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| Sunday, October 20, 2002 20:05 EST |
Revolution lose in overtime
[Associated Press]
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Adin Brown sank to his knees in front of
the net he had protected so well the past two months.
Seconds earlier, the New England Revolution goalkeeper stretched
his 6-foot-5 frame as far as he could but wasn't able to stop the
shot that won the MLS championship for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"It's just a feeling of despair,'' Brown said after Sunday's
1-0 loss. "It was kind of like. 'Ohhhh, we're not going to win the
championship.' It's tough, but we just have to get over it.''
The Revolution played solid defense all game and were beaten by
a player few teams were able to stop. League MVP and goal-scoring
leader Carlos Ruiz scored in the 23rd minute of overtime -- after
112 scoreless minutes.
It's amazing the Revolution even reached the playoffs.
They had just one postseason win in their first six years and
were 7-14-1 this season after losing to Chicago on Aug. 18.
But they went 5-0-1 in their last six regular-season games. Then
Brown had four shutouts in his other six playoff games.
His play led U.S. National Team coach Bruce Arena to mention him
Sunday among three young goalkeepers he might consider looking at.
"It's nice to shut people up about, 'Oh, he's a has-been. He's
supposed to be really good and he fell off there for a bit,''' the
24-year-old Brown said. "But I felt I haven't changed my play at
all. I've had injuries.''
Brown, MLS point-scoring leader Taylor Twellman and a
disciplined defense turned a mediocre franchise into a contender.
Interim coach Steve Nicol, who replaced the fired Fernando
Clavijo on May 23, probably will return even though a club official
sidestepped a post-game question of whether he wants Nicol back.
"The team's been successful. He's done a wonderful job and I
think we'll sit down and talk this week,'' Revolution managing
director Sunil Gulati said.
Several players said they want to keep the team intact as much
as possible after a season in which only nine players remain from
the 2001 team.
One of those nine, defender Jay Heaps, was asked what he could
take from Sunday's game.
"Besides heartbreak and misery?'' he said with a laugh. "We
learned a lot about what it takes to get here and what it takes to
get in the final. ... You need to believe in everyone. We believed
in everyone here.''
Both teams focused on limiting the other's chances and hoping to
capitalize on a mistake.
"It's the championship game,'' midfielder Brian Kamler said.
"Everybody was defensive to a certain degree.''
At the end of the longest game in MLS history, the Galaxy did
that better.
"We realize what we've accomplished this year and take the
positive from it and build on that for next year,'' Brown said,
"and build on winning a championship.''
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