April 14, 2007 New England Revolutions beat Toronto FC 4-0 (from New England Revolution site) 4/14/07 New England Revolution 4, Toronto FC 0 Twellman scores twice and Revs tally 500th regular-season goal in club history in 2007 home opener.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Behind a pair of Taylor Twellman goals, the New England Revolution earned a 4-0 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium in the team’s 2007 home opener. Twellman’s two goals put the Revs up 2-0 after 18 minutes, and New England added two second-half goals for the final four-goal win.
A crowd of 18,184 witnessed the Revs’ first victory of the season, a win that followed a 5-0 triumph by the U.S. Women’s National Team over Mexico in the squad’s 2007 domestic opener leading up the Women’s World Cup in China this fall.
The Revs dictated play in their attacking end and established the rhythm in the midfield from the opening kick, which led to Twellman’s two early goals. The New England defense also limited first-year Toronto to long-range shots and broke up passes in the final third before plays could develop.
The Revs appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute when rookie forward Adam Cristman redirected a Steve Ralston cross over Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton, but he was ruled to have come into the play from an offside position.
However, Twellman put the Revs on the board in the 12th minute when he played a one-two sequence with Cristman near the top of the area, slotting home a right-footed, 17-yard shot to put New England ahead, 1-0. Twellman then added to the Revs’ lead, heading in his second goal of the evening in the 18th minute when he converted a Ralston cross from the right, finding the far post.
Toronto had its best chance of the half in the 36th minute when Edson Buddle created space after taking pass from Alecko Eskandarian, but his shot from 30 yards out was high of frame and wide.
Revs continued to hold a strong advantage in play in the second half and maintained possession for most of the remainder of the game. Shalrie Joseph converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute to push the lead to 3-0 after Cristman was tripped near the top of the penalty area by TFC midfielder Paulo Nagamura. Joseph sent his attempt low and toward the right post as Sutton dove the other direction.
Andy Dorman capped the Revs’ scoring in the 72nd minute, running on to a Ralston pass from deep in the penalty area. Pat Noonan put his thrown-in on Ralston, who ran along the endline and sent a pass back out to the top of the area to Dorman, who first-timed his left-footed blast to the upper left corner of the net. The goal was the 500th regular-season goal in New England club history.
Revs keeper Matt Reis made six saves on the evening for his first shutout of the 2007, his sternest test coming in the 79th minute off the foot of former U.S. international Conor Casey, who put a point-blank shot on Reis from 12 yards out.
New England out-shot its opponent for the second time in as many games this season, finishing the night with a 14-10 advantage.
The Revs return to action on Thursday, April 19, when they travel to face the Columbus Crew at 7 p.m. ET in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The game will be broadcast on the WEEI Radio network.
Toronto FC at New England Revolution April 14, 2007 - Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium) Scoring Summary NE - Taylor Twellman (Adam Cristman) 12 NE - Twellman (Steve Ralston) 18 NE - Shalrie Joseph (penalty kick) 61 NE - Andy Dorman (Ralston, Pat Noonan) 72
Toronto FC: Greg Sutton, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Miguel Canizalez (Conor Casey 57), Marco Reda, Andy Welsh, Richard Mulrooney, Paulo Nagamura, Carl Robinson ©, Alecko Eskandarian, Edson Buddle (Abbe Ibrahim 86)
Substitutes Not Used: Tomer Chencinski, Rich Asante, Adam Braz, David Guzman, Tyler Hemming,
STATS: Shots 10 (Eskandarian 4); Shots on Goal 6 (Eskandarian 3); Saves 5 (Sutton 5); Corner Kicks 6 (Robinson 3); Fouls Suffered 13 (Nagamura 3); Fouls Committed 18 (Nagamura 4)
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Avery John, James Riley, Jay Heaps, Khano Smith (Wells Thompson 67), Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph (Gary Flood 87), Steve Ralston ©, Andy Dorman, Adam Cristman (Pat Noonan 70), Taylor Twellman
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren, Amaechi Igwe, Arsene Oka, Ryan Solle
STATS: Shots 14 (Twellman 4); Shots on Goal 8 (Twellman 3); Saves 6 (Reis 6); Corner Kicks 4 (Ralston 3); Fouls Suffered 18 (Cristman 4); Fouls Committed 13 (Larentowicz 3)
Misconduct Summary: TFC - Edson Buddle (caution) 13 TFC - Andrew Boyens (caution) 45 TFC - Paulo Nagamura (caution) 57 TFC - Jim Brennan (caution) 73 NE - Avery John (caution) 80 Referee: Mark Geiger Referee’s Assistants: Nate Clement, Michael Sayers Fourth Official: Alex Prus Time of Game: 1:50 Weather: Cloudy, 48 degrees Attendance: 18,184
NOTES
Taylor Twellman’s two-goal effort was his 13th multiple-goal outing of his career … he is first in the Revs' career record books - and tied for fifth in MLS’ career record books - in multiple-goal games … it was Twellman’s first multiple-goal game since a hat-trick effort against Columbus at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 10, 2005.
Tonight’s attendance - 18,184 - marked the Revs’ best-attended home opener since 22,006 fans came out for the 2002 home opener at Gillette Stadium, the first-ever game at the new facility.
Andy Dorman’s goal in the 72nd minute was the 500th regular-season goal in New England club history … it was the 11th goal of his three-plus-year career.
The Revs extended their overall home undefeated streak (including playoffs games) to eight matches, dating back to Aug. 27, 2006 (1-0 over Columbus).
Shalrie Joseph converted his fourth-straight penalty kick attempt, dating back to the 2005 season.
Adam Cristman’s assist on Twellman’s first goal was his first-career MLS point.
International pop star and Foxborough, Mass., resident JoJo presided over the pregame coin-flip.
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