Trio of milestones helps Revs to win over Red Bulls

Twellman, Heaps, Reis each hit significant marks in victory

Matt Reis recorded his 50th shutout in MLS play as the Revs defeated New York. (Nordstrom/Getty Images)

Second-half substitute Taylor Twellman scored his 100th on a trademark header and added a second to become only the fifth player to join the century club in MLS. Jay Heaps marked his 300th MLS appearance with a goal and an assist on Steve Ralston's second-half tally as the Revs extended their unbeaten streak over the Red Bulls to 12 games (7-0-5). The shutout also gave Matt Reis his 50th shutout in MLS play.

Heaps' goal in first-half stoppage time was a gut punch for the Red Bulls and they simply couldn't recover. The result extended a pair of unwanted streaks on the road for New York; the Red Bulls have reached 19 consecutive league games without a win on the road (0-13-6) and have yet to score on the road in seven games this season, also an MLS record.

Heaps captained the New England side as he made his historic appearance. Revolution investor/operator Robert Kraft joined Heaps and Revs boss Steve Nicol on the field to commemorate the occasion prior to the match. Nicol made one change to the side that defeated D.C. United 2-1 last Saturday with Kenny Mansally preferred to Chris Tierney on the left wing.

Nick Zimmerman made his first MLS start at right midfield after impressing as a substitute in New York's 2-0 loss at D.C. United on Thursday night. Luke Sassano joined Zimmerman in the lineup as Jorge Rojas (international duty with Venezuela) and Carlos Mendes dropped out of the side.

The match started with good tempo from both sides, though New England enjoyed the better of the chances in a frantic opening 20 minutes.

New England had a penalty shout turned down after 12 minutes as Ralston went to ground under Luke Sassano's challenge in the penalty area. Ralston was shaping to shoot after Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway managed to palm away Sainey Nyassi's low, far-post effort.

New York stormed right down the other end and probably should have opened the scoring a minute later. Dane Richards stormed into the penalty area, corralled a pass and went for goal. Richards scuffed his shot towards the far post, but the mis-hit fell invitingly for Juan Pablo Angel. The Colombian striker was caught unaware by the skewed shot and couldn't connect.

Jeff Larentowicz called Conway into action again with a curling free kick shortly afterwards. The Red Bulls 'keeper responded by punching the effort over the bar.

After a bright start, both sides lost their way in the middle of the first half with tackles flying in and half chances -- particularly one Angel directed over the bar from a Luke Sassano service -- marking the majority of the period.

As the half wound to the close, the Revs perked up and broke through. Moments after Joseph headed a Mansally cross over the bar, Heaps popped up at the far post to give the Revs the lead. Nyassi got free down the right and played a cross to Joseph on the penalty spot. The ball was briefly knocked away but after recovering Joseph -- with the aid of Mansally's dummy -- dished off to the open Heaps to tuck home.

The stoppage time goal took all of the fight out of the Red Bulls and the Revs ran away rampantly in the second half thanks in part to Twellman's halftime insertion.

Ralston doubled the Revolution lead seven minutes after the break, but Heaps was once again at the center of the play. The veteran defender harried Zimmerman into a turnover deep in the corner and crossed into the middle for Ralston to head home.

Twellman became only the fifth player in MLS history to reach 100 goals five minutes later. Nyassi found some space on the right wing and dinked the ball back to Joseph. Twellman headed home the resulting cross to spark off wild celebrations.

He waited just seven minutes to collect No. 101. Mansally's service from the left should have been cleared by Seth Stammler, but his poor touch allowed Ralston to collect and slide a pass to the unmarked Twellman to poke home.

New York pressed forward in search of a consolation goal and almost found it 10 minutes from time when substitute John Wolyniec rose highest at the near post. Wolyniec's goalbound header was cleared off the line by Kevin Alston to ensure Reis would collect his 50th career shutout.

The Revolution hit the road next weekend for a trip to Kansas City to face the Wizards, while the Red Bulls conclude the three-game road stretch with a game at Toronto FC.

Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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