Crew presented with win on anniversary
Buddle's first strike of season sinks New England
Buddle netted the first goal from the run of play for the Crew in more than six hours with a strike late in the first half, and the restructured Crew defense, without veteran Robin Fraser, held on despite some scary moments in the second half.
The result extended the Crew's modest unbeaten streak to three games, coming after a pair of draws, and left the Revs without a goal for nearly 200 minutes.
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Buddle nearly broke through the Revs' defense to run down a through ball in just the second minute, but Reis was quickly off his line to kick away the attempt.
Then just after the quarter-hour, the home side again came close when Jeff Cunningham burst through the heart of the Revolution back four all alone. As the flag stayed down, the Crew striker had a glorious opportunity, but Reis again came off his line quickly and hooked away Cunningham's shot with his foot at the edge of the penalty area.
The Crew, who have struggled to produce goals in the early part of the season, had the majority of the possession in the first half of the game. Despite a makeshift back line with the suspension of Fraser, young Nelson Akwari started in the back three, with rookie Chad Marshall on one side and Steven Herdsman on the other. But while there were some tense moments, the Revs had few clear chances in the half.
Frankie Hejduk started to have more influence on the right flank as the half wore on, putting in two excellent crosses in the final stanza of the period, the second leading to the Crew's first goal from the run of play in 462 minutes.
First, in the 37th minute, Hejduk was freed by Simon Elliott on the right, and his cross to the middle of the box was headed just over the bar by Cunningham. Four minutes later, Hejduk's cross intended for Cunningham was deflected by Revolution defender Jay Heaps to Buddle at the top of the box. Buddle struck a low shot past Reis and just inside the left post to give the Crew the lead.
At the start of the second half, the Revolution made a substitution in an attempt to regain control of the midfield, with Richie Baker coming on for Daouda Kante and slotting into the right side of a five-man midfield, and Steve Ralston, changing flanks.
Still, the first good chance of the second frame came from the Crew in the 56th minute. Cunningham carried the ball into the attacking third before combining on a quick 1-2 with Buddle, but Reis was again quick off his line to snuff out the threat.
Over the final half hour, the visitors started to get the upper hand, and twice put the ball into the back of the net, only for the assistant referee's flag to rule it out.
Pat Noonan picked out Taylor Twellman in the 63rd minute with a fine diagonal ball, but the flag ruled out Twellman's pinpoint strike. Then three minutes later Busch made two point-blank saves on Twellman in a wild sequence in the area and after the second, Twellman headed the ball forward for Ralston, who turned the ball back into the goal. But Busch had come well out to make the saves, and again the flag went up as Ralston was left in an offside position.
The Revs nearly came close over the final quarter-hour, first in the 78th minute when Clint Dempsey got free for a clear header on a Jose Cancela corner kick, only to put his attempt over the bar at the back post. Three minutes later, Twellman fired a low shot that went just wide, and in the 87th minute, Cancela ripped a shot along the ground that Busch did well to save, the final salvo in preserving the Crew's first win.
Both teams will again be featured on ESPN2 next weekend, as the Revolution (1-2-3) host the MetroStars on Saturday, May 22 at 5 p.m. ET and the Crew (1-3-2) travel to Chicago to play the Fire on Sunday, May 23 at 4 p.m. ET.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Edson Buddle
New England Revolution (1-3-2) vs. Columbus Crew (1-3-2)
May 15, 2004 -- Columbus Crew Stadium
Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Edson Buddle 1 (unassisted) 41
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Brian Kamler, Daouda Kante (Richie Baker 46), Joe Franchino, Steve Ralston, Jose Cancela, Clint Dempsey, Marshall Leonard, Pat Noonan, Taylor Twellman.
Substitutes Not Used: Felix Brillant, Luke Vercollone.
TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Jose Cancela 5, Taylor Twellman 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Taylor Twellman 3); FOULS: 8 (3 tied with 2); OFFSIDES: 4 (Taylor Twellman 2); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Jose Cancela 3); SAVES: 6 (Matt Reis 5)
Columbus Crew -- Jon Busch, Steven Herdsman, Chad Marshall, Nelson Akwari, Frankie Hejduk, Simon Elliott, Kyle Martino (Duncan Oughton 79), Ross Paule, Eric Denton, Edson Buddle (Michael Ritch 88), Jeff Cunningham (Erick Scott 82).
Substitutes Not Used: Devin Barclay, Matt Jordan, Jamal Sutton, David Testo, Jake Traeger, Chris Wingert.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Edson Buddle 3, Jeff Cunningham 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Edson Buddle 3); FOULS: 18 (Kyle Martino 4); OFFSIDES: 5 (Jeff Cunningham 4); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Simon Elliott 3); SAVES: 6 (Jon Busch 6)
Misconduct Summary:
NE -- Clint Dempsey (caution; Reckless Foul) 48
CLB -- Steven Herdsman (caution; Pushing, Holding) 54
CLB -- Nelson Akwari (caution; Deliberate Handball) 59
Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: -George Gansner; Fabio Tovar
4th Official: Brent Sorg
Attendance: 16,694
Time of Game: 1:49
Weather: Rain-and-57-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
