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Revolution 1, Crew 0 - New England Crowned Desert Diamond Cup Champions

Teal Bunbury scored again and lead the Revs to their first DDC championship.

By Jake Catanese
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

It might only be a preseason trophy, but perhaps it a sign of things to come in 2016.

The New England Revolution capped a strong preseason with a 1-0 win over Columbus Crew SC in the championship match of the Desert Diamond Cup thanks to a first half goal from Teal Bunbury.

Columbus controlled most of the possession, with the Revolution content to hit back on the counter attack. In the 20th minute it paid off, as Kelyn Rowe intercepted a pass in the midfield third and the deflection fell to Lee Nguyen. The Revs playmaker turned upfield and found Teal Bunbury open on the right side. Crew keeper Steve Clark was able to save the first shot, but the rebound went straight back to Bunbury who slotted home on his second effort.

With a 1-0 lead the Revolution were forced to defend countless corners from Columbus, who despite their advantage on possession weren't able to capitalize on good chances. Bobby Shuttleworth made several saves, including a near post save in the first half after a nice Crew build up and a making a full stretch catch off a header from a corner kick in the second half.

Bunbury's winner gave him three goals at the DDC, though the "Copper Boot" went to the Crew's Kei Kamara who also scored three goals. Bunbury did walk away with the tournament's MVP award. Not a bad day for Teal to celebrate his 26th birthday.

With the win the Revolution finished the DDC with a 2-0-2 record and eight points, the most of all the MLS teams involved in the tournament. Sporting Kansas City finished with a 1-0-3 record but opted to not play in the final in a repeat match against the Revs, and tied Houston earlier in the day.

New England starts the 2016 MLS regular season on March 6th at the Houston Dynamo.

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