For five New England Revolution players, Shalrie Joseph, Jay Heaps, Daniel Hernandez, Steve Ralston, and Taylor Twellman, Sunday’s MLS Cup loss was particularly hard to take, writes Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe. It was their third MLS Cup final loss in a New England shirt, after twice losing 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the league’s final showpiece both last year and in 2002. This year, the title seemed to be within touching distance after Twellman’s breakthrough overtime goal in the 113th minute, but then, a complacent Revs back four fell victim to one of soccer’s old clichés: you’re never so vulnerable as after you score. Within a minute, an unmarked Brian Ching headed home to crush New England’s high; a penalty kick lottery was inevitable after that. For Heaps, one of the aforementioned veterans of this New England squad, Sunday’s final will be a particularly bitter memory, as his easily saved penalty set up Brian Ching to fire home the winning spot kick. “I don’t think we deserve to lose three finals,” said midfielder Shalrie Joseph. ”We played well for 110 minutes and, instead of staying focused, we gave up a goal in 20 seconds. That’s the way it goes sometimes. We really wanted to win because we know some guys are not coming back next year.” As Joseph says, this New England team, one of the most consistent in MLS in recent years, is now likely to be broken up after its third failure in a final. It’s shame they never won it.