April 9, 2005 – Revolution win home-opener, Deuce hops to it with a Cuauhtemiña

After a 3-0 win over the Columbus Crew, my Boston Globe story noted: “Though it is too early to determine trends, the Revolution have shown they plan to perform at a different level than in the past. Even on the uneven surface [yes, they played on real grass in those days] at Gillette Stadium, the Revolution seemed comfortable in controlling the pace and keeping the ball in play, eventually wearing down the Crew.”

Clint Dempsey scored the first goal on a 64^th-minute header off a Jay Heaps cross. In the first half, “Dempsey nearly hopped through two defenders but was ruled out of bounds by referee Terry Vaughn. It was a move inspired by Mexican forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who calls the move a ‘Cuauhtemiña.’

” ‘I try to pick up some moves by watching guys like Blanco,” Dempsey said. ‘We do stuff like that in pickup games back in Nacogdoches. I didn’t have too many options, so I wanted to do anything I could to get out of there.’ “

Pat Noonan and Andy Dorman also scored, the result giving the Revolution (1-0-1) a winning record after two games for the first time two games into the season. The Revolution would go unbeaten (7-0-4) in the opening 11 games, advancing to the 2005 MLS Cup final (1-0 extra time loss to the LA Galaxy). Chris Aduama photo

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY