Revolution back into first place

FOXBOROUGH — The Revolution backed into first place in the MLS overall standings with Thursday night’s 2-2 tie against D.C. United. Though the Revolution (6-3-2, 20 points) have the league’s highest point total, the team did not seem to be in a celebratory mood, partly because of their difficulties against D.C. and because it could be losing more players to international call-ups.

Strikers Kenny Mansally (The Gambia) and Taylor Twellman (right ankle sprain) are out for three weeks and midfielders Shalrie Joseph (Grenada) and Khano Smith (Bermuda) could be departing for World Cup qualifiers after next Saturday’s Revolution-FC Dallas game.

Despite the attrition rate — the Revolution also lost four regulars in the offseason — the team has been able to improve by a point on last year’s 11-game record (they were 5-2-4, 19 points) and are only one win off their pace in 2005 (7-0-4), their fastest start ever.

Kheli Dube made his first MLS start against San Jose May 17 and provided the deciding goals in three successive games, his 72d-minute header capping a Revolution rally against D.C. Goalkeeper Matt Reis has been outstanding, surrendering both goals to D.C. only after having made initial saves.

‘‘Unfortunately, Matt was called upon far more than we would have liked,’’ Revolution goalkeeper coach Gwynne Williams said Friday. ‘‘He made big saves and on both goals he made good saves prior to the goals, but the luck of the bounce wasn’t with him. He is one of the league’s best goalkeepers and he’s getting better as he’s maturing. He is making things look easy and that’s a sign of a good goalkeeper.’’

Reis was well-positioned to parry long-distance shots from Clyde Simms and Jaime Moreno and made four saves in one-on-one situations. United midfielder Marcelo Gallardo dissected the Revolution defense with short passes to Moreno and Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred, but Reis cut the angles and made exceptional reaction stops.

‘‘I’m not sure if it’s his age [33], but it seems they are trying to bring in younger ’keepers on the national team,’’ said Williams, who coached the Revolution reserves in a 1-1 tie with United. ‘‘But Matt has never let the national team down.’’

Revolution players appear dissatisfied with the team’s inconsistency.

‘‘It seems like we’re taking one step forward and a couple steps back,’’ midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. ‘‘We are losing guys to injuries and national teams, and I don’t know how we’ve been able to do it, but it shows we have depth. Guys are fighting for spots and they want to win.’’

Dube played on Zimbabwe’s junior national teams before moving to the US to attend college at Lindsay Wilson and Coastal Carolina. Dube signed a developmental contract and started the season as a reserve, but has emerged as a productive starter and could be considered for a full-time contract.

‘‘When you are a development player, you have next to nothing to lose,’’ Larentowicz said. ‘‘So, you work as hard as you can and do your best, because you never know when your chance is going to come. [Dube] has a striker’s sense, he knows where to be. He’s a little different than other forwards because he uses his quickness to get behind defenders and he is also good at hold-up play.’’
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Revolution head coach Steve Nicol and assistant Paul Mariner plan to scout Friday night’s Honduras-Venezuela game in Fort Lauderdale ... Spencer Wadsworth scored the tying goal in the second half for the Revolution reserves with a 20-yard lob against D.C. Franco Niell scored in the 13th minute for United.