ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Lee Nguyen wanted another crack from the spot in the worst way.

Twenty-six minutes after watching Bill Hamid coolly cradle his first penalty attempt, Nguyen craved nothing more than to make it a distant memory when he stepped up and scored the game-winner to send the Revolution to a 2-1 comeback win over D.C. United on Saturday.

"I needed to redeem myself after that first one," Nguyen said. "But my teammates had my back, and the coaching staff had my back, and you're always going to be confident when they have your back like that."

It was a night in which the Revolution certainly needed to stay confident in one another, and what transpired in the opening minutes was proof positive of that.

In the 11th minute, Luis Silva played a low cross into the area, where Scott Caldwell attempted to clear it out of danger. But instead of sending it away from frame, Caldwell's ball rolled into the back of the net to give the guests a surprising early lead.

"It's obviously devastating that it happened that early in the game, or any point in the game," Caldwell said. "But the way my teammates picked me up and responded so quickly, the way we played out the rest of the half, and the rest of the game in general, was huge."

The Revolution wasted no time trying to get back on level terms. In the 24th minute, Andrew Farrell sent a long ball ahead for Dimitry Imbongo, who slipped through a pair of D.C. defenders before firing a shot that glided wide of the post.

Another opportunity arrived in the 36th minute, when Kelyn Rowe, who entered Saturday's game with five goals in his last five games, fired one of his patented, long-distance shots from 20 yards that just missed its intended target. Rowe sent another bid from distance minutes before the half, but once again, his shot veered away from frame.

Although the Revolution weren't able to find the board before the interval, Revolution coach Jay Heaps was nevertheless encouraged by what he saw from his players during the first half.

"We had a good conversation at halftime," Heaps said. "And in the second half, we really took the game and created a lot chances."

The first chance they found after halftime came in the 57th minute, after Nguyen was brought down by Dejan Jakovic inside the right edge of the area and referee Carlos Rivera pointed to the spot. But when Nguyen promptly sent it right to a diving Hamid, it seemed as if a Revolution victory simply wasn't meant to be.

"I was planning on going to that side and he read it early," Nguyen said. "And right in my mind, (during) my half-swing, I was like, '(Darn).' I couldn't change it in time, but credit to him. He made a great first save."

But before the hosts could reflect on their poor fortune, they responded with a flourish. A minute after Nguyen's miss, Saer Sene led Diego Fagundez with a long through ball into D.C.'s defending third. Fagundez beat a pair of defenders, then slipped it past Hamid to get the goal they'd longed to score.

"It was very important," Heaps said of the 58th-minute goal. "For our guys to stay up and react well, I liked that a lot."

Needing another strike to avoid a humbling draw -- not to mention a devastating blow to their postseason hopes -- the Revolution attacked at will, as D.C. dropped back in the hopes of squeezing out a road point.

The thought of a road point nearly turned into three in the 81st minute, when Conor Doyle chipped a shot over the reach of Matt Reis. But without the power needed to send it clean into the net, Reis raced back to swat it away before it crossed the line.

Less than a minute later, though, the Revolution picked themselves right back up after Nguyen was fouled inside the area again. And there was no question who was going to take it after Rivera pointed to the spot for the second time.

"It was just great to have the confidence from my teammates and the coaching staff," Nguyen said. "That's all I needed and after that (earlier miss)."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- There's no place like home, and that statement rang especially true for the Revolution on Saturday.

After four weeks away from the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium, the Revolution scored early and late to grab a much-needed 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

"For us, we needed to get home and get some points," Revolution head coach Jay Heaps said. "We were defensively sound, but we weren't as good as we can be offensively."

The 13,732 in attendance were promised postgame fireworks in commemoration of the Fourth of the July weekend, but the fans didn't have wait long for the Revolution to launch an early rocket.

In the 13th minute, Saer Sene initially ripped a shot that Jon Busch punched away before it fell to Stephen McCarthy, who quickly played it to Lee Nguyen. From there, Nguyen found Sene for a second opportunity, and the Frenchman didn't disappoint when he unleashed a 25-yard shot that flew past the reach of Busch.

"I like to shoot from far away," Sene said. "I don't like to think too much. When I am on the field, I am trying stuff, and I'm happy that tonight [it] was successful."

With the home crowd behind them and the familiar turf underneath their feet, the Revolution pressed for more as the first frame unfolded.

After a San Jose giveaway near midfield, Scott Caldwell played a keen ball forward to Chad Barrett, who ran onto it, went forward and sent it across for Diego Fagundez, who arrived a step too late to tap it through in the 28th minute.

Six minutes later, Andrew Farrell pushed forward and played a quick game of give-and-go with Kelyn Rowe before the full back's subsequent shot was denied by the shoe top of Busch at the last moment.

"I'm not sure we had our best stuff tonight," Heaps said. "But we still won, [and] if we play as well as we're capable of and [given] how deep our squad is, we know we can compete with any team in this league, especially when we play here at home."

Although the offense was guilty of missing a handful of prime chances to put the game out of reach at halftime, the defense came through to keep the Earthquakes from sneaking back into the match.

McCarthy and fellow center back Jose Goncalves cleared a number of San Jose crosses out of danger and succeeded in keeping the likes of Adam Jahn and Alan Gordon from putting a single shot on frame. Without having to worry about Chris Wondolowski (Gold Cup), Marvin Chavez (Gold Cup) and Steven Lenhart (injured), the Revolution center backs clamped down on the San Jose attack all night.

"If you look at the way the game played out, [McCarthy] and Jose [Goncalves] were the reason we won the game," Revolution left back Chris Tierney said. "The way that [San Jose] plays is that they've got two big, strong forwards, and that's a tough assignment for any defender in this league. [McCarthy] and Jose are the biggest and strongest out there."

It appeared in the latter stages that the onus of squeezing out three points would fall on the defense, until the 78th minute, when another blonde-mohawked striker took center stage.

With the Revolution in search of an insurance goal, Rowe played it ahead to Nguyen, who ran toward the right post searching for a runner inside the area. He found one when Dimitry Imbongo slid into Nguyen's pass and sent it into the net.

"I am really happy that [Imbongo] scored," Sene said. "Maybe, it's special for the people because we both have the mohawks. We are happy because it was a very important game, and we needed these three points."

Imbongo's goal lifted a considerable weight off the Revolution's defense, especially given San Jose's propensity for scoring late. And when referee Carlos Rivera chirped his whistle three times, the Revolution victory -- their first since early June - allowed the home fans to savor the postgame fireworks.

"We're always most comfortable at home," Tierney said. "I think a lot of teams around the league really don't look forward to coming here, which is obviously to our advantage."