'Caps continue road trip in New England
Foxborough, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - The New England Revolution will try to put an end to a rough patch of form on Saturday as the club welcomes Vancouver Whitecaps FC to Gillette Stadium.
New England has managed just one win its last nine outings after sustaining a 2-1 defeat at Columbus Crew SC on Wednesday, while Vancouver has picked up three wins from its last four fixtures.
The Revs couldn't have asked for a better start in Columbus as Lee Nguyen scored inside the opening minute of the match, only to see Kei Kamara equalize three minutes later before notching the winning goal five minutes into the second half.
Scoring first and still losing games has become somewhat of a theme for the Revs this season, something head coach Jay Heaps knows all too well.
"They were ready to play," Heaps said of his team's start to Wednesday's contest. "You wanted that to sustain. Of [our] six losses, we scored first in [all] except for one of them. So five of the six we've scored first. So, we're ready to play. Unfortunately we didn't stick to the game plan and we let them back in."
This time last season, New England endured an eight-game losing streak that dropped the club down the Eastern Conference table, and Heaps will be hopeful his side can correct that problem to avoid another summer swoon.
The Whitecaps will have a few extra days rest having not taken part in a midweek fixture, and the club will certainly be buoyed by a 2-1 win at Red Bull New York last weekend.
Kekuta Manneh and Kianz Froese scored the goals for the Whitecaps, but goalkeeper David Ousted was undoubtedly the star of the show, saving two penalty kicks from Bradley Wright-Phillips to help his side to three points.
The only negative in the win was that both Gershon Koffie and Kendall Waston each collected bookings that will keep them out of Saturday's clash with the Revs due to yellow card accumulation.
"It's a big loss," head coach Carl Robinson said when asked about the impact of losing both Koffie and Waston. "They've been excellent the last couple of games especially. They're big players, we know that, but it will give other players opportunities."
Saturday's match will mark the fourth game for Vancouver in a five-game road trip, with Robinson having already seen his team collect six points from the first three games.
And despite the fact that New England is struggling at the moment, Robinson knows another victory won't be easy at Gillette Stadium, where the Revs haven't tasted defeat in a league game since July 26, 2014.
"They're a very good team, they're very physical, and they're very strong at home," Robinson said of the clash at New England. "But if we're organized and disciplined then we'll get our opportunities at the other end of the field."