While the New England Revolution did enter #DecisionDay with an eight-goal cushion for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot, there was still reason to hold their breathe in the midst of an 0-3-1 run.
It didn’t take long for them to exhale. On the heels of Lee Nguyen’s 2nd-minute goal, the Revs puffed their chests and broke their recent run of bad results with a 3-1 win at New York City FC to punch their way into the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The victory pumped some much needed momentum into the New England’s lungs as they prepare for a Knockout Round match at DC United on Wednesday (7:30pm | UniMás, TSN2).
- WATCH: Davies doubles the Revs lead
“For us it was all about what we needed to do,” said coach Jay Heaps. “It really had nothing to do with the other teams, or results, in terms of what we need to do going into this game. It’s one of those where it’s a good building block. I like when we get some momentum, because when we get some momentum, we’re tough to play.”
“I think it’s more than the result,” said Kelyn Rowe, who iced the match with a beautiful header off of a Chris Tierney corner kick – the Revs' third goal. “I thought we were going to get through [to the playoffs]. I had faith in us not dropping too many goals.
We didn’t have the best end of the season. The last four games weren’t our favorite. I think we came together as a team tonight and I think going forward we’re going to be that way on Wednesday.”
While returning to form as a team was vital for New England heading into the postseason, so too was having Charlie Davies regain his form in his first start since September 26th.
The Revs striker, whose name did not appear on the scorer's sheet in the last six matches, was in brilliant form. It started with the setup of Nguyen’s goal, which Davies masterfully held up on the penalty area before dishing to the charging midfielder.
In the 38th minute, Davies collected a bounding ball outside of the box, after having NYCFC’s Jay Hernandez go tumbling over his back. He turned into the 18, outracing Shae Lacey before going to the far post, and used the lumber to sink his team best tenth goal of the season.
“It’s all about the team,” Davies said. “Obviously, I wanted to come in and do whatever I can to help the team and continue to improve. I think tonight was a huge step forward, not only for myself, but as a team. I’m more thrilled that we’re back on track as a team.”
