Saturday, October 1, 2016

Now It Gets Interesting


Very interesting. A must-win at home against a Western Conference playoff team and the boys delivered. Shocking really. Inching closer to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 3-1 win over Sporting KC.

Same lineup as the dud last game, with one exception. Kalyn Rowe back in the lineup to replace Steve Neumann. Turns out Rowe really was in the hospital with an illness last week, and he wasn't 100% about his status just a few hours before kickoff today either. Glad to see him be able to get back out there since this team isn't firing on all cylinders without him. Not to mention tonight was Kick Childhood Cancer Night, which is a cause Kelyn has been working with for a while now.

Onto the highlights...

4th Minute, Kei Kamara


Orgasmic pass from Juan Agudelo, and Kei with the cool finish. Nearly had his eardrums blown out later on as well...


Dwyer taps in from a corner kick to level it 1-1...


The ole hit the post and bounce it in off a defender goal from Lee Nguyen restores the lead for the Revs...


Juan puts the nail in the coffin in the 82nd minute...


Kei with the control and pacey, low cross that Juan gets to with a good run. Just stick that leg out and let nature do the rest.

And that was that. A look at the Eastern Conference standings as of Saturday night...

Two to play, two points down for the last playoff spot, but the catch is that Montreal doesn't play until tomorrow (Sunday). We need Orlando City to pull off the upset to find ourselves in a more comfortable position for the final two games of the regular season. Philly also lost today, pulling us three points back of them with the same number of games played to this point. Looking at the last two games for each of these teams, the Revs are away at Chicago and then a massive finale with Montreal at home, Philly have Orlando and Red Bulls at home, and Montreal host Toronto before wrapping up in Foxboro. Based on the eye test, we should theoretically come out of this the best. Last place Chicago and a Montreal team right above us in the standings that comes off a tough matchup with Toronto. 

That being said, none of it matters if we don't take car of business next match. Not taking all three points against lowly Chicago may not mathematically climate the Revs, but I'd be wiling to call it right then and there. We have to maintain pace with Philly at the very least, and even then hope they slip up. Say Montreal wins tomorrow, they jump up to 4th place, and Philly drops to 6th. Our window gets a little smaller, and if we only get 1 or 0 points while Philly takes 3 or 1, we put ourselves in a bad position heading into the final weekend. Like I said, a Montreal loss to Orlando City makes it so much easier to vault over any of those bottom three teams. We have more options and little more slack that way. But it cannot be stressed enough. You have to take all 6 points left to play for. Any dropped and thats it. 

Back to this game, a very good looking win against a perennial power in the West. Kei Kamara is finally looking like, well, Kei Kamara. Having Rowe back obviously makes a world of difference. His creativity and talent cannot be matched by any of the players on the bench. Juan stays one of the hottest players in the league. The goal against was a tough one, a case of Dwyer just getting loose and finding the ball right in front. Not too worried about that one, but I want JoGo back. He's not great but its better than having Barnes pairing with Woodberry. Experience is one thing he does not lack, and you can never have too much heading into a playoff push and possible postseason. 


Man of the Match
Tie game. Stats don't lie, folks. One goal, one assist for both Juan Swagudelo and Kei Kamara. Both looked sharp as hell this game, and it was too hard to decide between them. These two hitting a groove right now his one of the best things to happen to the team.

Next game is Sunday, October 16 in Chicago at 3 PM. Godspeed.

PS: Just connecting the dots, but Lee had the headband on again tonight. Didn't have it last game. Now 2-0 with the headband, stay woke...
Hmmmm....


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