After a long week that involved travel across three countries, all New England needed was a goal.
Saturday night's 2-2 draw with Los Angeles hadn't gone to plan. The Galaxy came out with fire and with organization.
Two goals from Landon Donovan had canceled out Taylor Twellman's opener and the Revs wanted and needed that goal to make a difficult and punishing week feel better.
Shalrie Joseph gave it to his teammates.
Joseph had spent the first half experimenting in a role behind Taylor Twellman after Steve Ralston was deemed unfit with back spasms. Dropping back into midfield after a half-hour, Joseph pressed forward as the team searched for a goal.
"We were 2-1 down and the goal was really good for the team," Joseph said. "Mikey [Revs defender Michael Parkhurst] played me a great ball and I turned it and found space. I tried to push space forward and saw the goalkeeper cheat. I just shot. Thank God it went in."
It wasn't a vintage Revolution performance. The best passing moves were Los Angeles' and Donovan went straight through the heart of the Revs defense twice. But the result still gives the Revs a point that the team will certainly need come playoff time.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol lauded his team's fortitude to reach deep after the second-half deficit, but suggested that he wasn't under any illusions about the team's overall performance.
"Clearly you can see the difference in one team that had traveled 6,000 miles in the last week and one that's been resting," Nicol said. "You see the sharpness in their play that we didn't have."
That sharpness wasn't there defensively either. New signing Gabriel Badilla slotted next to Parkhurst in the middle of the back four. Both goals came straight through the middle, an unusual source of success for opposing teams.
Nicol said that the pairing will get better once they have some time to play together. Badilla arrived on Thursday and had only one training session with the team before Saturday night's game.
"They've been thrown together," Nicol said. "You see what [Gabriel] Badilla's made of. He's joined the right group. The guy wants to win the game. You see him at the end; he looks absolutely like one of us. We're delighted to have him. We think he's going to be a great player for us."
There won't be much rest for the weary as the Revs look to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Joe Public FC in the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round second leg on Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium.
"We've got to be smart and take care of ourselves," Revs 'keeper Matt Reis said. "We are running low right now and we are filling in players where we can and just filling the gaps. We just need to be smart and take care of ourselves and get ready for the end."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
