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Dube keys Revolution past Earthquakes

May 18, 2008 - 2:29 AM FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Kheli Dube recorded his first career tally in the sixth minute and the New England Revolution benefited from an own goal 17 minutes later to cruise to a 2-0 triumph over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

The native of Zimbabwe, Dube cleaned up a centering feed from midfielder Steve Ralston and drilled it past goalkeeper Joe Cannon to open the scoring.

"As soon as it came to me I was like, 'I've got to finish that,'" Dube said.

For Dube, it was an impressive way to highlight his first start of the season.

"It's always nice to start on a team, but for me, it's my first year and I was just happy with where I was, getting minutes to play," Dube said.

"As long as I'm part of the team and the team wins, I'm happy."

Dube wasn't the only one who was happy with his performance.

"He did a great job; he scored a goal, he held the ball up, he defended well (and) he made good runs," New England coach Steve Nicol said. "He did all the things that we asked of him to a high quality."

The Revolution (5-3-1) gained a two-goal advantage courtesy of some miscommunication between San Jose defender James Riley and Cannon.

With Dube providing pressure, Riley - who was selected by the Revolution in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft - attempted to head the ball back to the goalkeeper. The ball, however, sailed over Cannon's outstretched arms and into the net.

"I saw (Dube) coming on my right, tried to get it to the keeper's hand, (but I) just headed it into the goal," Riley said. "Nothing more to say. I take full responsibility.

"It's a routine play to be honest, I kind of fumbled it really."

Matt Reis made one save to record his third shutout of the season and the 45th of his career for New England, which won its second match in a row.

"We just didn't see the game out too clearly," Reis said. "We gave them a couple chances there toward the end. But in the end, we got the shutout and we got the three points that we needed."

San Jose (1-5-1), which dropped its second contest in a row, remains in the basement in the Western Conference.

"At least we didn't just roll over and die at the end. That was important," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "I just said to everyone at halftime, it's about character. We haven't got a full squad, we've got a couple of guys out. ... But we're not deep and we're still looking at players and analyzing what we've got here."