Photo by David Butler II/USA Today Sports

By TIM FONTENAULT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Revolution’s desperate attack finally woke up Saturday, thanks to Kelyn Rowe.

Rowe scored both goals and was the focal point of the attack all match, as the Revolution held on for a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Gillette Stadium.

New England had failed to score in its first three matches, picking up only one point before Saturday’s win.

Before breaking through for the first goal, Rowe was dangerous setting up chances for the Revolution. His dangerous cross to the far post early in the match put New England on the doorstep, but Daigo Kobayashi pushed it wide with his left-footed effort.

Rowe nearly scored two minutes later when San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham misplayed a cross, but Clarence Goodson closed him down.

The first goal finally came in the 21st minute. After Kobayashi won the ball in the midfield, Rowe’s shot from the top-right corner of the box deflected off the head of Shaun Francis and past Bingham.

This is the second season in a row that the Revolution’s first goal of the season deflected off a San Jose defender.

Rowe nearly doubled up in the 35th minute. A cross missed two Revolution players in the box and fell to Rowe, who pushed it on goal with his stomach, of all things. The point-blank chance forced an acrobatic save from Bingham.

That second goal came two minutes later. A free kick from the top-left corner of the box led to a diving effort from Darius Barnes. His effort was going wide of the left post, but Rowe was there to redirect it into the net.

San Jose manager Dominic Kinnear tried to make adjustments at halftime with two substitutions – sending in Adam Jahn and Shea Salinas to replace Sanna Nyassi and J.J. Koval.

New England got a bit of a scare early in the second half when Andrew Farrell struggled to recover from a knock. Farrell had been taken off the field by the trainer at the end of the first half before falling over early in the second, but he recovered and stayed in the game.

The Earthquakes pulled one back in the 62nd minute. Scott Caldwell took down Goodson in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Chris Wondolowski buried the shot in the bottom-right corner, putting San Jose back in with a chance.

San Jose got an injury scare of its own with about 15 minutes left. The heads of Goodson and Bingham collided as the two went to cover a New England cross. Bingham was visibly shaken after the play. With no substitutions available for San Jose, he carried on.

New England had a chance to put the game away for good with five minutes left, but Lee Nguyen could not get past Bingham, who charged out to meet him.

The Earthquakes rarely threatened to equalize after Wondolowski’s penalty kick, at least until stoppage time. Wondolowski forced a save out of Bobby Shuttleworth that resulted in a corner kick. On the ensuing corner kick – the final play of the game – Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi put the ball just over the bar.