The New England Revolution easily could have scored multiple goals in the first half Sunday evening against New York City FC.
But the Revolution were mostly stymied thanks to a tremendous effort from New York keeper Matt Freese, and the defense in front of him.
And instead of cruising to a win in their third game in a week, the Revolution settled for a 1-1 with New York at Gillette Stadium.
The goaltending of Freese, who started for the U.S. men’s national team over Revolution keeper Matt Turner at the World Cup, was the difference as he delivered six saves. Turner came through with four stops on the other end as the Revolution now stand at 10-4-7 on the season.
Freese’s spectacular performance really started when he denied Peyton Miller, who had a bolt of speed down the left wing, on a terrific chance in the 25th minute. But a New York defender took down Miller in the box just after he got his kick off and the referees awarded the Revolution with a penalty kick.
But that was no problem for Freese. Freese, who played at Harvard before turning pro, stopped Carles Gil’s PK with a dive to his left. The ball caromed right back to Gill after Freese’s stop, but the 27-year-old lunged with his arm extended to deny Gil’s rebound attempt.
Freese then got some help from his defense in the 33rd minute when James Sands cleared a ball away that was just about to roll past the goal line after being chipped past Freese by Miller.
The Revolution finally broke through against Freese in the 36th minute. Recently acquired winger Jack Harrison played an excellent ball into the back post for Miller, who centered it to Dor Turgeman for the goal and the 1-0 lead.
Revolution head coach Marko Mitrović praised Miller’s impact on the offense as he started the season on the back line before moving to the wing.
“I think game after game actually Peyton shows that he’s so dangerous going forward,” Mitrović saod. “He made assist for the goal. PK earned. He made two great scoring opportunities. So if you just see his outcome in that position, it’s amazing. I’m not saying as a fullback he wouldn’t have a great game, maybe in a different way because as a fullback you’re exposed to some different actions on the field. But just being as a wide forward, you have to be productive as well and game after game he shows that he can do that.”
Despite all their first-half scoring opportunities, the Revolution went into the intermission tied after Sands scored in stoppage time before the break when a ball off a corner was headed down toward the turf and Sands got his foot on it right in front of the net.
That was the final home game the Revolution will play for nearly a month as they begin a four-game road trip starting next Saturday against the Columbus.