Revs continue whirlwind schedule

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Most teams would have time to linger after losing in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal. Not the New England Revolution.

Two days after losing to D.C. United and seeing the defense of their U.S. Open Cup crown fall two steps before the end, the Revs boarded a plane on their way to San Jose to face the resurgent Earthquakes.

"We gave a good account of ourselves," Revolution midfielder Khano Smith said after his team's 3-1 loss to United on Tuesday night. "We worked hard."

That hard work couldn't make up for the fact that New England played mostly reserves with Shalrie Joseph adding some steel in midfield. The reserve players put in a good performance, sticking with United's first team for 45 minutes before fading in the second half.

"It's all about everybody improving," Smith said. "You hate to lose the cup. We won it last year and we wanted to win it again. You have to look at the big picture, some guys haven't been playing that much and they got some experience."

Nicol said a few of the individual performances shed light on players who could contribute in the first-team as the fixtures continue to pile up in the next few weeks.

"There are a few guys that showed us what they were all about," Nicol said. "Without this game, we wouldn't have seen it."

Revs backup 'keeper Doug Warren earned the start on Tuesday night and said his team couldn't let the result affect them.

"They had a lot of experience on the field," Warren said. "It was a tough task and we knew that going in. Our schedule's pretty full. We don't have much time to dwell on this."

Dwelling would be dangerous against a San Jose team bolstered in recent weeks by the acquisitions of Darren Huckerby, Francisco Lima, Scott Sealy and Arturo Alvarez. The Quakes haven't lost in four league games and could climb out of the Western Conference cellar with a victory. This isn't the same team New England beat 2-0 at Gillette Stadium on May 17.

"They've got a couple of new players," Nicol said. "It's going to be tough. There's never an easy game in MLS. We know that it's going to be a tough game and I know we're going to have to be up for it."

It won't be made any easier by a lengthy list of absences. Joseph is suspended after picking up a red card in last Saturday's 2-1 loss to Chicago. Kheli Dube has a groin strain and will miss the next 3-5 weeks. Kenny Mansally is a doubt with an ankle knock, while Michael Parkhurst remained in New England to recuperate after returning from Olympic duty.

Joseph will watch from home, but warned his teammates that they face a difficult task against the rejuvenated Quakes.

"[San Jose is] going to be a totally different team in terms of confidence," Joseph said. "It'll be a tough matchup for us. We have to match their intensity."