FOXBORO, Mass. — Clint Mathis' lack of discipline wasn't quite so easy to escape.
On Wednesday, the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended the Real Salt Lake midfielder an additional two games and fined him an extra $4,750 for his role in last weekend's melee with Chivas USA.
According to the league, Mathis was sanctioned for "striking at an opponent in the face, failure to leave the field promptly after being ejected, verbally confronting the referee, kicking a soccer ball into the stands, and inappropriate physical confrontation with (Isaac) Romo prior to leaving the field."
Chivas USA's Esteban Arias was also suspended an additional game and fined an extra $500 for kicking RSL's Brian Dunseth.
Both players were shown red cards in the 18th minute of last Saturday's game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The red card carries with it an automatic one-game suspension, which Mathis served Wednesday night.
The circumstances that led to the 22-player scuffle began when Chivas' Jesus Ochoa committed a hard foul on Mathis. As Mathis lay on the ground, Chivas' Romo kicked the ball at Mathis, who quickly jumped up and appeared to take a swing at Romo.
Within seconds, all 22 bodies began converging near the middle of the field shoving each other. A few seconds later, Mathis put his hand in the face of another Chivas player and pushed him backward.
"I think it was an unfortunate incident, the whole thing, obviously they've seen some things that they needed to address, and that's what the disciplinary committees is there for, to deal with those kinds of issues," said RSL coach John Ellinger.
The additional suspension will cause Mathis to miss RSL's home match with Kansas City on Aug. 13, and then another home match with San Jose on Aug. 20.
The three-game suspension isn't the most in league history. On July 4, 1998, Tampa Bay keeper Thomas Ravelli was suspended six games and fined $5,000 for kicking a ball at the referee.
NOT USING THEIR HEADS: Entering Wednesday's game, Salt Lake had surrendered 36 goals, but only five of those goals were scored via an opponent's head.
In one night, the Revolution nearly doubled that number.
All three New England goals were scored on headers, with Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman scoring in the opening 16 minutes, and then Shalrie Joseph forcing RSL's Andy Williams into an own goal in the 76th minute as he headed a corner kick on frame.
DAY OFF COMING: Mathis won't be the only RSL player missing this Saturday's match with Kansas City. Midfielder Seth Trembly will also be watching the game from the stands because of an accumulation of yellow cards. He received his fifth of the season on a 53rd-minute foul on Joe Franchino.
STREAKS IN TACT: It's not surprising that New England went on to win after scoring Wednesday's first goal. The Revolution are now 9-0-2 when scoring the first goal, while RSL is now 2-12-3 when surrendering the first goal.
GOAL OF THE WEEK: For the third time in four weeks, a Real Salt Lake player was awarded the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week.
Andy Williams garnered the award last week for his 49th-minute goal against Chivas USA. Even though it wasn't a highlight-reel goal, it was a very meaningful goal as the 5,000th in MLS history.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com