Tajon Buchanan reacts to his first career goal

Tajon Buchanan can put his miss against the Montreal Impact behind him now that he has his first professional goal.

The second-year player is often asked to use his pace and skill to make a difference off the bench. Such was the case on Feb. 29 when he entered in the 82nd minute with his team down 2-1 against the Impact.

Three minutes later, Buchanan almost found the equalizer when he headed Brandon Bye’s cross towards goal. The cross-range effort banged off the post instead of settling into the back of the net.

It was a moment that stung.

“Back in Montreal, it was unlucky and it hurt for a few weeks but that was in the back of my head but I just brushed that to the side, keep moving forward,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan continued the hunt for his first career goal, usually coming off the bench. 196 days after that miss, he got what he wanted.

Entering in the 68th minute, Buchanan soon found himself in a good position when he got a hold of a pass from fellow substitute Lee Nguyen. The ensuing shot ultimately went wide.

Buchanan was on the attack again in the 81st minute, this time combining with Gustavo Bou. The midfielder marched towards net before slotting his shot past Andre Blake.

It was an important goal. Not only was it an equalizer, but it was also Buchanan’s first.

“When you score that first goal then all that is put behind you,” Buchanan said referring to his early-season miss.

Unfortunately for Buchanan and the Revs, the Philadelphia Union scored a late game-winner. This put a damper on the night.

Taking a cue from how he reacted after the Montreal miss, Buchanan is ready to move forward.

“It’s nice to score your first goal in MLS, but we came up short today and we gave up a tough goal in the last minute of the game,” Buchanan said. “It was kind of unlucky but we just got to regroup and keep moving forward.”