Revs able to create chances without Ralston

WASHINGTON -- The question ahead of Thursday night's 2-1 loss to D.C. United was whether the New England Revolution would be able to create chances without Steve Ralston.

At least from one game, it appears the answer would be yes. "You miss a guy like Ralston, no doubt about it, but I think we did a good job of getting chances," Revs striker Taylor Twellman, scorer of his team's only goal said. "I have to start shooting from outside the box and getting chances for myself."

How did the Revs bolster their offense?

The passing improved slightly in the middle of the field. There was more possession than in recent weeks. More set pieces placed the United back line under trouble. And there was a willingness from everyone on the field to try to play more directly by playing balls over the top.

"Direct is a bad word," Nicol said. "They just assume you're kicking it. The ball is getting played up if it's there. We try to get it down and play as well. I thought we did fine. We were in a real comfortable position."

Twellman scored in the 58th minute from a counterattack started by Michael Parkhurst and played through midfield by Kheli Dube and Mauricio Castro. Dube's pass forced United 'keeper Louis Crayton off his line, and Castro slid over for Twellman to tuck home into the vacated net.

With the lead, chances looked good that the Revs could find a way to escape D.C. with an improbable three points.

Instead, the Revs' winless streak reached five as Twellman missed a chance at the far post to double the lead and United scored an equalizer five minutes afterwards.

"In the second half, we got ourselves in a great position," Nicol said. "We nearly went 2-0 up and they come down the other end and score on a bad defensive play. The second one was the same."

But the Revs defense held the line when they should have pressured Jaime Moreno in midfield to allow Francis Doe to slip behind and tally the equalizer.

Then Route One football from Crayton to Santino Quaranta played Doe in again for the winner 10 minutes from time.

"If we're solid defensively as a whole, we win this game 1-0 or 2-0," Twellman said.

Most of the damage was self-inflicted, Twellman said.

"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot," Twellman said. "We've got the game 1-0 up on the road. I had half a chance that I probably could have done better with, but it is what it is. They went down and scored."

With the playoffs beckoning and the chances for home-field advantage in the Eastern Conference Semifinals slipping away, the Revs have to improve their form starting with the regular-season finale at home against Kansas City next Saturday.

The end of the regular season doesn't count in the playoffs, but Parkhurst knows the team has to find a way to play better before the MLS Cup run begins.

"We've struggled of late," Parkhurst said. "It's getting frustrating. We have one more game to get our confidence back heading into the playoffs. We need it. Once the playoffs start, it's a whole new season. Everything goes away and it's all about getting results. At the same time, we need to get our confidence going."