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Revolution extend unbeaten streak, tie Red Bulls

Jun 19, 2008 - 3:37 AM By Tony Lee PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Steve Ralston scored in the 79th minute to help the New England Revolution extend their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.

The Revolution (8-3-3) are 5-0-2 since an ugly 3-0 loss in Chicago on May 3, but needed a late tally to keep alive their unbeaten streak.

Seth Stammler scored his first goal since 2006 to give the Red Bulls (4-4-4) the advantage in the first half, scoring on a cross from Dave van den Bergh in the 37th minute as New England midfielder Mauricio Castro laid on the field behind the play with a strained oblique muscle.

Defender Jay Heaps spearheaded the equalizer for the Revolution when he lofted a pass into the mix in front of goalkeeper Jon Conway. Kheli Dube got his foot on it for the Revolution before Ralston settled with it, turning and firing past Conway for his fourth goal of the season and third in as many games.

"I just had to make sure I got it to the guy who had the opportunity to score," Dube said. "Ralston was wide open. I could've tried to shoot, but it was better to get it to someone who was open and get the goal."

"In the last 10 minutes, we probably got the ball wide more than we did the whole game - and when we did that we caused them problems," New England coach Steve Nicol said. "We got the goal, we could of had another one."

Dube missed a golden opportunity in the closing minutes as Conway got just enough of his shot to push the ball wide of the net.

Stammler scored from a spot that would've been filled by Castro. Nicol wanted a whistle for a stoppage as Castro was clearly hurt, and became more upset with the referees in the second half as yellow cards were pinned on multiple New England players.

"The referee has to know teams are going to be physical and has to protect the players," Nicol said of referee Joe Caroccio. "It's his decision and we don't know which way he's going. Nobody knows which way he's going to give fouls. His decision on what was a foul and what wasn't a foul were pretty poor."

Matt Reis was credited with four saves for first-place New England, which moved five points ahead of Columbus atop the Eastern Conference.

Conway stopped six shots and assisted on the Red Bulls' goal with a long outlet pass to van den Bergh.

"They forced him for us today," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Orsorio said. "I think our best foot was our goalkeeper. He made two saves that kept the team in the game. He did very good."