HIS OWN THOUGHTS Conway speaks candidly about own goal
Jon Conway on the own goal: “I have no real hangover effect from it. It happens.” Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Dylan Butler
BigAppleSoccer.com Associate Editor
Montclair, N.J. – Jon Conway calls it a fluke, Carlos Mendes jokes that it may be up for goal of the year and Bruce Arena said it was “pretty freaky.”
The three were talking about the shocking own goal 10 minutes from full time that cost the Red Bulls a deserved point in New England Saturday night. But no one involved in the play is worried about it having a lingering effect coming into Saturday’s critical Eastern Conference clash with the Chicago Fire.
“I have no real hangover effect from it. It happens,” said Conway, in his first public statement about the own goal. “You can’t really let it get you down. I’ve been here for what? Almost two seasons now? To be honest with you, I made one mistake and it cost us a point. I can’t really let that bother my performances. I’ve been probably one of the more consistent here over that span so I can’t really complain about making one mistake.”
With the game tied at 1 in the 80th minute, Mendes played a 40-yard ball back to Conway. But the pass, which had pace on it, somehow eluded Conway and rolled into the Red Bulls net. Conway left Gillette Stadium quickly after the game and was unavailable for comment. But he spoke about it candidly after training Thursday at Montclair State University.
“It was a combination of things,” Conway said when asked what happened on the play. “The ball is played back and I misjudged some of the pace, I took a look up the field to see where our guys were and see if there was any pressure coming. With the pace and as I was moving across, I just lost my footing trying to get back and that was it.”
It’s not the first own goal in club history, but it will certainly go down as one of the most bizarre in MLS history.
“I think that kind of play is pretty freaky. Both players know what they could have done a little bit better on the play,” Arena said. “It’s just a bad play. You might follow the game for the next 100 years and not see that again.”
And while he’ll probably tweak a thing or two, Mendes said he wouldn’t hesitate to play the ball back to Conway again.
“It’s a thing where you play a ball 40 yards back and Jon just, I don’t even know what happened, he misplays it or he went one way and the ball was going the other way,” he said. “It’s just one of those things you put behind you. I’d do that play again, I’d go out there and play the ball back with the same confidence. I’m not worried about it. It’s a fluke thing.”
