The New England Revolution gifted a goal to the Kansas City Wizards in the third minute of their game on Saturday. A miscue by Darrius Barnes allowed Kansas City forward Josh Wolff to get behind the defense and cross to an unmarked Claudio Lopez, who finished easily. The goal snapped a 426-minute scoreless streak for the Wizards.
A turning point in the game came in the 23rd minute, when New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph drew a red card for a midfield challenge. The ejection put the Revolution further on its heels.
“We were in the hole in the third minute and we took out a shovel and dug it deeper after that,” midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. “Whether it was a red card or not, we showed some grit, some heart in the second half. They were counterattacking all night and they scored a couple counterattack goals in the second half when we were throwing guys forward. We gave a pretty good effort, considering. But the start of the game is what kills us. We gave up the goal and we had 11 guys on the field, and 11 of us weren’t ready to play.”
The Wizards took a two-goal lead as Wolff again slipped past Barnes, driving to the endline before striking the ball off two Revolution players, Emmanuel Osei and then Jay Heaps, into the net for an own goal. The 10-men Revolution rallied with an urgent second-half display, getting goals from Edgaras Jankauskas and Kheli Dube. But Wolff, who factored in every Wizards goal, scored in the 73rd minute and again to seal the game three minutes into stoppage time. The Revolution loss snapped a three game winning streak.