Revs can't blame blown lead on red-carded Reis

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By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @dannypicard

FOXBORO -- New England goalkeeper Matt Reis made nine saves onWednesday night. Unfortunately for the Revolution, the one he didnt make inthe 90th minute was the difference between a win and a draw.

The Revs played to a 1-1 tie with the Houston Dynamo onWednesday at Gillette Stadium. For 86 minutes, it looked as if New Englandwould snap a four-game winless skid, thanks to Ryan Cochranes goal in thefourth minute that gave the Revolution an early 1-0 lead.

But in the final moments of the match, a Dynamo corner kickresulted in an aerial header by Houstons Carlo Costly. Reis made the initialsave, but as he fell to the ground at the goal line, Dynamo defender BobbyBoswell snuck in and knocked home the loose ball that Reis couldnt completelyhold onto.

It was, no doubt, a devastating turn of events.

To lose the two points in the 90th minute, obviously stings in the throat,said Revolution coach Steve Nicol. But if were honest, we were under a lot ofpressure tonight, and we stood up well. But we just couldnt hold on at theend.

That pressure came immediately following Cochranes earlyscore, but Reis was there for each and every one of Houstons chances. He wasmaking leaping saves, diving saves, you name it. If a ball was coming his way,Reis was making the stop. It was just that type of night for him.

And because of it, nobody in the New England locker room isputting the blame on him.

Reis showed that hes the best goalie in the league, saidRevolution defender A.J. Soares. Were lucky to have him. He kept us in thegame the whole time. Everyone does a job, and he did a great job tonight.

Revs captain Shalrie Joseph also had high praise for Reis,saying that the rest of the team let their goalkeeper down on the game-tyinggoal in the 90th minute, by not clearing out the loose ball after Reis initialsave.

Oh he was huge, said Joseph. This is probably the bestIve seen him this year, as far as I can remember. He just kept us in it. Hemade huge saves from the beginning of the game.

He was, by far, the man of the match on both teams. Therewasnt even anybody else close to him.

The Revs will have to do without Reis on Saturday night athome against the New York Red Bulls, because once the game was complete, theofficials reviewed a scrum in the final minutes (extra time) of the game, andruled that Reis pushing of Houstons Adam Moffat was deserving of a straightred card.

Just moments after the Dynamo tied the game, Reis came tothe defense of teammate Pat Phelan, who was initially pushed into the corner byMoffat.

Immediately after the gameand before a ruling was made Nicol didnt believe that the incident was worthy of any red cards.

I hope common sense prevails, said Nicol. Its one ofthose nonsense things that happen at the end of he game, but hopefully theofficials will use their common sense. Nobody deserves to get a red card.Thats just a lot of huffing and puffing.

About 10 minutes later, Reis was heard yelling in a sideroom, presumably while being told he would receive a straight red card, andmiss Saturdays match.

Reis did not speak to the media afterwards, but after hisperformance on Wednesday night, its certain that he will be dearly missed.

Cochrane was removed from the game in the 76th minute, andwas replaced by Phelan. Cochrane was taken out early because he was hit in thehead by Houstons Cam Weaver in the first half.

Cochrane had blurry vision and gave it a try in the secondhalf, but it was in everyones best interest to not allow him to finish.

He couldnt focus properly on the ball, so we had no choicebut to bring him off, said Nicol.

Cochrane will be further evaluated on Thursday.

I just had kind of like burred vision for most of thegame, said Cochrane. I was just trying to shake it at half time. I reallydidnt sit down at half time. I just kind of walked around and kept thatadrenaline moving and pumping. And then it was just kind of precautionary toget off the field. I just couldnt shake it really.

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