
• Bobby Shuttleworth recorded his second shutout of the season and the 15th shutout of his career … it was his first shutout since March 22, a 0-0 home draw against Vancouver at Gillette Stadium
• Bobby Shuttleworth also improved to a 3-3-0 all-time against Houston
• Head coach Jay Heaps served his one-match suspension after being ejected at D.C. last weekend … assistant coach Tom Soehn took his place on the sideline … the win is still credited to Heaps’ career record (25-31-18 overall now)
• Tonight’s two-goal victory was the Revolution’s first by more than one goal since Aug. 25, 2013, in a 5-1 victory over Philadelphia at Gillette Stadium
• The game was the second of three matchups between New England and Houston this season, with the Dynamo winning the first of the series 4-0 on March 8…the final game is scheduled for Oct. 16 at Houston – a game which will be nationally televised on ESPN 2

Santander Man of the Match

• D Kevin Alston – Scored his first career MLS goal, which also stood as the game-winning goal. Also contributed to the defense’s second shutout of the season.

Next Match

The Revolution will next travel west to take on the Chicago Fire on Saturday, April 19, at Toyota Park.

• Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.
• TV: NBC Sports Network
• Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Houston Dynamo at New England Revolution
April 12, 2014 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

New England Revolution 2, Houston Dynamo 0

Scoring Summary:
NE – Kevin Alston (Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi) 68
NE – Jerry Bengtson (A.J. Soares) 91+

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth, Kevin Alston, Jose Goncalves © (Darrius Barnes 41), A.J. Soares, Andrew Farrell, Diego Fagundez, Lee Nguyen, Andy Dorman, Daigo Kobayashi (Scott Caldwell 71), Saer Sene (Jerry Bengtson 78), Teal Bunbury

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Charlie Davies, Stephen McCarthy, Steve Neumann

STATS: Shots 13, Shots on target 6, Saves 0, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 2, Fouls 11, Possession 49.7%, Passes 366 (77%)

Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall, Corey Ashe, A.J. Cochran, Jermaine Taylor, Kofi Sarkodie, Andrew Driver (Omar Cummings 75), Boniek Garcia, Ricardo Clark ©, Tony Cascio (Warren Creavalle 69), Giles Barnes, Will Bruin

Substitutes Not Used: Tyler Deric, Anthony Arena, Servando Carrasco, Alexander Lopez, Mark Sherrod

STATS: Shots 9, Shots on target 0, Saves 4, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 2, Fouls 9, Possession 50.3%, Passes 361 (73.1%)

Misconduct Summary:
HOU – Ricardo Clark (caution) 38
NE – Scott Caldwell (caution) 87
NE – Kevin Alston (caution) 88

Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant Referees: James Conlee, Peter Balciunas
Fourth Official: Robert Sibiga

Weather: Sunny and 68 degrees
Attendance: 14,259

Team Records
New England Revolution: 2-3-1, 7 pts.
Houston Dynamo: 2-3-0, 6 pts.