Revs Fall 3-0, Bunbury Injured In Seattle

Monday, March 09, 2015

Matt LaPan, GoLocal Sports Reporter

 

View Larger +

The New England Revolution took the field for the first time in 2015, Sunday. They were looking to follow a great 2014 with a quick start to 2015. That did not happen as the Revs were defeated 3-0 by the Seattle Sounders behind a two-goal performance from Clint Dempsey.

Early Jitters

Both teams appeared to play a feeling out game early in the match, working out the cobwebs form the offseason. Neither had a great deal of control or pressure early. The Revs had the first sustained pressure of the game when Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez and Teal Bunbury got forward. The Seattle defense, led by Chad Marshall, kept their shape well and ended any threat before a shot.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The first good chance of the game was a corner kick that was nearly converted by Chad Marshall in the 18th minute. The service came in from Marco Pappa where he found Marshall alone, in space. Marshall fired a huge header but pushed it wide of the net.

The Revs were quick to answer as they got their first shot of the season off the foot of Juan Agudelo in the 19th minute. The shot was a weak dribbler, however, and was easily scooped by Stefan Frei.

Sounders Strike

It was not long before the Sounders high-powered offense got forward. They forced a corner kick that allowed Clint Dempsey to possess the ball inside the box. After a great shot fake, Dempsey was fouled by Juan Agudelo and was awarded a penalty kick. He buried the kick high to his right to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead.

The Revs got a flurry of offense in the 32nd minute off of consecutive corner kicks. The best attempts came on back-to-back plays where Andy Dorman and Kelyn Rowe had shots blocked in front of the net. Seattle got a great opportunity off of a corner kick of their own just two minutes later. After leaving the corner short, Marco Pappa sent a cross to the far post for Dempsey. He elevated but Andrew Farrell did a good job positioning himself and preventing a clean header from Dempsey.

Rowe Comes Close

The Revs looked for an equalizer, and nearly found it in the 39th minute from Kelyn Rowe. Rowe got the ball off a bad turnover from Brad Evans. Rowe unleashed a shot that was dropping towards the far post, but Frei made an incredible diving save to his right to maintain the Seattle lead.

Martins Elevates

Just minutes later, the Sounders struck again. After a turnover in the midfield, Dempsey pushed the ball forward to Tyrone Mears. Mears delivered a great cross into the box where Obafemi Martins elevated and struck a great header that found the back of the net to give the Sounders a 2-0 lead. The Sounders carried that lead into the half.

The first chance of the second half came from the Revolution off the foot of Diego Fagundez in the 52nd minute. Fagundez received the ball after a nice defensive play by Jose Conclaves in the midfield. Fagundez took a nice run and made a run through the middle of the field. Fagundez took a shot from just outside the box, but pushed it wide.

Dempsey Strikes Again

The Sounders were back on the attack in the 67th minute when they found their third goal of the night, and their second from Dempsey. The play started with Obafemi Martins getting possession and starting the rush for Seattle. The ball ended back with Martins who was two-on-one with Dempsey on New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Martins fed Dempsey who dribbled the ball easily into the open net to give the Sounders a 3-0 lead.

The night went from bad to worse for the Revolution when Teal Bunbury sustained a serious looking shoulder injury which was referred to as being “out” on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast. The Revs were forced to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game. They eventually fell 3-0 to start their 2015 season 0-1-0.

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook