It wasn’t as if the New England Revolution missed the starter’s pistol on the 2015 season, but it didn’t take long for the Seattle Sounders to sprint by in a 3-0 rout of the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Even missing two of their most integral pieces, Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen, New England showed early signs of life with decent possession and momentum moving forward in the Sunday night matchup at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.
Then the Revs felt the ferocity that is Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins who, once they took control, never relinquished it.
“They were good and we gave them a little too much space and they found the gaps,” New England head coach Jay Heaps said in his postgame comments. “I thought we dealt with it well up until the 25th minute, and then we put our heads down a little bit after the penalty goal.”
That first Seattle goal came off of a Juan Agudelo foul in the box on Dempsey, who scored his first of the season on the ensuing penalty kick.
The second came via Martins, who skied high above defenders in front of the Revs goal to head home a Tyrone Mears cross in the 41st minute, a back-breaker before halftime.
“We had chances to get back in the game,” said Heaps. “But giving up the second goal hurt.”
Revs defender Chris Tierney was happy with the way his side started, right up until Dempsey and Martins took control.
“We had some decent spells of possession,” Tierney said. “You just can’t play a team like Seattle from behind. Chasing a game, away in Seattle, is always a task.”
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That uphill chase was only made steeper when Martins, Dempsey and Marco Pappa teamed up on a terrific sequence that carved up the Revolution from midfield into the box, leading to Dempsey’s second of the night in the 67th minute.
The Revolution didn’t muster much in the attack the rest of the way, and the concerns of not having Jones and Nguyen – both still working back from injuries – seemed legitimate. But Heaps was quick to squash that notion postgame.
“No excuses,” said the Revs coach. “We have players on the field that can step up and play and we didn’t do well enough tonight.”
Said midfielder Kelyn Rowe: “We’ve got to learn from it. I’m glad to have it now and not in the playoffs. The expectations are for the full season. This is one game out of 34. I think we’re going to be okay.”
