Nguyen’s goal gets first Revolution win

By Brian O’Connell, Soccerly

Typically, a victory in late-March doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of a 34-game season. But don’t tell that Revolution coach Jay Heaps.

Lee Nguyen (center) scored the game winning goal to get the Revolution’s first win of the season. Photo from Soccerly.

While Saturday’s 2-1 comeback victory over the Earthquakes might seem insignificant in once the summer rolls around, Heaps could be forgiven for savoring the win that eluded his club during the first three weeks of the season.

“It is a big three points for us,” Heaps told the media after the match. “It really is. We have had a tough start, especially with our schedule with (us) being on the road so much.”

The road map to the Revolution’s first win of 2014 didn’t put Heaps’ side through a gauntlet, per se. But the route wasn’t exactly smooth, to be sure.

It started with a 4-0 thumping to the Dynamo during First Kick, a performance that saw both offense and defense struggle in the club’s worst loss in nearly four years. And the fallout would linger into Week 2.

Seven days later, club captain and Defender of the Year Jose Goncalves was left off the 18, and the Revolution trudged through a 1-0 loss that saw the attack rarely threaten. It didn’t look as bad as their previous performance, but it sure wasn’t encouraging, either.

Last week, the Revolution started coming together in the home opener, and nearly got on the board in the fifth minute from an Andy Dorman header. But a victory – not to mention the first goal of the season – would have to wait another week, as the Revolution were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw to Vancouver.

On Saturday, the stars seemed to finally align for New England. Not only did they get off to a bright start against the Earthquakes, but the soccer gods seemed to finally smile upon them when Victor Bernardez inadvertently sent the ball into his own net in the 35th minute.

Read the full story by Brian O’Connell from Soccerly.