Last modified: Sunday, July 20, 2008 2:32 AM EDT New England Revolution teammates chase after Khano Smith after he scored the winning goal on a penalty kick in stoppage time at the end of the match vs Pachuca CF in SuperLiga Group B match, Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. (Staff photo by KEITH NORDSTROM) Revs 'hand' Pachuca FC tough loss BY PETER GOBIS SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - As fate would have it, the New England Revolution found favor in the decision of referee Walter Quesada. Khano Smith, New England's Bermuda-bred midfielder, converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute of second half stoppage time, to provide the Revolution with a 1-0 victory over Pachuca F.C. in a second round SuperLiga match Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium. "You rarely get those calls, it's a tough one (decision) for the ref," said New England coach Steve Nicol of Quesada's decision to award the Revolution a penalty kick after an inadvertent handball violation by a Pachuca defender in the penalty box. New England's Kheli Dube was closed off on a run out of the right corner by a pair of Pachuca defenders, but attempted to slice the ball in front of the net. Instead, the ball angled off of Julio Manzur. Awarded the chance to win the match, Smith who has one goal (the lone goal in an April 24 win at Dallas) in 11 matches, blasted the ball to the lower right side of the Pachuca net past 37-year-old net minder Miguel Calero. In the meantime, New England goalie Matt Reis made four saves (on 10 Pachuca shots, four on goal) to notch the Revolution's second successive shutout in the SuperLiga series. New England will play its third round match Sunday at Chivas USA, resume MLS action Aug. 9 in Foxboro against Chicago and then have a semifinal round U.S. Open Cup match Aug. 12 at D.C. United. New England, with the most wins (10) and points (33) in MLS, generated 13 shots (seven on goal), but did not have as many pure scoring chances as defending SuperLiga champ Pachuca. "We kind of expect him to make the saves," surmised Nicol of Reis, who stole the win for New England by making a diving, one-handed stop of a Damian Alvarez drive in the 69th minute, the ball then careening off of the right goal post. Reis had made a tough angle save on Alvarez in the sixth minute, then watched another Alvarez drive off the left wing in the 42nd minute, scream just wide right of the goalpost. "I don't know if it was a handball or not," said Pachuca coach Enrique Meza of the match-deciding play in extra time, after New England midfielder Pat Phelan was wheeled off on a stretcher, transported to MGH in Boston after suffering a concussion. "The reality is that we lost," added Meza of his Los Tuzos (the Gophers). "Overall we played well, in the end we came out with the better chances created." New England had a pair of first half corner kicks and three in the second half (at 51, 71 and 82) by Chris Tierney, but were unable to convert. Before a cozy crowd of 9,614, the Revolution's two best scoring chances in the first half came on long drives, an Amaechi Igwe drive off the right wing in the 32nd minute and a Smith drive atop the penalty box in the 39th minute. Early in the second half, Kenny Mansally set up Dube after a Pachuca defensive giveaway, but his glancing shot in the 48th minute veered just wide right. "Everyone did a great job," added Nicol, who used a number of reserves, resting starters Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Chris Albright, Mauricio Castro and Adam Cristman. "They had one chance in the first half, after that a couple of half-chances, nothing else," said Nicol of neutralizing Pachuca's ball control with sturdy defensive play. "We deserved what we got."