Revolution vs. Sounders 2013 Final: New England Earns 0-0 Draw

The New England Revolution's search for offense will have to continue next week after they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw with the Seattle Sounders on Saturday afternoon. In fairness, a scoreless draw in the foreboding confines of CenturyLink Field was far from the worst possible outcome to this match.

In addition to earning the draw, the Revs got a boost from the return of last year's leading goalscorer, Saer Sene. The tall, gangly Frenchman made his return from a season-ending ACL injury in the 73rd minute, and though he was unable to provide the winning spark, the Revs will look to him to shoulder the load going forward.

The first half was just ugly from the Revs, but the second half saw a little more life and urgency. Juan Toja tried to take advantage of a Djimi Traore mistake in the 54th minute, but his attempt to lob the keeper ended up on the roof of the net.

After that, the Sounders gained control again. However, in terms of clear chances, the Revs kept them from creating too many. Steve Zakuani fired wide in the 55th minute, and the next decent chance in the game after that was from the Revs.

After over 20 minutes of Sounders dominance, a free kick from Chris Tierney found its way to Andy Dorman's foot in the box. However, the Welsh international was falling away from goal, and his attempt to touch on frame with the outside of his foot went awry, with the ball flying over the bar.

DeAndre Yedlin put in a good cross from wide out on the right in the 82nd minute. Mauro Rosales flicked on at the near post and found Lamar Neagle, but his low shot was scuffed and easily saved by Bobby Shuttleworth.

The final minutes were frantic from both sides. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado flicked a header just wide of the far post in the 90th. Then, just a minute later, A.J. Soares chipped in the box to Jerry Bengtson, who collided with Michael Gspurning but came out with the ball; however, his attempt from an awkward angle to bury into the open net went wide. Finally, a few minutes later, Bengtson was in behind again, but despite getting in front of the defender with Gspurning in no-man's land, he couldn't get a touch on the ball to try to score on another open net.

It was another case of the entire Revolution team looking disjointed and confused. Even the defense, which earned the shutout, looked shaky throughout the match. Only Bobby Shuttleworth and Jose Goncalves looked truly solid, though Kalifa Cisse had a decent game. Kelyn Rowe was largely poor throughout the match, but he came on hard at the end and was a key part of the Revs' late push for a winner.

At some point or another, this team is going to have to learn to play offensively. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

The Revs will be back in action again on Saturday the 20th in New York.