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Twellman's goal lifts Revolution over Wizards

Aug 20, 2007 - 3:13 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) - Taylor Twellman made the most of his Missouri homecoming, scoring the game's only goal to lead the New England Revolution past the Kansas City Wizards, 1-0, Sunday night.

Twellman, who hails from St. Louis, directed a pass from Khano Smith in the 72nd minute into the right side of the net from eight yards out to break a scoreless tie.

It was Twellman's fifth game-winning goal on the year and helped the Revolution double their Eastern Conference lead to six points. Eddie Johnson of the Wizards leads the league with six game-winning tallies.

"It was perfect," Twellman said of Smith's pass. "Shalrie (Joseph) played a great ball out of the middle and Khano gave me a good ball in the middle. It was just a matter of staying onside and running it into the goal."

"We keep preaching about good passing," New England coach Steve Nicol said. "When it's done well it looks easy, but that was a great ball."

Twellman has 10 goals on the season; his last three have been second-half game-winners.

"He's the guy we want to get the ball to in the box," Nicol said. "It's no surprise he got the goal. If we get the ball to him, nine times out of 10 he's going to put the ball in the back of the net."

"The difference tonight was the defensive work we put in," Twellman said. "On defense, we were awesome. We worked hard and it paid off."

New England (11-5-6) has managed just three goals in its last four games, but has collected two 1-0 wins in the span.

"Kansas City is a good team," Nicol said. "But defensively, we were great. After our last performance we were wondering about the passion and desire to win the game and play the whole game. Tonight you saw that passion and desire."

The game was expected to be a high-scoring affair in a matchup two of the league's best offenses. New England ranks first in the league in goals, assists, shots and shots on goal, while Kansas City ranks in those same categories.

"They backed off to defend their own field," Wizards forward Sasha Victorine said. "It was tough for us to play the ball forward and tough to get the ball behind them. They won a lot of balls in the middle of the field and that made it hard for us to counter."

"They were well organized," Kansas City midfielder Kerry Zavagnin said. "They withstood our chances in the second half."

On a hot, humid night, both squads played sluggishly on offense, generating few scoring chances.

Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis collected his league-leading ninth shutout. Reis was called upon to make just one save.

"They didn't have many chances," Reis said. "Everybody played amazing on defense. We really dug deep. It shows the kind of character we have on this team. We really battled tonight and it took them out of their game."

"The back three (defenders) made the difference," Twellman said. "The middle was top-notch. We were all working hard defensively. We were frustrated after losing to D.C. (United) and Colorado. Those were uncharacteristic games for us and we wanted to bounce back from adversity."

New England leads the MLS with a 7-2 record in games decided by one goal.

Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman saw his bid for a fourth shutout spoiled by Twellman's goal. Hartman stopped three shots on goal.

Eloy Colombano made his debut for Kansas City, entering the match as a substitute to start the second half. Colombano, an attacking player from Argentina, was signed to a contract August 8.

The Wizards' Jimmy Conrad left the game in stoppage time with an undisclosed right leg injury.