An early goal from Atiba Harris and a late strike by Marvin Chavez lifted FC Dallas to a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution on Tuesday morning at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
While FC Dallas has already played a handful of games this preseason, this was the Revolution’s first proper match of the club’s 2010 training camp. As expected, the Revs used the match as a barometer on their fitness level and to get a look at a variety of different players, as head coach Steve Nicol made six second-half substitutions and used a total of 17 players.
Cory Gibbs and Edgaras Jankauskas were not available for the Revolution because of quad injuries – although both are close to returning – while Matt Reis and Taylor Twellman did not make the trip to Orlando. Of the available players, only backup goalkeepers Bobby Shuttleworth and Rylan Hawkins, along with guest player Khano Smith, didn’t see action.
Scoring chances were hard to come by for both teams as much of the play was bogged down in the middle of the field, resulting in some chippy play as the Revolution took advantage of its first chance to play against an opponent other than itself.
FC Dallas opened the scoring in the 13th minute courtesy of a quick break out of the back. Midfielder Brek Shea ran onto a long ball into space down the right wing and steadied himself before driving a low cross to the back post, where Harris was on hand to finish low past Revolution goalkeeper Preston Burpo.
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The Revs had a great opportunity to level the score in the 31st minute when rookie Zack Schilawski was dragged down at the top of the box to set up a free kick 20 yards from goal. Chris Tierney took the free kick, but curled his effort into the wall and FC Dallas cleared the ball to safety.
New England made two changes to start the second half, bringing on Mike Videira for Pat Phelan in central midfield and rookie Seth Sinovic for Kevin Alston on the backline. Sinovic took over at left back, while Tierney moved across the field to the right.
The action continued to remain in the middle of the field, and neither team seriously threatened early in the second half. To change the attack a bit, the Revs switched up their wingers, bringing on Mauricio Castro and Zak Boggs in place of Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi.
The first real chance of the second half for either team didn’t arrive until the 73rd minute, when the Hoops doubled their lead to 2-0. Second-half substitute Ruben Luna slid into a one-on-one challenge with Burpo, who had charged off his line, and the ball popped free to the left of goal. Chavez was quickest to react and slid the ball into the empty net.
New England almost responded just four minutes later when Shalrie Joseph found the ball at his feet in the box following a corner kick, but his shot was deflected and sliced just wide of the right post.
The Revolution’s best chance of the game was its last, and it arrived in the 87th minute when Boggs was led into space down the right wing by Joseph before rifling a rising shot off of the outside of the right post.
Scoring summary:
DAL – Atiba Harris (Brek Shea) 13
DAL – Marvin Chavez (unassisted) 73
New England Revolution (4-4-2): Preston Burpo (GK), Chris Tierney, Emmanuel Osei, Darrius Barnes (Gabriel Badilla 79), Kevin Alston (Seth Sinovic 46), Kenny Mansally (Mauricio Castro 63), Shalrie Joseph ©, Pat Phelan (Mike Videira 46), Sainey Nyassi (Zak Boggs 63), Kheli Dube, Zack Schilawski (Nico Colaluca 79)
Available substitutes: Bobby Shuttleworth (GK), Rylan Hawkins (GK), Khano Smith
FC Dallas (4-4-2): Dario Sala (GK), Anthony Wallace, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Jair Benitez, Marvin Chavez, Daniel Hernandez, Eric Alexander, Brek Shea, Bruno Guarda, Atiba Harris
