Things started out promising in the New England Revolution’s first trip to Orlando, but a late second-half collapse saw a two goal lead go by the wayside and despite extending their unbeaten streak to eight games (5-0-3), they know they left some valuable points on the board in a 2-2 draw.
“It’s really disappointing because of the way the game went,” said Revolution coach Jay Heaps following the match. “When you have a 2-0 lead you want to finish the game. In that regard, it’s disappointing. The overall flow of the game I thought it was some of our best stuff and some of our worst stuff, all in one.”
Some of the best stuff came out in the 19th minute when Scott Caldwell picked Amobi Okugo's pocket and shuffled up to Charlie Davies, who made two nice touches to extend past the defense and slot home his fourth goal in as many games.
Late in the first half, back-to-back headers by Juan Agudelo and Davies would have given the Revs a big boost of momentum heading into the second half, but they were both denied by the woodwork and instead allowed Orlando to regroup with additional hope.
“We came out with a good mindset and moved the ball really well,” said Heaps. “To be honest, I thought we could have been up more and I think that’s ultimately what cost us the game. We didn’t put the game away early enough.”
New England extended their lead on a Kelyn Rowe goal in the 71st minute, but four minutes later Orlando sliced the lead in half with a Rafael Ramos cross that Cyle Larin nodded home.
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On their heels with Orlando controlling the better part of play late, the Revs were again felled by the cross. Luke Boden found Aurelien Collin in the 90th minute, a gut punch to a Revolution side that looked certain to be heading home with three points in the bag.
“We know before that they have people who can cross the ball really good,” said Jermaine Jones. “They scored two goals from crosses. Before the game maybe I would say you take the draw and it’s good. But if you see that you are two goals in front, normally the game is done. It has to be done. We gave them too easy a chance to come back.”
“We’ve got to move on from this one pretty quickly,” Heaps added.
