MLS New England Revolution

New England Revolution Update

Published on March 23, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution will train in Foxborough four times this week in preparation for its 2008 MLS season opener against the Houston Dynamo this Saturday, March 29, at Gillette Stadium. All four training sessions will be held on the main Gillette Stadium field, with Wednesday serving as an off day. The Revs will also conduct their annual Media Day following training on Tuesday, March 25.

New England vs. Houston Series Information

Series vs. Houston Notes:

New England and Houston have met just four times in the overall MLS regular-season series, with the Revs holding a slight edge with a 1-0-3 mark against the Dynamo

The Revs narrowly won last year's regular-season series, going 1-0-1 against Houston ... in 2006, the teams played to a pair of 1-1 draws in the regular season

New England earned the first win in the series by either team in the first meeting of last season, taking a 1-0 win in Houston on May 19 ... Shalrie Joseph scored in the ninth minute and the Revs defense held on for the win

Last July's meeting - a 3-3 back-and-forth draw at Gillette Stadium - was the first time either team scored more than one goal in a game in the series

The Revs have never been shut out by the Dynamo, but have posted one defensive shutout (May 19, 2007 in Houston)

The teams have met in the past two MLS Cups, with the Dynamo emerging victorious in both

Last year in MLS Cup 2007 in Washington, D.C., New England took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute courtesy of a Taylor Twellman header, but Houston fought back with a pair of second-half goals from Joseph Ngwenya and Dwayne De Rosario en route to a 2-1 triumph

In 2006, the Dynamo won the title behind a 4-3 edge in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw after extra time ... Taylor Twellman scored for the Revs in the 113th minute, but Houston's Brian Ching responded in the 114th minute to force penalties

Revolution Player Notes vs. Houston

Shalrie Joseph has scored two goals against Houston, one coming in each meeting last season ... on May 19, 2007, he struck the game-winning goal in the 1-0 win in Houston, and his penalty-kick tally on July 22 was the game-tying goal in the 3-3 draw at Gillette Stadium.

Taylor Twellman has one goal and one assist against the Dynamo

Steve Ralston has scored one goal (May 27, 2006) and added one assist against Houston

Matt Reis is 1-0-3 against the Dynamo in his career with a 1.25 goals against average with one shutout and 18 saves in four starts

Last Meeting: MLS Cup Final at RFK Stadium:

Taylor Twellman's 20th-minute header off of a Steve Ralston cross gave the Revolution a 1-0 halftime lead, but second-half goals from Joseph Ngwenya and Dwayne De Rosario handed Houston its second straight MLS Cup win over the Revs, 2-1 ... Twellman gave New England the early lead with his 10th career playoff goal, but Ngwenya leveled the score in the 61st minute before De Rosario's winner 13 minutes later ... Dynamo keeper Pat Onstad stopped a Jeff Larentowicz point-blank header in the 89th minute to secure the victory.

REVOLUTION NEWS & NOTES

Media Day Scheduled for Tuesday, March 25

The Revs will host their annual Media Day on Tuesday, Mar. 25 ... the program will begin at noon and a light lunch will be served ... in addition to the Revs' players and coaches availability, Revolution Chief Operating Officer Brian Bilello and Director of Soccer Michael Burns will make brief statements and be available for questions ... all media interested in attending Media Day should inform the Revolution Communications office by the close of business on Monday, Mar. 24 ... media attending should enter the stadium through the ProShop, where they will be directed to the Media Work Room.

Revs Conclude 2008 Preseason with 4-1-1 Record

The Revolution wrapped up its 2008 preseason with a pair of contests against reigning Honduran champion Marathón in New Orleans, La., last weekend ... on Friday, Mar. 14, two second-half strikes from Khano Smith helped the Revs shut out Marathón, 4-0, in a 60-minute closed-door scrimmage ... the teams met again in a full public match on Sunday, March 16, as almost 4,500 fans watched the two squads battle to a scoreless draw ... New England's Doug Warren and Marathón's Victor Cuello each stopped a penalty kick in the second half in the nil-nil stalemate ... on their two prior preseason trips, the Revs twice defeated the Bermuda National Team (6-1; 2-0), downed Pioneros de Cancun of Mexico, 4-1, and fell to defending Mexican champion Atlante, 1-0.

Shalrie Joseph and Khano Smith Called in for National Team Duty

Defensive midfielder Shalrie Joseph and left-sided midfielder Khano Smith have both been called upon to represent their respective countries in the opening stage of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa ... Joseph will join Grenada for its match against the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday, March 26, while Smith will be a part of the Bermuda side that will take on the Cayman Islands, also on Mar. 26. ... Grenada's match with the U.S. Virgin Islands is a one-off qualifier in Grenada, with the winner advancing to face Costa Rica in the second stage ... Bermuda and the Cayman Islands' meeting is the second-leg of a home-and-away aggregate-goals series, with the two teams having drawn 1-1 in the first-leg in Bermuda ... the winner of that series will next meet Trinidad and Tobago.

Who's Hot Entering Opening Day: Mansally and Smith

Kenny Mansally did his utmost to bolster his chances of earning a spot in the Revolution's opening-day starting 11, as the 19-year-old Gambian led the team with five goals in six preseason matches ... a hat-trick in the preseason opener against the Bermuda National Team highlighted the young striker's goal-scoring spree, while he also added single tallies in the second match against Bermuda and the 4-1 triumph over Pioneros de Cancun ... left-sided midfielder Khano Smith had his second multi-goal performance of the preseason on Friday, March 14, scoring twice in the 60-minute closed-door scrimmage against Marathón ... the Bermuda native also had a pair of goals in the 4-1 win over Pioneros de Cancun on the Revs' trip to Mexico ... he also finished the preseason tied for the team lead in assists, with three.

Revs to Host Pair of SuperLiga 2008 Matches

Major League Soccer and the Federación Mexican de Fútbol released the participants, locations and full competition schedule for the 2008 SuperLiga on Thursday, March 13, and the Revolution will host two matches at Gillette Stadium ... the Revs have been drawn into Group B with Chivas USA, Santos Laguna (MEX) and defending SuperLiga champion CF Pachuca (MEX) ... on Sunday, July 13, New England will welcome Santos to Foxborough at 8 p.m. ET ... on Wednesday, July 16, the Revs will host Pachuca at 8 p.m. ET ... the Revolution will wrap up group play on Sunday, July 20, when it will take on Chivas USA in Los Angeles, Calif., at 8 p.m. ET at a venue that is yet to be determined ... for the second straight year, the winner of the tournament's final on Tuesday, Aug. 5, will receive a $1 million dollar purse - the largest prize in North American soccer history.

Revs Announce Two Schedule Changes

It was announced on Monday, March 10, that the Revolution's home game against the New York Red Bulls, originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2, has been moved to Wednesday, June 18 ... the game will be televised on the Revs' regional television partner, TV38, at 7:30 p.m. ... additionally, the team announced that kickoff for its Sept. 11 match in Foxborough against Chivas USA has been moved up to 7 p.m. from 7:30 p.m. to accommodate ESPN2's programming schedule.

Check out the New England Revolution Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from March 23, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central