Last modified: Monday, June 22, 2009 2:19 AM EDT New England's Jeff Larentowicz (facing) gets a hug from teammate Sainey Nyassi. (Staff photo by KEITH NORDSTROM) Revs get a leg up BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - The defending SuperLiga champion New England Revolution struck for three second-half goals - two within a three-minute span - to erase a one-goal deficit and score a feisty, 4-2 decision over Santos Laguna on the first leg of the round-robin Group B Series. "That's the way that it's been, all the games that we've played this season, we get better and better in the second half," said Kenny Mansally, who scored the match-tying goal in the 60th minute and set up Kheli Dube for the Revolution's fourth tally in the 82nd minute. New England, which beat all three of its Mexican rivals by 1-0 margins last season in the second annual series, surrendered two goals within a three-minute span to Santos Laguna early in the second half on a pair of defensive miscues. "We always say that we have plenty of heart and passion," proclaimed New England coach Steve Nicol of the Revolution not just overcoming a 2-1 deficit with 25 minutes left, but scoring three goals in nasty weather conditions and against a Mexican club, whose discipline deteriorated with a rash of second-half fouls and an outright slugging of midfielder Pat Phelan. "The conduct of our players was exemplary," added Nicol of New England not resorting to retaliatory methods. New England will now face MLS rival Kansas City on the second leg of the series Wednesday night (7 p.m.) at Foxboro, then host Atlas next Sunday. "It's been hard to get wins," related Dube of New England's lack of success in obtaining three-point performances against MLS foes this season. "We try to motivate each other." That was certainly the case after Santos Laguna (sponsored by Corona Beer) tied the match in the 52nd minute on a goal by Vicente Vuoso, then took the lead in the 55th minute on a drive by Juan Pablo Rodriguez. "Then you're asking questions of your team, what are you made of?" queried Nicol. The response before an announced crowd of 9,512 (approximately 7,000 of which were water-logged) was defining for New England. Defender Jay Heaps made a clever run down the right wing and Mansally finished it off by banging in a rebound of a Dube shot, which slipped off the hands of Santos Laguna 35-year old goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, tying the match in the 60th minute. New England seized the lead after a Mansally corner kick in the 62nd minute from the left wing. This time, Dube unleashed a shot at Sanchez from the right corner of the penalty box area, the ball squirming onto the foot of Heaps, who banged in the match-winner in the 63rd minute. And in the 82nd minute, Dube finished off a cross from Mansally with a nifty shot, the ball banging off of the left goal post and ricocheting off of the right goal post. "We scored four goals, so we can't complain about that," said Nicol. New England took the lead in the 38th minute, midfielder Jeff Larentowicz uncorking a 30-yard drive off the right flank which took a one-skip bounce to the far left corner over the hand of Sanchez - his first goal of the season after being tally-less in 12 MLS matches. "When it's wet like that, you have to be quick on the ball," added Mansally as the speed of New England's cast of Africans, Emmanuel Osei, Sainey Nyassi, Dube and himself put pressure on Santos Laguna's 4-5-1 formation. The Revolution took the pitch without two of its three best players, Taylor Twellman and Shalrie Joseph, while midfielder Steve Ralson suffered a right hamstring strain in the 39th minute and departed. New England goalie Matt Reis preserved the victory with a dramatic point-blank save on a shot off the right wing by Daniel Ludena in the 63rd minute, then tipping a shot deflected off the leg of Heaps just over the crossbar in the 88th minute. "The turf is hard, the conditions are wet, the surface is real quick, on occasion we could have done better," added Nicol. "We certainly didn't play any showcase soccer, but we made some chances."