Shuttleworth showing "maturity," according to Heaps

He might not have been the goal-scorer on Friday night, but Bobby Shuttleworth had an important role in New England Revolution 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.

Positioned between the sticks, Shuttleworth made five saves to help his team collect its second shutout of the season. His two most important stops came in the final ten minutes when he denied former Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips on two consecutive chances. First came a close-range shot then an on-target header.

Shuttleworth had been keeping an eye on BWP all night, knowing his ability to change the game at a moment’s notice.

"Yeah, he’s dangerous; scores a lot of goals," Shuttleworth noted. "We went over a lot of tape and were told we got to be very wary of him and I think we did a great job tonight."

Shuttleworth’s performance drew praise from head coach Jay Heaps, who once played alongside the 28-year-old. Heaps has seen a lot of progress from his netminder, stating that he’s been able to put himself in the right spots to make crucial saves.

"Bobby makes all great saves throughout the course of the season," Heaps said, "But we’re really looking for him to make those saves when you’re 0-0 or up 1-0 to preserve the three points or preserve a heavy draw on the road or something like that, but that’s where I think his maturity is really getting better."

Two weeks earlier, Shuttleworth became only the fifth goalkeeper in MLS history to stop two penalties in the same game. That, combined with several other key stops against the Philadelphia Union, earned him a spot on the Team of the Week.

Since then, Shuttleworth has been outstanding. He's faced 71 shots so far this season, the most of any goalkeeper in the league. He also has a save percentage of 72%, which places him in the top half in relation to his peers.